Landcare-Led Landscape Resilience – tools and data for restoration decisions
Trial and Demonstration Sites
For 30 years, Landcare has driven grassroots change in natural resource management and landscape restoration, created local knowledge and experience and pioneered an ethical mind-shift in communities. A new era is upon us. Farmers & the Landcare community need to adjust to a future of natural capital income streams forming part of farm business and drought resilience strategies. Decisions about livestock numbers and pasture management made in response to drought conditions will be made easier by the ability to access these markets as alternative income streams. The industry has a target of $100 billion in agricultural exports by 2030 and expects that 5% of this will be in the form of environmental income streams. These will form part of a farm business resilience strategy in the future, ensuring that during drought or other weather extremes, there is an alternative strategy in managing land and stock numbers and being able to maintain viable farm businesses and contribute to maintaining the public good natural capital.
What have been the outcomes?
- The second editions of the Revegetation guides are at the printers
- revegetation.org.au is live – the veg profiles are all online, the content is still being updated but this is now the first port of call for revegetation information
- We have established a community of practice between the Murray and Riverina regions for Landcare groups and staff to support our farmers to take advantage of opportunities from emerging environmental markets (Carbon, Nature Repair market, Biodiversity Conservation Trust ) to have alternative income streams and drought-proof their business.
In the three years of the project we held to regional-wide forums looking at revegetation science and practice. In the forum held in September 2024 we talked about regional seed supply and how it is a constraint for revegetation and restoration projects. As a result of the partnerships and relationships developed from the forum we collaborated with Murrumbidgee Landcare Inc to submit a phase 2 project to the latest round of the Future Drought Fund Resilient Landscapes program.
Future Drought Fund: Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes Grants Program
This project is funded through the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund (FDF) Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes (DRSL) Grants Program.
The FDF is a long-term investment fund that provides a sustainable source of funding to help Australian farmers and agricultural-dependent communities and businesses become more prepared for and resilient to the impacts of drought.
The DRSL Grants Program funds projects that trial and demonstrate how scaling of particular practices (or combinations of practices) to improve management of natural capital can build drought resilience. Through this, the program aims to create and communicate an evidence-base and case studies that contribute to scaling out the successful practices.
