Learning outcomes

Our farm tours can be tailored for students of geography, biology and related sciences, farm management and social studies or to address specific educational outcomes.

Sustainable biomes

The NSW ‘Sustainable Biomes’ curriculum focuses on different world biomes, how biomes are used for food production, whether the world can continue to be fed sustainably, and strategies for increasing global food security. At MCNF we can explore five biomes – riparian, floodplain, gorge, woodland, and slopes – and provide an historical overview of the impact of European farming practices on hydrology, soil and vegetation structures in Australia, and the growing movement towards regenerative agriculture.

Subject matter

Students will be introduced to landscape restoration, water management, natural resource management, integrated landscape management, and how creek interventions (leaky weirs) help repair waterways, restore riparian zones, and hydrate the broader landscape.

Education can cover topics such as: geology and geomorphology; identifying and recording landscape features and indicators of landscape health; assessing and understanding soil; assessing and understanding how water quality and quantity are measured; and, learning how landscape degradation can be reversed.

Further advanced training can also be arranged in scientific monitoring methods such as Landscape Function Analysis (LFA), Rapid Appraisal of Riparian Condition (RARC) and Ephemeral Draining-Line Assessments (EDA).

Tour format

Visits will incorporate a walk along the ephemeral creek and rehabilitated wetlands to the site of the Natural Sequence Farming Pilot Project at Peter’s Pond on Mulloon Creek. This is followed by a tour of the step diffusion system on sloping country then a formal presentation and Q&A session in the Barn. This generally runs from 9am to 2pm with a short lunch break.