The challenge is that many farming landscapes across Australia are hydrologically dysfunctional, with invisible damage to water cycling and soil systems. Current monitoring tools are often siloed– focusing only on carbon or vegetation – and designed for researchers, not farmers. There is poor awareness of how degraded water cycles reduce climate resilience, and many landholders lack the tools or confidence to diagnose and track the impact of land management decisions. Outdated resources, low literacy around system-wide processes, and high costs make it difficult to scale restoration or meet new demands from natural capital and compliance frameworks.

LiFT meets this need with an innovative, co-designed toolkit supported by First Nations knowledge holders, scientists, and regenerative farmers. It will deliver adaptable workflows, a digital data platform and engaging resources – like animations and infographics – to make complex landscape dynamics understandable and actionable. With the backing of partners including Aurecon, WaterNSW, and Mulloon Institute, and aligned with nature repair markets, LiFT will empower landholders to monitor change, verify outcomes and access new funding opportunities. This whole-of-system approach makes LiFT a powerful enabler of climate resilience, ecological restoration and economic opportunity across Australia’s agricultural landscapes.

Read the full story over on our Current Projects page, and please take part in a short survey designed to gather insights into landholder preferences around monitoring.

LiFT PROJECT

At Gulargambone and Dubbo, Penny spoke about the impact of gravity and solar energy on landscapes and the role of plants in managing these forces. We then headed out on foot to read landscape patterns and processes and discuss how these concepts show up in the real world. We also spoke about where interventions might be useful, and how landholders can prioritise actions, starting outside of their waterways.

At Eugowra, participants saw firsthand the key in-stream interventions that can help dissipate the high energy flows that cut through the upper catchment and how rehydrating the landscape can help reduce flash flooding downstream. Tony demonstrated the critical role of engineering design when constructing a log sill and rock weir, before the group got stuck in together building brush mattresses and packs – simple, practical tools that landholders can take home and use straight away to tackle erosion. The team also talked through the use of photo-point monitoring stakes to help track changes in landscape function over time.

Pictured left: Construction of log sill and rock in Eugowra

Thanks to all our hosts for making the week possible: Two Eight Two Eight Cafe, Sandra and Roger, Belinda and Shane, and Kerstin, Mark and Torben. We appreciate your time, your local knowledge, and your willingness to share your journey with others. Also, a big thank you to Dom and the rest of the Central West Local Land Services team for your hard work in organising and providing the necessary funding to run these events.

The Boots on Ground event is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and Central West Local Land Services.

Day One focused on principles of landscape function and building small-scale brush weirs to remediate gully erosion. In the afternoon, the group joined other locals, Watershed Landcare guests and Central Tablelands Local Land Services for a meandering “Walk like Water” event along Bourbin Creek. This deep dry creek bed had many stories to share and features to discover, including Bunyip eggs, exposed historic riffle benches and natural leaky weirs created by fallen trees capturing debris and litter. On Day Two the Landscape Rehydration Toolbox was tested to great effect in the ‘sandpit’, with different types of in-stream interventions used to repair gullies and waterways constructed by hand in miniature. The day concluded with the team valiantly tramping up the hill above the gully system, taking in the magnificent view and constructing a brush contour to slow the flow of water at the top of the catchment.  

Building on our recent mapping workshop, the co-design journey with NewCo has great momentum now, with surveying skills and monitoring among the next planned activities – can’t wait.  

This project was supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust. The First Nations Water Skills Certificate is being co-designed with Wiradjuri, Yuin and Gumbaynggirr custodians. With thanks to Watershed Landcare for great collaborating on the Walk Like Water event.  

I also participated in the panel Building Resilient Agri Food Systems for a Changing Climate in the MENA region Global Green Growth Institute Islamic Organization for Food Security thank you Nina Bisom and ELD – Economics of Land Degradation Initiative for including Mulloon Institute and stories from Australia in this important panel.  
 
Amazing to hear from MAHAMADOU TOUNKARA and Elsayed Mohamed Elazazi  
and, in particular, from His Excellency Mohammad J Alsaati the innovative blended finance being delivered by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) that is delivering real benefits through knowledge sharing, capacity building and delivering resilience on the ground through partnerships and collaboration.  
 
