Summary

Australian producers play a vital role in emissions reduction and environmental stewardship, so much so that the NFF has identified $5 billion of value for ecosystem service provision from the broader community by 2030. The large number, and disparate nature, of existing resources has become as much liability as asset and risks causing confusion about decisions that relate to soil carbon, carbon farming and emission reduction, sustainability and environmental stewardship.This online knowledge hub/CoP will provide the national ‘one stop shop’ for Australian producers through its Discovery, Opportunity and Decision (DOD) framework that will be co-designed to ensure relevance for levied, emerging and rural industries. The review of global literature, resources, and research will identify the key material relating to information about, benefits, and associated markets for soil carbon, carbon farming and emission reduction, sustainability and environmental stewardship. It will also identify gaps in knowledge and research with untapped potential.
The hub/CoP has to be useful for producers in order to provide value. We will engage with Australian producers, from a variety of Agrifutures’ levied and emerging industries at an early stage of the project to ensure optimal design and impact of the knowledge hub/CoP and DOD framework across different industries, scales and geographies. The completed solution will provide the clarity of information resource needed by Australian producers to most effectively gain value from the opportunities in carbon, sustainability and stewardship.

Program

National Rural Issues

Research Organisation

University of New England

Objective Summary

Australian rural industries are increasingly expected to demonstrate environmental stewardship to meet consumer concern about the impact of agriculture on the environment. Those same industries also form an important part of the global solution for carbon neutrality and sustainability as they are integral to the carbon cycle and the health of natural capital and their ecosystem services. A confusing plethora of resources, stewardship programs and markets now confront Australian producers trying to make informed decisions around environmental stewardship, sustainability, and emissions reduction and/or carbon neutrality.
This project provides the opportunity to build a credible online knowledge hub/CoP from a review of global resources, current stakeholders and research that directly addresses the emerging complexity of apparent opportunities. This will support producers to better understand the benefits from adopting new practices and accessing the associated markets.
The project has four objectives:
-Conduct a global literature review of existing soil carbon, carbon farming and emission reduction, sustainability and environmental stewardship resources relevant to Australian primary producers. Evaluate resources for benefits and associated market opportunities, seek permissions from content owners to link to the hub, and identify knowledge gaps.
-Map current stakeholders, activities and identify research with latent potential.
-Co-design, develop, and test an online knowledge hub/CoP with Australian producers from a variety of AgriFutures industry advisory panels covering levied and emerging industries to ensure ease of use, relevance and validity.
-Deliver the online knowledge hub/CoP to AgriFutures Australia, including recommendations