Landcare-Led Landscape Resilience – tools and data for restoration decisions (project design)

Future Drought Fund - cross regional projects

Self sustenance - LEP_23-020_RLC05

The issue

Farmers, agri-economy & the Landcare community are adjusting to a future of natural capital income streams forming part of farm business and drought resilience strategies and also tackling the challenges of changing weather patterns. One form of natural capital is vegetation cover. Restoration of native trees, shrubs and grasses on-farms has widespread recognition that it contributes to the productivity of the farm through shade, shelter, water retention and other ecosystem services. Increasingly our restoration success is affected by climate variability and traditional planting times and species mix need to change in response.

Landcare has driven grassroots change in natural resource management, farming business systems and landscape restoration, created local knowledge & experience and pioneered an ethical mind-shift in communities for over 35 years. Revegetation is the heart of Landcare and it is increasingly important that we pool our knowledge and experiences to create long-term resources that bring cultural inclusion and climate adaptation to revegetation practice and support landowners to improve their natural capital.

The solution

The Future Drought Fund: Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes Grants Program 2022 actualised the "Landcare-led landscape resilience - tools and data for restoration decisions" project - a cross-regional consortium between the Murray and Riverina spear-headed by Holbrook Landcare Network and Murrumbidgee Landcare Inc.

The impact

The project recognises that the knowledge of how to address these challenges and have impact at landscape scale has been gathered by Landcare networks along with methods for achieving culturally appropriate restoration works through years of interaction with First Nations communities and other experts, practitioners and enthusiasts.

The consortium strove to * upscale private investment in on-farm natural capital investment; * Refine and analyse restoration methods to ensure feasibility, climate readiness, drought resilience & economics for environmental income streams; * Showcase modern ‘best practice’ revegetation through demonstration sites and case studies and robust communications strategy; * Refresh key resources - the South-West Slopes & Riverina Revegetation Guides; and * Lead a community of practice to prepare Landcare & farming communities for transition to market-based instruments to fund revegetation & drive drought resilience. This is one of those projects that will have a lasting legacy for HLN, MLi and the Murray and Riverina regions. Additional case studies from both regions will elaborate on the projects successes.

For more information revegetation.org.au Revegetation Guide to the NSW South West Slopes and Riverina Regions

Author: Paula Sheehan