It was also a pleasure to be part of The Nature Conservancy’s panel on the Essential Rolee of Nature in Drought Resilience.  The delegates were eager to hear and see stories from Australia where our landscape rehydration and restoration work has used nature based solutions to deliver across Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification outcomes.   

Finally what a pleasure to be part of Willem Ferwarda’s Commonland panel where he launched the 4 returns framework guidebook. Through both stories and practical resources, the guidebook aims to provide landscape practitioners with knowledge, tools and methods needed to achieve land degradation neutrality globally and meet the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The guidebook is the result of a collaborative effort led by Commonland, in partnership with Landscape Finance Lab and Wetlands International, and based on 12 years of lessons learned from our landscape colleagues in several countries including Wij.land, AlVelAl, Living Lands, Wide Open Agriculture, Dirty Clean Food, Grounded, Noongar Land Enterprise Group and others. 

It was also a special time to meet up with Regen WA’s Bonnie Jupp while at COP16 in Riyadh. Bonnie spoke at two events representing RegenWA Perth NRM and WA Landcare Network Inc
Advancements in Soil Health and Land Restoration Monitoring, where she was asked specifically about Natural Capital Accounting and how it can be used to scale up improving soil health. Leigh Winowiecki facilitated a rich discussion.

IUCN Regen10 Common Ground film screening, farmers and indigenous peoples panel discussions. Here Bonnie had the opportunity to share RegenWA’s activities that support Western Australian farmers to implement regenerative practices that support soil health.

Chris Inskeep and I (courtesy of generous philanthropic funding) attended the Conference of the Parties COP16Riyadh of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The report acknowledges the role of Nature-based solutions drought in restoring soil health and landscape function and in empowering communities. They offer no regrets options as they generate a triple dividend with two dividends regardless of drought:

1. reduce drought loss & damage from drought
2. increasing the income of land and water users & unlocking development
3. generating broader co-benefits for climate, nature and sustainable development.

It was great to share some of Mulloon’s work with the global community. The issues around the need for regulatory reform across Australia to support landscape restoration projects resonated with many delegates.

Landscape restoration can deliver across all the three UN conventions, climate, biodiversity & drought. The message at COP 16 was clear we urgently need to connect investment ready projects with available capital. We need to engage with the private sector to demonstrate how landscape restoration is a low risk investment that can deliver real benefits for the environment, communities and financial returns.   

Richard Thomas UN University & partner on the ELD – Economics of Land Degradation Initiative Economics of Drought Report released this week suggested: we need an honest broker to bring the patient capital from the private sector and to ensure equitable distribution of benefits.  Reports like the Economics of Drought underscore the significant costs of inaction. 

This was a great experience for Chris and I presenting the work of Mulloon Institute one that will stay with us forever.   

CEO & Managing Director, Carolyn Hall.

The water stewardship program with WaterNSW continues to gather momentum as Erin Healy and I have been busy engaging with stakeholders in the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment. We are also in the final stages of a document that will be utilised for communicating with catchment stakeholders and provide critical information about the impact of landscape rehydration projects. Thanks to Dr Laura Fisher particularly for all of the work that she has put into co-authoring, coordinating and editing this document, as well as Stuart Naylor from WaterNSW for all of his input and support. Laura also coordinated a systems tools and games workshop with BOHO Interactive which a few of us participated in as the next step towards developing some of these tools to use with landholders and other stakeholders for building capacity in landscape rehydration. 

We are extremely pleased to have completed the in-stream works associated with the Molonglo River project at ‘Carwoola’. This project has been over five years in the making, and it is really pleasing to get to construction phase. Jack Smart, who led the project, including most of the work on the detailed designs and regulatory approvals, should be very proud of what has been achieved. At times the construction conditions were particularly challenging, however Jack reliably worked through everything with the support of Peter Hazell, Max Brunswick, and Mitch Lennon.  Further work on the floodplain earthworks (including constructed wetlands for Green and Golden Bellfrog habitat) will be undertaken in April and May. We also thank the Purves family of Carwoola and NSW Environment Trust for their support in turning this project into a reality. 

Tony Wells and Henry Burt have been working on a project utilising the Agronomeye platform for a client with three properties (one in Victoria, and two in NSW). We are utilising the Agronomeye platform for the initial landscape rehydration assessment process for these properties. The product has come a long way since our initial pilot last year and we congratulate Stu, Tim and the team for its ongoing development. 

