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New land management alliance raising the bar on sustainability
Queensland’s peak agriculture industry bodies, natural resource management organisations, and environmental advocates have formed a working alliance to pool their resources and experiences in support of landholders and sustainable land management.
The new Land Management Alliance (LMA) said they welcomed the biodiversity-carbon pilot trials announced earlier this month as a stepping-stone for the development and implementation of a more broadly based certification system embedded in every-day land management and taking this step was the next logical building block in that process.
AgForce CEO Michael Guerin said his organisation, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF), Australian Land Management Group (ALMG), Southern Queensland Landscapes, and the Lock the Gate Alliance together bring a sustainability approach that considers every aspect of land management.
“Our new LMA has endorsed ten key principles for the design and operation of a stewardship certification system – with particular focus on landholder participation and the credibility of the certification,” Mr Guerin said.
“We want to engage landholders in a broad-based, meaningful way via a stewardship system that is outcome rather than practice based and reward them for well-managed landscapes.”
Australian Land Management Group CEO Tony Gleeson said he believed stewardship should be embedded in on-going land management and deliver continuous improvement across the economic, environmental, and social spectrums.
“What we’re proposing is a voluntary, whole-of-farm, landscape linked certification system that isn’t restricted to particular ecological features such as biodiversity, or water quality, or whatever,” Mr Gleeson said.
“A system that is operated by an independent entity outside of government and industry, and whose standards and certification are provided on an open, competitive basis by accredited trainers and auditors.”
QFF CEO Dr Georgina Davis said the LMA was sending a clear message to policy makers that most landholders are focussed on sustainable and profitable production, while looking after the environment and natural assets.
“Many landholders have made significant progress to proactively change their existing land management practices, but some need help making the transition,” Dr Davis said.
“By investing in capacity building through extension and education programs we’ll help landholders understand regenerative farming, as well as discover ways to profit through conservation.”
Lock the Gate Alliance Co-ordinator Rick Humphries said it was important that any stewardship program thoroughly addressed the complete range of environmental impacts relevant to an individual landholder’s situation.
“If stewardship programs only focus on specific, narrow issues, they will by definition only attract a relatively small number of landholders,” Mr Humphries said.
“That’s not to say specific issues such as biodiversity and soil carbon cannot be rolled into a comprehensive system – they can – but if we want to maximize the number of landholders involved in such a scheme it must be able to handle a much broader range of environmental impacts in order to increase productivity and profitability.”
Southern Queensland Landscapes Chief Executive Paul McDonald supported those claims by stating that the work done by NRM organisations so far had not reached enough landholders.
“For around 20 years, NRM groups have worked with landholders to help them balance profitable production and environmental needs; however, this work has reached less than 20 per cent of land managers,” Mr McDonald said.
“If we’re going to make a greater impact, we need to work with the other 80 per cent and consider new ideas and approaches that can become the next steps on the journey for landholders.”
For more information about the Design Principles for a Land Stewardship Certification System, click here.
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The Condamine Headwaters, a critical ecosystem in Southern Queensland, has long faced threats from sedimentation, habitat degradation, and thermal regime changes. The Blackfish Project, dedicated to reversing these impacts, unites scientists, landowners, and the community in a shared mission to restore and protect this vital environment. At its core lies the river blackfish, a sensitive indicator of the overall ecosystem health. Central to the project's success is the unwavering commitment of landowners like Paul Graham. Inspired by the project's vision, Paul reached out to SQ Landscapes seeking support for a solar pump and tank to divert his cattle away from waterways on his property. Paul's deep-rooted love for his land, captured in his humorous quip "I love my land more than I love my wife," is a testament to the powerful connection between people and place that drives conservation efforts.
The Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes recently met in Toowoomba. In addition to the Board meeting, Board and Executive worked through updating SQ Landscapes’ strategy. Company Secretary Pam Murphy highlighted the importance of the latest Board meeting and what it means for the company’s future. “The updated strategy will help SQ Landscapes deliver sustainable natural resource management (NRM) outcomes that improve the lives of people in regional communities now and for the future,” Pam Murphy said. “We’re excited to continue delivering value for our region and build Flourishing Landscapes and Healthy Communities across Southern Queensland under the guidance of the Board,” Mrs Murphy said.
Annual General Meeting When: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 Where: Online via Zoom Time : 9.00am for 9.30am start
When Sophie and Adrian McInnerney began adopting their “paddock to plate” experiment into their lambing business, they quickly discovered how a new and exciting approach to running their enterprise transformed their resilience and soil health. Multi-species cover cropping was the answer, and now their business has become a diverse enterprise that has embraced variations in livestock feed and crop rotation, building riparian fencing, and investing in healthier soils. This has opened the young couple to new opportunities to create new revenue streams, protect their business against natural disasters, drought, and prepare for economic hardships. Their property, “Bellhaven Brook”, located just an hour east of Goondiwindi, was the site of Macintyre Ag Alliance’s latest Multi-Species Cropping Field Day. With the support of Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes), the event aimed to promote the McInnerney family’s new land practices, offering an opportunity to educate land managers in the region of new ways to strengthen their property and enterprise. SQ Landscapes’ Goondiwindi-based Project Delivery Officer Keith Walker joined land managers for the workshop and highlighted how multi-species cover cropping could pave the way to rebuilding healthy soils and farming enterprises. “What was great about visiting ‘Bellhaven Brook’ is that you don’t have to be a scientist to understand this stuff. The idea is to just try and experiment like the McInnerneys did,” Keith Walker said. “These cover cropping systems are all about building your experience, experimenting and slowly developing a healthier and richer soil profile; which is the basis of all businesses; cropping and grazing alike.” Mr Walker said. “It was interesting to see the range of people, the ages from young and old, and the differences in enterprises. It’s a reminder that this genre of agriculture is starting conversations,” he said. “It’s all about implementation on the ground and getting the results for less money and experimenting with what people are doing.”
Cool burns, camels, and funding for local farmers were on the agenda at 'Risdon Stud' as land managers Nick and Liz Suduk hosted the Southern Queensland Landscapes and Department of Resources site visit to showcase the success of the Natural Resources Investment Program 2018-2022 (NRIP). Risdon Stud, south of Warwick, was primarily a high-intensity horse stud, but under new ownership with the Suduk family, the focus has been on restoring productivity and landscape health. “The Suduks participated in the NRIP project, where they received on-site guidance from First Nations fire practitioner Robbie Williams from Fire Lore, for cool burning in native vegetation areas,” Project Delivery Lead Natasha Mylonas said. “This was their first exposure to this type of burning and they have since embarked on a journey towards building their confidence in applying it elsewhere on the property,” Ms Mylonas said. “The NRIP project also supported livestock fencing, largely to exclude cattle from a large patch of remnant vegetation, combined with weed management in that remnant vegetation,” she said. “It is really difficult to muster out of the remnant vegetation, so the fencing has meant easier mustering of the cattle, as well as reduced weed spread and damage to the native vegetation in the patch.” “Outside of the NRIP project, they maintain a herd of agisted camels as part of their weed management strategy and experimented with fire to manage wattle regrowth,” Natasha Mylonas said.