It’s all about having a say

LDC Project Manager, Andrew Yates

NEVER before has a project taken such a wide-ranging approach to improving land and water quality at a catchment scale.

Strong and ongoing local participation is the cornerstone of the Landholders Driving Change project (LDC).

As the name suggests, in order for the project to be truly grazier-focused, it was critical to involve landholders from the start of the design process.

As a result, five local graziers who have been there from the very start, sit on the project panel to advise and oversee the project plan.

A sixth grazier is on the panel as the project’s Agforce representative.

Their role is to make sure we focus on land remediation and management activities that are relevant to graziers. Thank you, Bob Harris, the project’s Agforce representative, and graziers Tom Murphy, Garlone Moulin, Jessie Gooding, Buster O’Loughlin and Bristow Hughes, for taking on this important role, and everybody on the panel.

The LDC project is also benefiting from collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), CSIRO, JCU, TropWATER and Glencore.

These organisations offer expertise that will help achieve our project objectives.

An important component of LDC is to foster self-directed peer groups supported by extension staff, to help deliver skills, knowledge and works on ground.

Two grazier cluster groups of neighbouring properties are in the process of being formed.

They plan to undergo landscape remediation and other land management activities through a cooperative effort, and will share resources across boundary activity.

Graziers who are interested in being part of a cluster group can contact the Bowen office.

Landholders are also taking advantage of training opportunities, such as mapping and erosion control grader workshops.
The Dry Tropics Pest Advisory Forum, co-hosted by LDC and the Burdekin Dry Tropics Regional Pest Management Group, was well attended.

To maximise value, quality and efficiency of project works, two pools of local service providers have been established through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to deliver earthmoving machinery and services, repair and environmental improvement services, and farm-based professional services.

We’re keen to support local businesses, so local organisations make up a significant portion of those pools.

For me, project success will be seeing the BBB community leading the way in implementing a range of innovative tools and approaches for enduring sustainable and productive land management to reduce sediment runoff.

To evaluate project success, we need a starting point against which to measure.

In part, this will be done through surveys.

Graziers’ participation will help the project team to respond to landholder priorities by adapting existing program areas and designing new areas of support.

I would like to thank the project panel members who helped finalise the survey questions, and thank those graziers who have completed, or have agreed to complete, the survey.

My expectation is that The DIRT, along with other communication initiatives, will highlight project success stories.

I look forward to reading about landholders and what they are achieving.

LDC is an exciting project with big expectations from both the government and the BBB community.

The LDC team is ready to help deliver results.

Call us at any time to discuss any aspect of the LDC.

Contact me any time.on 4799 3500.