Landscape repair gaining momentum in North QLD

In other news from the great northern half of the continent, the Lansdown Catchment Rehydration Initiative (LCRI) approaches the final handover. This project sits in the coastal dry tropics region. It is on one of the tributaries feeding the Ross River Dam in Townsville, north Queensland. Five locally owned and operated grazing properties are participating in the catchment-based project. Multiple property management and landscape repair works were designed and deployed by Mulloon Consulting throughout 2022. The final round of initial monitoring work has now been completed with ongoing photopoint monitoring to be delivered by participating landholders. 

The LCRI has demonstrated the variety of ways landscape rehydration can be implemented in response to landholders’ priorities. Each property is unique, even within the same geographic region. Yet business management, like personalities, can sometimes be like chalk and cheese even within very similar landscapes. This allows for greater opportunity in terms of practical implementation being tailored to specific people and properties through a robust design process. This is why Mulloon leads with first principles and a grounding in scientific understanding, before developing site-specific plans for intervention. 

Broadly speaking, landscape function is the main purpose driving the Mulloon Institute. Our goal is to initiate and implement projects that deliver improved resilience in landscapes across the continent. We believe the increasing resilience of agricultural enterprises can be supported by rebuilding the landscape function in an almost endless variety of ways. Landscape Rehydration is a potent approach to rebuilding this natural capital in the landscape that leads to greater social and ecological resilience. 

The Lansdown Catchment Rehydration Initiative was funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.