Community
31 July, 2024
Recognition for HDLN efforts
THE sustained efforts of the Heytesbury District Landcare Network (HDLN) team were recognised at an awards ceremony recently.
HDLN received a ‘Highly Commended’ at the 2024 Victorian Landcare Awards in the Australian Government Climate Innovation Award category.
HDLN has been involved in direct climate action since at least 2017 when the network put forward a successful grant application for a project called Keeping Carbon on the Farm.
HDLN landcare co-ordinator Michelle Leech said the network has continued to build on this work in the climate action and carbon space each year in a series of significant projects.
She said the network is currently working on a Farmers Emissions Reduction Toolkit funded by Agrifutures.
The toolkit will provide practical advice to farmers on how to reduce their carbon footprint while maintaining farm productivity, profitability and managing risk.
Ms Leech said as far as possible, the toolkit is based on the experience of farmers who have already started to change their practices, consultation with industry experts, as well as significant input from local producers and the agricultural industry.
“The complexity of working in this ever-evolving space necessitated consideration be given to as wide-ranging concerns as return on investment, barriers to adoption, community priorities and perceptions, community wellbeing, evidence-based research and anecdotal landholder experiences,” she said.
“Climate innovation is a focal area the network continues to develop in, so that we are able to provide the Heytesbury community with the most up-to-date data and practical support in the adoption of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.”
Ms Leech said the work the network does was shared on a variety of platforms which helps to expand the reach of the work.
“We are very happy to have been recognised at the Victorian Landcare Awards for our ongoing work in climate innovation for agriculture,” she said.
“Through the collective efforts of many, many people, including HDLN staff and contracted researchers, farmers, volunteers, industry experts and funding bodies, we’ve been able to provide education, establish demonstration sites and support landholders seeking to start incorporating strategies for climate adaption and mitigation on farm.”