Blog Articles

Agroforestry in Action

By Claudia Macleay posted 15 days ago
Our first NSW Tree Conference, held in partnership with Greening Bathurst, Central Tablelands Local Land Services, and the Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Network, marked a significant milestone in bringing back discussion on forestry with agricultural systems in the Central Tablelands of NSW. This event rooted itself in the concept of "Natural Capital: Trees as an Alternative Crop," showcasing how trees can diversify farms, bolster biodiversity, and boost income through sustainable timber. Agroforestry veterans, including Rowan Reid and Dr. Fabiano Ximenes, shared their knowledge on the benefits of marrying forestry with farming. They discussed how ...

WeedScan: A new weapon in the war against weeds

By Centre for Invasive Species Solutions posted 15 days ago
Weeds are one of the biggest threats to Australia’s biodiversity, agriculture and economy, costing us about $5 billion a year in lost productivity, control and environmental damage. They represent a serious risk to our native flora, fauna and water quality and contribute to bushfire risk with additional fuel loads. Recent floods across the country have the potential to trigger the next surge of weeds in Australia. Floods can spread seeds and plant parts to new areas that may have been weed-free. These conditions can also be favourable for weed germination, growth and reduced competition from other plants and animals. Major weeds at risk of further spread ...

Landcare Farming Carbon Benchmarking Project

By Gabrielle Stacey posted 16 days ago
Landcare Farming Carbon Benchmarking Project The Landcare Farming Carbon Benchmarking project is a joint project between Integrity Ag & Environment and Landcare Farming to support producers to develop their skills and understanding of the importance of carbon balance on-farm. Carbon benchmarking assists farmers and graziers to quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet industry goals, consumer and community expectations and ensure market access in the future. With both the Australian Sheep and Beef Sustainability Frameworks prioritising greenhouse gas emissions reduction from livestock, as well as Meat and Livestock Australia’s CN30 initiative ...

Innovations In Agriculture Series: Landcare VIC

By Gabrielle Stacey posted 21 days ago
Innovations In Ag: Natural Resource Management Plan leads to biodiversity and profitability gains - Landcare VIC By fencing off waterways, reducing soil erosion, improving groundcover and creating wildlife corridors (biolinks), Victorian sheep and cattle producers Leanne and Peter Jackman have improved biodiversity on their Dadswell Bridge property, which has supported their Responsible Wool Standard certification. The property has been in the family since 1950, and as second-generation farmers, Leanne and Peter moved to a biodynamic farming system around 20 years ago with the aim of creating a self-sustaining farm through minimal external ...

Riverina landholders sign up to plains-wanderer land conservation

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 01-03-2024
The small light-brown plains-wanderer might look unremarkable, but it is so unique it is placed in an entire family of its own. It has earned the nickname, the 'Goldilocks bird' because conditions need to be just right for it to survive. Those conditions are of course a very specific type of grazing habitat found in remote areas of south-western NSW and across land also prized for its agricultural use. The good news is, it might not be one of Australia’s rarest bird species for long if landholders in the state’s Riverina have anything to do with it. Graziers with productive land in the region have set aside areas of their properties ...

Free drought information sharing network

By Strategic Partnerships Team posted 27-02-2024
Join the National Drought Network , an information sharing opportunity hosted by the Australian, state and territory governments, that provides stakeholders with updates on drought related information on drought policy, programs and conditions. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 26 March 2:00 – 3:30pm AEDT . If you are interested in joining, please email droughtpolicy@aff.gov.au The network is open to anyone who wishes to join. Content is suited to those from farming organisations, those who work in or with the agricultural industry and those within farming communities – including non-for-profit organisations, charities, finance sector, unions ...

NSW Tree Conference- "Natural Capital: Trees as an Alternative Crop,"

By Claudia Macleay posted 06-02-2024
The 2024 New South Wales Tree Conference is a partnership with Greening Bathurst, Central Tablelands Local Land Services and the Central Tablelands Regional Landcare Network. It will focus on the integration of forestry into agricultural systems as a means to enhance natural capital. Our theme for this year, "Natural Capital: Trees as an Alternative Crop," underscores the vital role of agroforestry in the future of sustainable farming practices. This conference is designed to serve as a gathering for farmers, landholders, and forestry industry stakeholders to provide a comprehensive examination of the cultivation ...

University research explores health and wellbeing benefits of landholders in private land conservation

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 19-01-2024
It's often quipped, with studies to back it, that being in nature has a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. We know too, that landholders across NSW, be they primary producers, hobby farmers or lifestyle property owners, say they feel a deep connection with the land they manage. In fact, research for NSW Local Land Services in 2021 found "achieving pleasure, enjoyment or happiness" from the land was a top motivator for supporting land management practices to improve land quality. (Landholder benchmarking research 2021: Prepared for NSW Local Land Services August 2021, Ipsos) And, almost half of that study’s participants said a "healthy outdoor ...

Queen's Jubilee Planting Trees Leaves a Legacy

By Luise33 posted 24-12-2023
Wow! What a year it has been for Springfield Lakes Nature Care Inc . in Springfield Lakes, Queensland. Our small but friendly Landcare group & Bushcare group members, together with volunteers from all over Brisbane/ Ipswich and neighbouring Shires of Logan, Redlands & Ipswich helped plant 2000 trees in a year. Originally, the work was to be done over a two-year period, but we were locked out of the Bushcare site during all of 2022 whilst Urban Utilities upgraded a large sewer trunk pipe that ran through the riparian corridor. Finally work began in April 2023 and our final planting occurred on 18 November just in time for the Summer Wet Season. ...

New AI-powered app set to transform weed management in Australia

By Centre for Invasive Species Solutions posted 15-12-2023
This week saw the launch of WeedScan - Australia’s first AI weed identification, reporting and management app! It's free & easy to use – simply snap a photo of a suspected weed & upload to identify and report ...download WeedScan from the App Store or Google Play and get started today. Funded by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program and developed by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions , CSIRO , NSW DPI , the Atlas of Living Australia and the South Australian , Queensland and Victorian Governments : truly a team effort. WeedScan is powered by a CSIRO AI identification ...

COP28 - Australian Land Conservation Alliance

By Australian Land Conservation Alliance posted 08-12-2023
The Australian Land Conservation Alliance was on the ground in Dubai to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). ALCA's Policy Lead, Michael Cornish, provided daily updates from the world’s biggest conversation on climate change. 7 December 2023 An estimated 70,000 people are here for the conference, making it the biggest global climate change convention and negotiation yet. After landing at 5:22am and getting checked in at my hotel, I headed out to the World Climate Summit , a side-event being held during today’s ‘rest day’ in the COP28 schedule. Self-styled ‘The Investment COP’, the World Climate Summit ...

Embarking on a New Adventure as Regional Landcare Coordinator

By Claudia Macleay posted 27-11-2023
Hello Landcare community! I'm excited to share my new journey with Landcare as the Regional Landcare Coordinator for Central Tablelands. I am transitioning from my role at Local Land Services. With a Masters in Equine Science, my approach to landcare is deeply rooted in the intricate balance between nature and science. My mission is to bridge local communities with environmental conservation, fostering a shared responsibility for our beautiful landscapes. When not working, I'm often found riding my horses, bushwalking, or wild swimming. I can wait to learn more and feel like I am part of solution to helping restore our planet...as they say "Act Local, Think ...

Experts share tips to turn farm dams into wildlife habitat during FrogID Week field day

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 23-11-2023
Enhancing your dam to encourage and support native wildlife might seem daunting, but sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big difference. At a dam enhancement field day, held on a NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust conservation agreement property in the western Sydney suburb of Mulgoa, we asked our guest experts Australian Museum Curator Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Biology, Dr Jodi Rowley, and Murray Wildlife ecologist Dr Matt Herring, the best ways to improve and manage natural water assets. The good news is most Australian wildlife loves a farm dam. Frogs appreciate a diversity of habitats with different ...

