Greening Australia Capital Region

Project Profile

Issues

Although there is increasing understanding of the problems and issues facing degraded woodlands in agricultural landscapes, the greatest environmental challenge is finding practical and cost effective solutions for rehabilitating these areas. In 2006, Greening Australia Capital Region (GACR) developed the Whole of Paddock Rehabilitation Program (WOPR) an innovative approach to combating growing land degradation problems, restoring paddock health and providing multiple production and conservation benefits on the farm.

Project Detail

Greening Australia Capital Region has been nominated for a National Landcare Award for developing Whole of Paddock Rehabilitation (WOPR), a program that combines conservation with productivity to deliver real benefits to farmers across Australia.

Although there is increasing understanding of the problems and issues facing degraded woodlands in agricultural landscapes, the greatest environmental challenge is finding practical and cost effective solutions for rehabilitating these areas. In 2006, Greening Australia Capital Region (GACR) developed the Whole of Paddock Rehabilitation Program, an innovative approach to combating growing land degradation problems, restoring paddock health and providing multiple production and conservation benefits on the farm.

WOPR integrates conservation with production, by returning native trees and shrubs back into grazing systems. Whole paddocks greater than 10ha are direct seeded with wide vegetation belts covering around 30% of the paddock. Farmers receive a stewardship payment of $50/ha/year for a 5 years period while the native vegetation reaches ‘escape’ height. The program integrates large scale revegetation into commercial grazing or mixed grazing enterprises to improve both the conservation and production values of the site. These include increased shade and shelter for livestock, improved native pastures that are more drought resistant, the provision of a supplementary feed source for livestock and a potential to reduce parasite load.

WOPR is the culmination of 27 years experience working with land managers and is based on the activities and experiences of a real farm which has been the focus of significant monitoring and research that now underpins the WOPR concept.  The grass roots program has proven to be popular, practical, cost-effective and user-friendly, enabling land managers to better address climate change, biodiversity losses, paddock tree decline, salinity and other land degradation issues.

In 2008, WOPR attracted over $200,000 from the Lachlan Catchment Management Committee and Department of Environment and Climate Change. Two pilot programs were successfully delivered in 2 different regions to ‘test drive’ the initiative.  Demand has exceeded supply with a significant and growing waiting list of more than 30 hopeful farmers.

WOPR represents a new generation of cost effective, farmer friendly environmental initiatives that are desperately needed to repair the highly degraded woodland communities across Australia.  WOPR offers farmers a new tool for combating the challenges of climate change and issues of land degradation that continue to threaten productivity and livelihoods. GACR is committed to continuing to monitor the success of its revegetation and WOPR programs and applying principles of active adaptive management to its activities in the region.

Greening Australia Capital Region is one of 88 finalists in the National Landcare Awards to be announced in Canberra on 24 June 2010. Commencing in 1991, the Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and groups that make a valuable contribution to the land and coast where they live and work.

Photography

Greening Australia Capital Region