As you read this autumn edition of our Resilience newsletter, spare a thought for so many in Australia who have been struggling to literally keep their heads above water, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales. Once more we hear that overused word 'unprecedented' in relation to this latest extreme weather event which has caused the tragic loss of lives, property and livelihoods. The recovery will be slow and difficult, and for some they may never regain what they had.
[Image: Young wombat flooded out of his burrow at 'Duralla']
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Drought resilience leaders mentoring program |
The Future Drought Fund invites farmers wanting to increase their skills in managing drought and climate resilience to be paired with experienced farmers and other agricultural professionals.
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Future Drought Fund visit |
Representatives from the Future Drought Fund recently visited Mulloon to learn about the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative and our broader landscape rehydration work around Australia.
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The Mulloon Institute’s CEO Carolyn Hall joined 300 guests for a wet Maia Grazing field day at Wilmot Cattle Co’s Hernani property for a day of great speakers with a focus building natural capital.
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How does groundwater affect your life? Is there enough? Is it safe? What needs to be done to protect groundwater? Share your groundwater story!
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Mulloon Rehydration Initiative |
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Our first peer reviewed paper published! |
Our first peer reviewed paper has just been published! Plus, we have several student papers to share too.
Peel, L., Hazell, P., Bernardi, T., Dovers, S., Freudenberger, D., Hall, C., Hazell, D., Jehne, W., Moore, L., Nairn, G., ‘The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative: The project’s establishment and monitoring framework’, Ecological Management & Restoration, Volume 23, Issue 1, 25-42, 2022
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Changes to landscape rehydration infrastructure planning rules (NSW) |
The NSW Government has proposed changes to allow farmers to restore streams on their property through landscape rehydration techniques, without the need for council approval.
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Series of before and after photos depicting three leaky weirs at ‘Palerang’, which taking part in the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative.
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Tree planting with a world view |
A team of ten young Indigenous men from the Worldview Foundation visited the Mulloon Institute’s ‘Duralla’ property to learn about and participate in landscape function restoration as part of the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative.
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Instrument maintenance and data downloads are still proceeding in the wet weather while local Mulloon wildlife are getting stuck into science.
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Mulloon Creek Natural Farms |
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Despite unseasonable rain and setbacks, exciting things are also happening with the farms getting ready to host guests again. After a lengthy pause, we are very excited to be opening the Home Farm up for events of all shapes and sizes. For more details please visit the MCNF website’s events page.
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The team have been super busy over the summer with several scoping reports for catchment scale projects, initial site inspections for properties and a farm plan for a client near Mittagong NSW.
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Three final properties are about to be selected to take part in the ‘Landscape Rehydration Trial & Demonstration in the WA Wheatbelt’ project. And TMI staff are preparing to present at Wheatbelt NRM's 'REstore. REshape. REnew' event in March 2022.
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The Queensland team have been delivering workshops in Mt Garnet for Terrain NRM ’s Upper Herbert Sediment Reduction Project and venturing into NSW for North West Local Land Services.
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Landscape rehydration results have been fantastic at Old Cameron Downs Station in Batchelor, NT with landholders Fiona McBean and Pete Cogill very happy with the vegetation response. Check out the before and after photos!
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Creating curriculum magic
Our new 'Learning Programs' are underway after a very imaginative six month collaboration between Mulloon Institute staff and David Hardwick (Soil Land Food).
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Making model landscapes
Model maker Gary McGuigan’s latest project is an interactive model of the Mulloon Catchment, illustrating landscape rehydration strategies which have transformed the landscape.
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Work experience at Mulloon |
Penny Cooper from Marulan, NSW joined us during pre-COVID times to complete the work experience requirements of her Bachelor of Ecological Agricultural Systems with the Charles Sturt University.
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Holistic Management, Mulloon NSW, 26-27 April 2022
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Finally, considering the current floods, it is very timely that 2022 Tony Coote AM Memorial Lecture will be delivered by the Hon Shane Stone AC QC, Coordinator General of the National Recovery & Resilience Agency. The event will be held at NSW Parliament House on Wednesday 23 March. If you have missed out on tickets, please keep an eye on our social media channels over the coming weeks for a short video recap of the evening.
I trust you will enjoy reading about our catchment scale work currently underway across Australia. As always, I am very grateful for your ongoing interest in what we do and the generous support you provide which allows us to expand our work even further.
Cheers,
Gary Nairn AO
Mulloon Institute, Chairman
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