Calling for a National Code of Practice for Landscape Rehydration and Regeneration

The NSW Government has defined Landscape Rehydration Infrastructure Works as, ‘works involving placing permeable structures on the bed of a stream to reduce erosion and maintain or restore flows for ecological purposes’. It is likely this will be a tipping point, leading to reform in other states.

Following on from our first and highly impactful advocacy win last December where the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy was amended to smooth the path for installation of natural structures to repair degraded streams, known as ‘Landscape Rehydration Infrastructure’, the Mulloon Institute Law Committee is now lobbying for a National Code of Practice for Landscape Restoration and Rehydration.

The ground-breaking landscape rehydration research of Mulloon Institute has identified an urgent need for national action to reverse almost 250 years of agricultural damage to our native ecosystem services through vegetation clearing leading to incised and eroded rivers and tributaries, and the decreased mechanisms of our soils to hold water, carbon and microbial activity.

The objective of a Code of Practice is to support farmers and farming communities, who manage 61% of the Australian land mass, to successfully navigate the task of producing food and fibre while also being stewards of our natural assets.

The internationally recognised work of the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative is the evidence-based blueprint for the solution offered by Mulloon Institute. Landscape rehydration offers the capacity to transform vast areas of degraded landscapes in just a few years, using inexpensive techniques that utilise rocks, logs, vegetation and adaptive management to repair the landscape function.

Environmental Law Scholar Dr Gerry Bates is contributing to the draft Code: "There is such urgency now, as the State of Environment Report tells us. If we want to heal our environments, we need an outcomes-focused approach that is easy to navigate. What we have now is a tangled spaghetti of approvals processes stalling hundreds of worthwhile projects. Many other sectors have a Code-compliant approach, why don’t we have one for Environmental Restoration?” he asked.