Landcarer Sharer Series

By Bruce Maynard posted 20-11-2023
Join on the Landcarer site across various communities of interest to see a range of science background, how to guides, videos and webinars from the current Bob Hawke Landcare award winner- Bruce Maynard. Topics from across Australia including: No Kill Cropping, Stress Free Stockmanship, Self Herding, Native Fodder Shrubs, Whole Farm Planning, Weed Eating, Pyric Grazing, Passive Chemical Exposures, Agroforestry, Carbon sequestration and more..........

Indigenous artist Wayde Clarke weaves stories of culture, bugs and landscapes into new artwork

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 14-11-2023
When Newcastle-based artist Wayde Clarke looks at a blank canvas, he’s seeing an opportunity to bring people together. As a Wiradjuri/Birpai man living on Awabakal land, the stories his paintings tell and the many ways they can be interpreted are what brings meaning to his art. "A lot of my works are about joy and coming together. The most important part is keeping people together," he says. "I add lots of layers because life is layered and complex and when you come back to it you see something new." His artwork for the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust pulls together these complex layers of cultural knowledge and experience from the coast, across ...

Snowy Monaro couple protects critically endangered snow gum woodlands with funded conservation agreement

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 14-11-2023
Thomas and Barbara Evision have travelled the world, but they always knew they would return to Australia to settle in the Snowy Monaro region of NSW. Their search for land with the potential for biodiversity conservation and habitat protection led them to Beaureden, a property near the tiny Snowy Mountains town of Moonbah. In 2021 they submitted an expression of interest in the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) Snow Gum Woodlands and Grasslands conservation tender and are one of 8 families in the region to successfully bid for a conservation agreement. “We wanted to ensure there would be funding for the protection of what’s here once our children, ...

Lake Macquarie Council Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement helps restore threatened wetland reserve

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 14-11-2023
Restoring native bushland to its pre-disturbance state is complicated. When that disturbance comes after decades of mining on threatened wetland and bushland, it’s fair to say environmental restoration requires a little extra planning. Since 2013 Lake Macquarie Council has been actively working to regenerate a 40.9 hectare site at Jewells after sand mining operations closed in the late 1970s leaving behind a vastly changed landscape. The success of its efforts, possible under a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT), has restored 27 species, 10 that were not present before regeneration efforts. ...

Guppy family continues bird study legacy on conservation agreement property near Moruya

By NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust posted 14-11-2023
The birdlife on the conservation agreement site of South Coast couple Sarah and Michael Guppy is very important to them. For years they have been banding and monitoring the bird community on their property and expanding on work started by Sarah’s father in 1975. Sarah’s father, Stephen Marchant was an avid amateur ornithologist and when he bought the property of Ballara, near Moruya, he began a study on the breeding biology of the resident bird population that lasted almost 10 years. The couple now live on the 20-hectare property, and starting in 2007, continued the research Stephen started. Between August and February they spend hours each day walking ...

Welcome to Neurodiversity for not-for-profit boards (Webinar)

By Sarah Richardson posted 16-10-2023
If embracing diversity is important to your organisation, working out ways to accommodate neurodiversity in your not-for-profit board should be on your agenda. As progressive organisations accept neurological diversity as a feature and not a flaw of human variation, the Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA) is aiming to help crack open assumptions about people who think differently, while showing you how knowledge of neurodiversity can help you lead better. Neurodiversity spans the spectrum of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and Tourette syndrome, to name a few diagnoses. As well as ...

New Natural Capital Handbook available for download

By Tom-Croft posted 22-09-2023
New CSIRO handbook to guide Australian businesses towards nature positive future. The Natural Capital Handbook delivers practical step-by-step guidelines on how to measure and incorporate natural assets such as clean air, water, soil and living things into operations. https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/News/2023/September/New-CSIRO-handbook-to-guide-Australian-businesses-towards-nature-positive-future The book is available to download. # #LandManagement #FarmingAgriculture