What options are there to integrate profitable farming and successful biodiversity conservation in the region?
These challenging and exciting questions were central to a community workshop to be held at Coolac Hall on 29h April 2021.
The workshop is co-hosted by The Australian National University Sustainable Farms project and Leuphana University of Lueneburg (Germany), and organised in collaboration with Muttama Creek Landcare Group.
It brings together land managers and local organisations to discuss how land managers, farming families and local communities can flourish and still enable nature to thrive into the future.
The workshop builds on 94 interviews conducted with people in the region in 2020 as part of the research project The Future of Farming and Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: the Muttama Creek Catchment Area.
The Muttama Creek Catchment has been on a long road of change but is facing increasing volatility and pressures in the future (e.g. climatic and demographic changes and market pressures).
"The workshop provides a platform for our local community to engage in future thinking, planning and action to achieve a desirable future for people in the catchment area," Annie Jacobs from Wallendbeen said.
"During the workshop, cross-over benefits of farm production and biodiversity for farmers, local communities and local organisations will be considered by identifying participants' aspirations for the future of the area." explains Tamara Schaal from Leuphana University of Lueneburg, lead investigator in the project.
The different future trajectories will be the basis for a shared community vision from which future catchment planning and funding opportunities can be developed.
A follow-up workshop on Friday 14 May will build on the future aspirations and identify actions needed to move towards a future that is desirable for the local community, farming landscape and biodiversity.
The outcomes of the research will also feed into the ongoing work by Sustainable Farms in supporting sustainable and profitable agriculture on the South West Slopes.
The workshop will be facilitated by Paul Ryan, Director of the Australian Resilience Centre.
- For further information about the workshop contact Annie Jacobs at 0417 717075.
- For more information about the research project or an interview contact the lead investigator Tamara Schaal at schaal@leuphana.de.
- The Future of Farming and Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: the Muttama Creek Catchment Area is a joint research project of Leuphana University of Lueneburg (Germany) and The Australian National University (Fenner School of Environment and Society).
- The project is supported by the Muttama Creek Landcare Group.
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