Inside the hydration project aiming to heal dehydrated landscapes
This landscape rehydration infrastructure (pictured in 2020) was constructed at Westview Farm NSW in 2018 as part of the Mulloon Institute’s Mulloon Rehydration Initiative.
The Guardian, 29 September 2022
‘You look at what the landscape is telling you’: how landowners and farm managers are passing on regenerative techniques to keep water in the land
After putting his dogs out and fetching a warming cup of coffee (it can be “freezing” this time of year, he says), Matt Narracott describes the scene outside, on one of the two Southern Tablelands properties he manages for Mulloon Creek Natural Farms.
“You hear frogs, you hear the birds … it’s just a really nice place to be,” he says, detailing features of the land down to the grass on the alluvial paddocks along the creek.
Narracott brought his background in environmental science to the Mulloon Institute in May 2021 when he joined as manager to support operations at Mulloon Creek and Duralla. The two farms are spread across more than 2,000 hectares on two properties near Bungendore, about half an hour’s drive east of Canberra.
The creek didn’t look this idyllic before the Mulloon Institute’s regenerative work began in 2006. Photos taken beforehand show a low-lying creek with sharply eroded banks, and sparse vegetation over dry, bare soil. Narracott attributes the former state to farming practices brought to Australia by Europeans.
But the institute believes in doing things differently. It specialises in regenerative agriculture and biodynamic farming.
To restore hydration to the land, the institute used innovative methods that worked to control the way water flowed through it. Using materials ranging from rocks to living vegetation, workers started installing obstacle courses for the water, slowing its flow.
The institute’s scientific and agricultural research has found that when the land holds onto water better, this appears to bring a host of benefits, from thriving native wildlife to greater resilience against climatic extremes.
There are still challenges, Narracott says. “You can’t flog it,” he says of the land. “You need to really … look at what the landscape is telling you.”
But he believes the institute is on the right track. “It truly is amazing,” he says. “You see the turnaround and you think they’re definitely onto something here.
“We turned what was a completely degraded, eroded-out gully that basically every time it rained, just drained water, to now being this slow-moving creek, with ponds that foster [life].
“There’s fish in there. There’s frogs in there. I’m told there’s platypus. I haven’t seen one yet, but I keep a lookout.”
Sharing valuable lessons
Seeing the success of its experimental work in regenerative agriculture, the institute runs education workshops and field days to share its techniques. They’re hosted both at the farm and in the community and you can find one that suits you and your land.
The institute’s CEO and managing director, Carolyn Hall, says: “Education is a key strategy for the Mulloon Institute. Our farms are our living campus where we demonstrate and share with farmers how we restore and rehydrate landscapes and practice regenerative agriculture.
“We’re keen to bring the community along with us on this learning journey through regular workshops, training and events. Farmers want to see first-hand how we repair landscapes, so they can take our approach and work with us to adapt it across Australia.”
The Mulloon Institute treats its farms as living campuses, sharing lessons in landscape rehydration.
The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative was one of five model case studies worldwide chosen by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network to help it develop guidelines for sustainable, profitable and productive farming.
The institute’s results have also been key in convincing financial backers that productivity and helping our ecology are compatible goals. The latest supporter is plant-based milk company Vitasoy, which aims to use Australian almonds, soy, oats, and rice ahead of imported ingredients to make its products.
In a partnership that it hopes will be ongoing, Vitasoy has pledged support for the institute’s continued research, education and advocacy work – helping more farmers around Australia use rehydration to restore their land.
David Tyack, the managing director of Vitasoy Australia Products, says the company has made a $1.25m pledge to the Mulloon Institute to help rehydrate Australian catchments, across the nation, over the next five years.
* The Mulloon Rehydration Initiative is jointly funded through the Mulloon Institute and the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, with assistance from the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust.