The current state of Australia’s valuable agricultural land is 60% degraded* and continuing to degrade. Mulloon Institute is helping to turn this around.
(*The Australian Land Collaboration)
Australia’s agricultural landscapes face a critical challenge, with 60% of land degraded due to soil erosion, land clearing, acidification, salinity, and climate change. Mulloon Institute is at the forefront of reversing this trend, using innovative research and integrated solutions to restore resilience, productivity, and biodiversity.
Mulloon Institute is a not-for-profit research, education, and advocacy organisation. We believe the long-term sustainability of both agriculture and the environment requires balance and working together. We demonstrate innovative land management approaches that create healthier landscapes with more resilience to climatic extremes. By supporting change in the way landscapes are perceived, valued and managed, the Institute’s work benefits all Australians and ultimately our planet.
Mulloon Institute specialises in rebuilding the water cycle at property and catchment scales. We do this by restoring the movement, storage and cycling of water through the landscape. To do this we work with farmers, First Nations and rural communities to design and install landscape rehydration infrastructure to rebuild landscape function.
Adopting a landscape function approach at the rural community scale fosters a proactive mindset, encouraging adaptation and resilience in the face of both environmental and economic challenges. Through this dynamic change, the farming community is empowered to lead the way in sustainable agriculture delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG13 Climate Action ), (SDG14 Life below Water), (SDG15 Life on Land), (SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals).
Recognised internationally, we are turning the tide on land degradation and setting a global standard for landscape restoration and sustainable agriculture.
The Challenge
For over 200 years, we have witnessed escalating degradation of stream, riparian and adjacent floodplains, as well as soil erosion and massive land clearing. This has affected the resilience of our catchments to changes in weather patterns and has had devastating consequences on agricultural landscapes, biodiversity, water and soil quality and productivity. Rising to this challenge, Mulloon Institute is a global pioneer and advocate for rehydrating our farmlands, working side by side with rural communities and First Nations people to restore our unique landscape to its full potential.
The Opportunity
Landscape rehydration strategies re-establish the conditions for plant growth, rebuild soil fertility, fix more carbon in the landscape, restore lost biodiversity, improve water quality and availability, and moderate climatic extremes. This results in increased agricultural productivity, production of high-quality nutrient dense food, improved human health and community cohesion.
Mulloon Institute unlocks a systems approach to landscape restoration. The focus is on the capacity of a landscape to retain and cycle its vital resources, recover from shocks (drought, bushfire and flood), restore biodiversity and maintain resilience. This is in contrast to conventional farming focussed on synthetic inputs and production on individual farms.
Mulloon Learning Programs work directly with farmers, First Nations, rural communities and Natural Resource Management and regulatory professional to raise awareness and increase capacity to take onground action to address land degradation in agricultural landscapes.
Across landscapes extensive clearing, has resulted in:
Reduction in biodiversity
Reduction in water and soil quality and quantity
Decreased resilience of landscapes during climatic changes
Reduction in productivity of agricultural landscapes
Reduced drought resilience and increased susceptibility to fires
Reduction in natural fertility
Diminishing resistance to weed invasion
Mulloon Institute Research
Mulloon Institute’s research focuses on creating more resilient, productive and profitable landscapes where agriculture and the environment are working in unison to combat the impact of changing climatic conditions. We plan and make decisions based on research and facts.
Its research methodologies take a multi-dimensional integrated research approach with three key elements:
- Environmental impact of rehydrating landscapes
- Economic impact of landscape rehydration on landholders, community and the nation
- Social impact of landscape rehydration on community members.
Mulloon Institute has been recognised internationally for its ground-breaking research, particularly in the areas of landscape rehydration and restoration.
In 2016, Mulloon’s world-class research methods and integrated science on the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative, was recognised by the United Nations when it was selected as one of just five model case study projects globally to help develop guidelines for sustainable, profitable and productive farming.
More recently we presented our work and its measured impact to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification COP 16 in Riyadh, generating significant further global interest.
Scientific baseline surveys were conducted prior to the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative being implemented to monitor the project’s impact on Mulloon Creek and the surrounding catchment. Ongoing monitoring is also being conducted during the project to monitor changes.
Mulloon Rehydration Initiative – Baseline surveys & ongoing monitoring
How we do it
Our research prioritises improvements to:
Water
We are rehydrating our landscapes by reconnecting them to our rivers and streams and restoring landscape function. Rehydration techniques bank water in the landscape and reinstate hydrological processes that rebuild the small water cycle at the property and catchment scale.
Revegetation
As part of our work we undertake revegetation particularly in riparian areas. This contributes to rapid recovery of landscape function and habitat values. Various monitoring techniques can be used to measure the success of revegetation
Soils
Healthy soils are the foundation of life. We support best practice farming techniques that build soil health, rather than deplete it. Grazing management and landscape rehydration infrastructure help to build organic carbon and soilhealth.
Biodiversity
Providing diverse and complex riparian and terrestrial vegetation systems helps to create critical habitat and wildlife corridors for endangered wildlife, threatened species and endangered ecological communities.
Society
Through regular workshops and field days, we engage in two-way discussions with participants and equip farmers and land managers with the knowledge and capacity they need to restore landscape function and to manage their land and water resources sustainably, productively and profitably.
Scale
Mulloon Institute has developed in partnership with HydroTerra a modelling tool CReST which has prioritised catchments across NSW for further investigation for landscape rehydration. This tool created through a co-design process with external experts including Dr Andrew Westin from the University of Melbourne will support prioritised delivery of landscape rehydration across NSW. CReST can be scaled to become a national tool.
Our commitment to excellence and sustainability
Mulloon Institute is one of five organisations globally to have been selected by the United Nations Solutions Network as a demonstrator of sustainable, productive and profitable farming.
University Partners
We partner with globally recognised universities who are leaders in agricultural research, regenerative land management practices and innovation.
The Institute’s scientists, hydrologists and researchers work with farmers and other stakeholders on leading edge local and catchment scale rehydration and restoration projects across the country and are supported by members of our Science Advisory Committee.
Our scientists are continually refining their research on the Institute’s two working properties located at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms. Here the Institute actively researches and demonstrates various regenerative agriculture methods, undertakes trials, implements on-ground landscape rehydration works, and regularly shares our learnings with farmers and the broader public. We are also increasingly looking to our Indigenous culture in Australia that managed the land and survived from it for thousands of years.
Read more about our Learning programs.
Mulloon Rehydration Initiative Partners
