I've worked in commercial agriculture
for 35 plus years.
And over my years within commercial agriculture,
I was very aware of diminishing populations
of lots of different species.
We've always looked at our role as being custodians
of the land that we hold.
And we have a really great opportunity here
to really bring that to the fore.
We love being able to walk through the beautiful
remnant vegetation that this property has.
Having groups of trees or remnant veg
obviously protect parts of our pasture from heavy winds,
equally provide some warmth during cold snaps.
So we think there's quite a few benefits
of having that interaction between both
grazing potential, but also the
ecological or biodiversity aspect.
Producers shouldn't be concerned about
having areas that would be termed locked up.
You can really continue to operate
as a commercial entity
with these things in place,
so that shouldn't be a concern for anyone.
Local Land Services and Landcare groups
have got great resources
around what's available in terms of how to go about your ecological planning,
but also provide lots of information
around funding opportunities.
We really believe that people should get into this
and invest some of their own time
and a little bit of their own money,
and leverage all of those factors.
More and more farmers are taking notice
of the biodiversity that's on their properties
and they're actively undertaking
land management activities
that support natural assets on their farms.
Activities like fencing waterways
and protecting native vegetation that's already existing.
Which can help their farm production as well.
Other schemes such as biodiversity credits
and carbon credits are gaining momentum
and these things are starting
to look attractive to consumers
who are interested to know more
about how their food's being produced
and what practices a farmer is using to
protect the environment on their farm.
So this is a great time for farmers to consider
what natural assets they have
and to look at ways they can take
advantage of emerging markets.
Improving the biodiversity on our farm
is just as important as producing our beef and lamb.
Farmers are aware and becoming even
more aware now that there's a necessity,
and probably a more of an urgent need
to change some farming practices
and are seeing the benefits.
Consumers also want some answers
about how we're doing things.
We've been fencing out waterways
and remnant vegetation
to remove livestock from these areas.
We have some zones of snow gum
which are becoming quite endangered in our area.
So we'd like to preserve those for any further impacts,
as well as the fallen timber
which creates habitat which is critical
for a lot of species.
By protecting them, you're giving those areas
an opportunity to flourish
and you can see the water retention
which flows through into our paddocks
where our animals feed.
We all don't want to be the reason
species became extinct.
We want to be the ones regenerating,
getting a balance between agriculture
and the natural environment.
And you'll end up with a healthier
and far more productive farm
if you find that balance.
My aim is to have a healthy property,
a healthy farm, healthy animals.
Having a complete ecosystem is part of that.
We fenced out areas and planted them
and the shelter that's available
even just for my animals,
it's terrific.
We've got linking habitat up
and just the biodiversity that's sheltered
within these fenced out areas.
And I think we've seen benefits straight away.
It's great.
You realise you've got a healthy bit of land,
and you're contributing to the broader landscape
by providing this habitat
and helping everyone really.
We couldn't have completed this project,
or even started
without the help of the
Local Land Services at Braidwood.
We had great advice regarding planting strategies,
and we've had a great success rate with our plantings
due to their advice.
We realise that not all properties are the same
and that landholders and farmers
are at a different stage of their journey
when it comes to looking at natural assets
on their farm.
So Local Land Services is here to help landholders
source information and take actions,
which can help build healthier landscapes
that benefit both production and biodiversity.
