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From the Chairman, The Mulloon Institute
Depending on your business or vocation, June can be a very busy time as you approach the financial year end. For many businesses and organisations, it's the time for stocktaking, ensuring your invoicing is up to date, and determining which assets to write off. June always seems to be busy,
'jampacked' in fact!
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Fundraising
Leading up to the end of the financial year, you will have seen my encouragement for
financial support in my last couple of monthly updates. As a not-for-profit charity with
Deductible Gift Recipient status, financial support from philanthropic foundations and individuals is crucial if we are to expand our landscape and rehydration projects across Australia. There is so much to do!
Despite June being 'jampacked' for many, I am pleased to report that financial support has been received from a number of foundations and many individuals during this particularly challenging time for fundraising. A huge thank you to everyone who has donated, your support allows us to fix more of our degraded landscapes over the coming year. While many donations tend to come at the end of the financial year, we warmly welcome and accept your financial support whenever you are able to provide it. It's easy to donate here
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2020-2023 Strategic Plan
TMI's Board has now completed its
Strategic Plan
for the next three years. This was a substantial piece of work that commenced several months ago (pre COVID-19) with a workshop. Our CEO, Carolyn Hall and consultant Richard Forbes pulled it all together and presented it at our June Board meeting where, following much discussion and analysis, it was approved with a resolution to move quickly on its implementation.
No doubt it is ambitious, but with so much interest in our work and in regenerative agriculture more broadly, the Board is confident that the timing is right.
Read more
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Mulloon Rehydration Initiative
MRI Project Coordinator Peter Hazell has been successful in securing logs and rocks for the next stage of on-ground works in the
Mulloon Rehydration Initiative. Another four leaky weir structures will be installed along Mulloon Creek at the Duralla property during July, with logs sourced from Tumbarumba and rocks from Nerriga.
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Peter Hazell on the
'History of the Australian Landscape' |
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People have been asking what we species use when planting out a site. We usually focus on planting and transplanting shrubs, groundcovers and early colonising native plants that are either already growing, or would normally grow, within and on the banks of Mulloon Creek.
These include native species such as Cumbungi, Phragmites, Carex, Milfoil, Marshwort, Eleocharis, Schoenoplectus, Lomandra, Juncus, tea trees, paper barks, grevilleas, bottlebrush, Banksia, Bursaria, Green, Black and Silver wattle, as well as black sally.
We are also compiling a list of non-native plants that we use depending on the situation.
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Science & monitoring
Research Coordinator Luke Peel has been busy with our
Science Advisory Council members and
HydroTerra finalising drafts for the
'TMI SAC Framework paper' and the
'Monitoring Plan and System Specifications' document. These will form the basis of the research being undertaken and detail the monitoring design and implementation that will establish TMI's long-term monitoring plan.
[Image: Logger box uphill of a stream gauge in the Mulloon catchment]
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Working with HydroTerra
Our partners
HydroTerra
are working with us to develop a monitoring strategy and to assist with the turnkey implementation of the specified system. The key has been establishing the indicators of catchment health and productivity, then documenting the requisite parameters required to calculate these indicators. Read more
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Mulloon Consulting Contracting & Certifying
June has seen exciting developments for MCCC with upcoming landscape rehydration trials in Western Australia, plus site visits and site assessments closer to home, including the Kangaroo Valley, Harefield (near Wagga Wagga) and detailed planning for Mulloon Creek Natural Farms.
Read more
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Log and rock weir installation for NQ Dry Tropics |
Mulloon Consulting at your place
Are you passionate about restoring and rehydrating the landscape on your farm or catchment, but don't know where to start? Did you know that we can bring the work of the Mulloon Institute to you?
Read more
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Restoring Australia
As we complete the 19/20 financial year and start the 20/21 year, TMI is particularly looking forward to a response from Ark2030, the donors for the Global Evergreening Alliance's Restore Australia project. TMI is a collaborating organisation for this project and will be keen to get moving on a number of landscape scale rehydration projects in Queensland, NSW, ACT and WA. It is a very ambitious project but getting landscapes functioning naturally is a vital first step in landscape restoration. We're also anticipating a number of other exciting developments for TMI coming to fruition.
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Mulloon Creek Natural Farms
MCNF was 'jampacked' with eggs during June with weekly production numbers up near 120,000 eggs. Increased production has meant the need to increase our storage capacity, office and staff facilities with further infrastructure such as fencing, water and laying sheds also underway. Despite the increased production, our
organic, pasture-raised hens will still have room to roam freely at our Duralla property under
the protective eyes of our Maremma dogs. Our stocking rates will continue to be no more than 250 birds per hectare.
We also farewelled
Farm Manager Michael Fitzgerald this month and his wife Wendy. Michael has been with MCNF for over four years and has overseen a virtual doubling of egg production during that time. He has embraced TMI's
landscape rehydration and regenerative agriculture principles and will continue to be a great advocate for our work in his future agricultural activities.
We wish Michael and Wendy all the very best for the future.
MCNF also now has its very own, dedicated Instagram page. Please join us!
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Cultural Burning Workshop
Tom and Martina are committed to various environmental projects, including large-scale tree-planting, creating wildlife corridors and controlling erosion. Birkenburn is also part of the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative.
Read more about workshop
While this isn't a Mulloon Institute event, we're proud to be giving them a hand with recording and assessing the burn's effect on soils and vegetation.
Tickets via Eventbrite
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In the news
The Water Cycle, extract from the 'Farm Resilience in a Changing Climate'
podcast
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Leaky weir at Peter's Pond - June 2020 |
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All the best to all our great supporters, stay safe and thank you again to all those that invested in our vital work via a donation.
Cheers,
Gary Nairn AO
The Mulloon Institute, Chairman
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