A trial to give farmers in six different regions the chance to diversify their farm income and improve drought resilience has been launched by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE).
Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud said DAWE’s Carbon+Biodiversity pilot would see farmers paid for the biodiversity benefits of mixed-species tree plantings on top of eligible carbon projects.
“Farmers have been doing biodiversity and carbon work for decades and it’s time they were paid for it,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We don’t want to lock up land, we want this work to go hand in hand with a productive farming enterprise,” he said.
“Our farmers produce some of the best food and fibre in the world and we want to reward them for delivering positive outcomes for the community, while also improving the financial sustainability of their own farm business.”
Mr Littleproud said that as part of the pilot, the Australian National University created the processes and protocols that measured and rewarded farmers for undertaking the plantings.
The Minister said six Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions across Australia had been selected to be included in the pilot, including Burnett-Mary (QLD); Central West (NSW); North Central (VIC); North Tasmania (TAS); Eyre Peninsula (SA); and South-west (WA).
“Regions have been selected, amongst other criteria, to test the program across a range of jurisdictions, farming systems, and vegetation types,” Mr Littleproud said.
