Talkin’ Sus Ag with the Next Gen

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On Wednesday October 5th Our Sus Ag Project Officer Anna got to spend some time with the next generation of creative minds at the NextGEN Entrepreneurs School Holiday Workshop. NextGEN is a competition to introduce school children in WA to the concept of problem-solving with new improvements or a clever idea for a Carbon Zero Future.

The students attend a series of workshops run by Scinapse, Pollinators Geraldton and Euphorium, and present their innovative new ideas at the pitch night event. There are three age categories where students can win up to $500 in each.

In the workshop, Ruben from Euphorium and Lara from Scinapse unlocked the students’ creativity and problem solving skills through the Theory of Change. The students learnt how to come up new ideas and solutions through creative thinking, communicate feedback to other students’ ideas, expand on their own designs, test their designs, and finally present them. 

Anna was asked to talk about ways the agriculture industry is changing practices to become more sustainable and reduce carbon emissions, and how NACC NRM’s projects are involved. Anna touched on the environmental impacts of historical land clearing; including wind erosion, biodiversity loss, poor soil fertility, water repellence and the disruption to the carbon cycle. The students were already very familiar with the carbon cycle and land clearing, providing answers and asking in-depth questions to expand their knowledge on the subjects throughout. Anna explained NACC NRM’s Growing Great Ground project which is aiming to improve groundcover and on-farm biodiversity through perennial pasture and native vegetation plantings and other sustainable agricultural practices. The group also talked about some other carbon zero examples in the agriculture industry including spreading compost/manure on crops and pastures, carbon credits, planting legumes to fix nitrogen into the soil, tools/app for farmers to track their carbon emissions, and electric farming vehicles. 

The students then came up with their own innovative sustainable agriculture ideas by making a prototype and providing feedback to each other. Some of the ideas they came up with included an autonomous electric solar powered tractor, an app that connects grocery shoppers to products grown by sustainable farmers, a solar powered compost machine, and a new crop that can be grown in the summer season to ensure year-round groundcover on the paddock.

NACC NRM looks forward to seeing if these awesome Sustainable Agriculture ideas make it to the pitch night in December and hopefully beyond in to the future of carbon zero farming.

For more information about the NextGEN Entrepreneurs competition visit: https://www.pollinators.org.au/nextgen-entrepreneur

The Growing Great Ground project is supported by the Australian Government’s Regional Landcare Partnerships initiative of the National Landcare Program.

Anna Cornell – Sustainable Agriculture Project Officer

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In 2020-21 I talked about ‘raising the bar’. In 2021-22 we worked on setting the bar on fire. Over the last 12 months, the team at NACC NRM has not stopped.

The Sustainable Agriculture team has extended the program’s reach through collaborations with grower groups in the regions. Specifically, the Beyond Reasonable Drought project and Grower Group Alliance – South West WA Drought Innovation Hub – Geraldton Node project. The Beyond Reasonable Drought partnership with grower groups supported farmers across the region to improve the environmental sustainability of their agricultural production and drought resilience. The outcomes of this project have been consolidated through our successful Expression of Interest to the South West WA Drought Innovation Hub, with support from grower groups across the region, to host the Geraldton Node of the Hub. The program continues to focus on working with agricultural networks to share technical expertise and provide opportunities that will improve land management practices in agriculture across the region.

The conservation outcomes of ranger teams have expanded through work on several land tenures. Maintaining Heritage sites such as Willi Gulli, Racecourse Paddock and Buller River has long been a priority. During 2021-22, the teams have increasingly focused on threatened species and ecosystems.

To this end, Western Mulga rangers have improved management across 19,000 ha for the conservation of Malleefowl through firebreak and access management. They completed the maintenance of water holes and supported the monitoring of over 90 Malleefowl mounds.

Similarly, the Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporate ranger team have contributed positively to Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo populations by installing artificial hollows and habitat restoration.

All ranger teams have collected native seed, propagated native plants for restoration, and planted native vegetation in key locations across the NAR. Seed collection provides valuable industry experience and has facilitated the planting of over 100,000 seedlings during the year.   

In September 2021, the NACC NRM team delivered the WA Threatened Species Forum, held in tandem with the National Malleefowl Forum. Given the impact of COVID and the timing of this event, having more than 100 delegates from all over Australia was a significant achievement. The two Forums brought together 12 events over five days and featured 14 local artists, 25 businesses and 36 youth participants.

Following the successful relaunch of our updated NARvis, NACC NRM was invited to help lead a significant piece of strategic planning work for the region with Mid West Development Commission and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. With funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the consortia delivered a Regional Drought Resilience Plan covering the shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley and the City of Greater Geraldton, along with significant technical analysis of drought vulnerability for the South West land division. The development of this plan also included extensive community consultation to ensure that local knowledge and technical advice guided the development of priorities for action.

This planning work links to existing NACC NRM on-ground projects, including Beyond Reasonable Drought and the Chapman Catchment Collaborative regeneration project.

It was a busy year for events with face-to-face events becoming commonplace again. During 2021-22 we hosted events in Gingin, Moora, Dalwallinu, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, Walkaway, Nabawa, Perenjori, Kalannie and Morawa. We supported events in Karakin, Thundellara, Perenjori, Paynes Find, Wubin, Cataby, Warradarge, Northampton, Yuna, Dalwallinu and Dandaragan.

We also supported on-ground works throughout the region, including at the following locations Yuna, Dalwallinu, Dandaragan, Merkanooka, Goodlands, Kalannie, Bunjil, Yardarino, Canna, Kondut, Latham, Kadathinni, Nabawa, Red Gully, Sandy Gully, Waddy Forrest, Devils Creek, Perenjori, Bowgada, Ellendale, Wandana, Namban, Hill River, Warradarge, Gillingarra, Regans Ford and Moonyanooka.

Our region is vast – slightly larger than Tasmania, which for comparison, is serviced by three separate NRM organisations. Covering the NAR region and its many environmental threats is challenging. We continue to focus on partnerships and collaboration to address this challenge. We know that by working with our community through passionate delivery of collaborative on-ground projects and education, the community will value and actively protect our region’s natural capital.

This year we have launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP Working Group consulted widely and developed an Innovate RAP which Reconciliation Australia approved in March 2022. The activities to fulfil these commitments are now in full swing.

Sadly, at the end of 2021, we farewelled former NACC NRM CEO Shelley Spriggs, who lost a long battle with cancer. Shelley was an inaugural inductee to the NRM Leadership Honour Roll. I will always be grateful for her guidance and no-nonsense approach, not to mention her passion for life.

While we have said farewell to some, we have welcomed many new faces across all programs, including our Administration team. We have also hosted a school-based trainee from Nagle Catholic College who has been working towards a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystem Management. This trial position has been very successful, and we look forward to making this opportunity available again in 2023.

During 2022 we have taken on new projects that align with our organisational and program objectives, and we have successfully completed some great initiatives that support continued conservation and sustainability outcomes. I want to thank the whole team who continue to go above and beyond for the organisation and each other proving their ongoing commitment to our purpose and our values.