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We have certainly enjoyed a successful summer season at Mulloon and as the weather cools, the work of delivering on our partnership with WaterNSW and on our grant wins has begun in earnest. We have also delivered our Annual Report, hosted our Annual General Meeting for members of Mulloon Institute and published our 2024-2028 Strategic Plan.  

These reporting processes have highlighted our urgent need for philanthropic support to continue delivering on the many activities we undertake. A reminder we have deductible gift recipients (DGR) status and your donations over $2 are fully tax deductible. Please donate now to ensure our important landscape rehydration and restoration work continues.

The Annual Report is always a time to reflect about the work we have undertaken during the previous year and this one certainly underlined the success of the Communities of Practice Project in delivering our national program of education and capacity building. Congratulations to the project team and to all the Mulloon team who have contributed to this amazing project. 

We have continued to enjoy success with a win in the 36th National Banksia Sustainability Awards in the Biodiversity category This came on the heels of the NSW win in the same category. This recognition of the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative (MRI), the project where it all began, is wonderful for the Mulloon Institute team and all our partners on the project, and especially for the Mulloon landowners who have made this project possible. We also feel that our founders Tony and Toni Coote and our late chairman Gary Nairn AO would be especially pleased with this award as well. 

The year ended with a special Christmas celebration for the Mulloon team at Home Farm. Everyone enjoyed an evening together reflecting on the remarkable year we had all just enjoyed.   

Chris Inskeep and I were on the other side of the world representing Mulloon Institute at the Conference of the Parties COP 16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (pictured at left). The MRI was the Australian Case Study for the UNCCD commissioned report prepared by the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative (ELD), part of the GIZ group, the Economics of drought report. I had the opportunity to present Mulloon’s work at the presentation of this report to the COP 16 delegates and then to join an additional four panels to spread the word about Mulloon’s great work delivering nature-based solutions across the COP. My review on the Economics of drought report can be found here.

In February I had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at Regen WA’s Collective Impact Project. I spoke about the importance of trust relationships and time when delivering projects with a collective impact approach. Thank you to Collective Impact Project Manager Craig Pensini for inviting me and to our good friends at Regen WA, CEO Keith Perkin, Bonnie Jupp, Tibby Tuckett, David Broadhurst and Ingrid Seiler for being such great hosts. It was wonderful to catch up with Noongar Land Enterprises CEO Alan Beattie and with Lance Mudgway while there, and with WA based holistic management educator Barb Howard. 

Meanwhile construction of the long-anticipated Molonglo Catchment Rehydration Initiative construction program got underway with eight instream works constructed on the Molonglo River at Carwoola Station. The change to the river channel is obvious and the measures are functioning well with some rainfall during the construction period. A volunteer planting day and information session was also held in March with some dedicated volunteers and the landholder Rob Purves attending.   

Jono Forrest, Mulloon Creek Natural Farms Assistant Regenerative Farming Manager Louis Convery and I attended the Wilmott Cattle Co Field Dayat Ebor (Louis and I pictured right). Gabe Brown was a highlight, he told us it is all about stewardship and how we change what we see is key to making change. It was also great to catch up with Stu Adam, CEO of Agronomeye and his colleague Simon Butler. 

I also had the opportunity to be part of a panel discussing solutions to climate change at the Australian Museum as part of Climate Action Week in Sydney. The panel was hosted by Richie Merzian, CEO of the Clean Energy Investor Group, and I joined celebrated inventor (green steel) Professor Veena Sahajwalla AO, and solar pioneer Dr Muriel Watt AM. It was a fun day out; thank you to the Australian Museum for inviting Mulloon to be on that panel. 

I find myself this week in Darwin for the Northern Food Futures Conference and the Northern Drought and Innovation Hub Pillars and Silos meeting. Always a pleasure to be back in the place where Gary Nairn AO spent so much time. 

Coincidently last week while we were at the Banksia Awards, Rose Nairn was also in Melbourne, presenting the inaugural Gary Nairn AO Leadership Award through the Centre for Spatial Data and Land Administration and the University of Melbourne. Congratulations to the recipients.  

Thank you all for your ongoing support of Mulloon Institute. Please remember us when you are considering your end of financial year giving.

 

Best Wishes
Carolyn