2024 Finalists in the Banksia Sustainability Awards

We are thrilled to be named a Finalist in the 35th National Banksia Sustainability Awards (2024) in the Nature Positive category.

This prestigious award celebrates achievements in conservation, habitat restoration and species protection. It recognises individuals, organisations and initiatives leading the way in sustainable management practices, ecosystem rehabilitation, and innovative research and technology for preserving biodiversity.

The Mulloon Institute rehydrates and restores landscapes to create healthy ecosystems that are full of biodiverse habitat, more resilient to climatic extremes, and capable of ensuring food and water security.

Mulloon’s world-class scientific research is recognised globally by the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network which has chosen it as one of five demonstrators of sustainable agriculture and environmental regeneration.

The Institute’s flagship project is the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative (MRI) 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.

Spanning 25,000ha and involving 23 landholders, the initiative supports several threatened and vulnerable species, including the Scarlet Robin, Diamond Firetail, and Dusky Wood Swallow. Other species being reintroduced to the project area by Taronga Zoo include the locally extinct Yellow-spotted Bell Frog.

The MRI has provided a story of hope, of what can be achieved when grassroots rural communities come together and aspire to make changes in the way their landscapes function and the way they manage their landscapes. It has shown communities that catchment-scale projects are possible, that funding can be found and that support from natural resource managers, regulators, scientists, and politicians can coalesce around participatory projects. It demonstrates how rural communities can deliver a better future that combines safeguarding the richness of nature, with sustainable and financially productive agriculture and adaption to climate change.

This national recognition by the Banksia Foundation builds on our story of hope, attracting increased visibility to our work, and opens doors to new partnerships, collaborations and expanded funding opportunities.

The Winners are announced in Melbourne on Thursday 4 April 2024. We will keep you informed across our news pages and social media channels.