A number of other consulting projects have been undertaken from initial site inspections through to regulatory approval documentation and applications, as well as planning for some upcoming construction projects. We have also been busy with Grant opportunities, with much thanks to Nolani McColl for the huge amount of work that she has put into these. 

The MC team have also been busy delivering a number of Learning Programs around the country, including those associated with the ongoing Communities of Practice Program (CoPP) and First Nations Water Stewardship program. Our team have also been completing cultural training over the last few months with sessions delivered by Kate Harriden and Nicola Lambert from Catchment Studio as well as AIATSIS self-paced training. 

I’ve also managed to get out and about a bit over the last few months, including to attend the Wilmot Field Days with Carolyn and Louis, as well as a gathering of Hovells Creek Landcare (main photo at top of page at this event ©Nviro Media) and seeing the work we’ve completed there, presenting to a group of farmers at Harden thanks to Sam and the team at FarmLab; and just last week to the Central West to support Penny Cooper, Sharni Pike and Tony Wells with the delivery of a couple of Field Days (pictured right) and a Boots on Ground Day 

Jono Forrest
General Manager
Mulloon Consulting 

Communities of Practice Project  

The final months of the project are upon us, and land managers across the five communities are busy completing their Landscape Rehydration project plans within the mentoring program. Two properties in South-West WA and Bass Coast VIC hosted excellent, action-filled Boots on Ground events, leaving behind great demonstrations of natural infrastructure at the sites. These mark another stage in Mulloon’s partnerships with Bass Coast Landcare Network and Perth NRM.  

Lance Mudgway and Tam Connor highlighted the project’s successes at the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub Showcase event and got behind the mic as featured guests in their latest Dry Season Resources Podcast. And meanwhile GWYMAC hosted Peter Hazell the New England Landcare Adventures event, where Peter provided a tour of Landscape Rehydration projects. 

Read more about the events here –  

• South west WA Drought Hub showcase

• Boots on Ground – VIC 

• Dry Season Podcast 

First Nations Water Skills Project 

Our co-design journey to build a water-focused skills pathway with Wiradjuri, Yuin and Gumbaynggirr custodians is really under way, following from our Country-centred residency at the end of last year (read more pictured at right).

Together we are planning camps, workshops, skills videos and practical projects that interlink with local cultural practices and traditional knowledge. One of our first workshops was a digital mapping day delivered by Chris Inskeep and Laura Fisher with the delightful team at North east Wiradjuri company (read more).

Other planned activities include reading water’s path and cycles through Country, healing eroded areas with natural infrastructure, water quality testing, surveying and monitoring. Acknowledging the Natural Heritage Trust’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Program for making this project possible!  

A BIG thank you to the Banksia Foundation and judges. This national recognition at these 36th National Banksia Sustainability Awards builds on our story of hope, attracting increased visibility to our work, and opens doors to new partnerships, collaborations and expanded funding opportunities.

The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative (MRI) is the Mulloon Institute’s flagship project in southern New South Wales which is helping rebuild the functionality and resilience of the Mulloon catchment, its riparian corridor, tributaries, floodplains, wetlands, hills and woodlands, and is forming a critical biodiversity corridor in the region.

The MRI is a powerful testament to what can be accomplished when grassroots rural communities unite to restore and manage their landscapes. This initiative showcases the potential for catchment-scale restoration projects, proving that with the right vision, funding, and collaboration, large-scale environmental change is possible.

As CEO Carolyn Hall said in her acceptance speech (published in full below), “This project would not be possible without the landholders across the Mulloon catchment. They put their doubts aside once they saw the pilot project and have supported us every step of the way.”

The MRI has demonstrated that when farmers, scientists, natural resource managers, regulators, and policymakers come together, they can drive impactful, science-backed solutions that enhance biodiversity, improve water retention, and strengthen agricultural resilience. It serves as a model for sustainable land management, where conservation efforts align with financial productivity and long-term climate adaptation strategies.

By empowering communities to lead the way, the MRI is shaping a future that balances nature conservation with agricultural success, ensuring that landscapes remain both ecologically rich and economically viable for generations to come.