NRM Regions Australia has welcomed support by Member for Indi Helen Haines on the need for regional carbon farming extension officers.
Dr Haines sees a network of extension officers as a critical pathway to help farmers to both navigate their way to net zero and take advantage of the other opportunities the energy transition offers.
“The extension officers would help farmers one-on-one to adopt the technology, products and farming practices that would help them lower their emissions, access carbon credits, and achieve net zero emissions.” Dr Haines said.
Dr Haines made the comments during a speech she made at a Carbon Farming Conference hosted by North East Catchment Management Authority in Beechworth last Tuesday.
NRM Regions Australia CEO Dr Kate Andrews was delighted by the announcement by Dr Haines.
“It’s wonderful that the member for Indi has come out in support of a regional extension officer network to help landholders to reduce emissions and participate in carbon farming and other environmental markets. We have been engaging with government and industry on this need for some time - having endorsement from Dr Haines, who has worked and lived on farms and farming regions for much of her life, is great.”
North East CMA CEO Katie Warner was also encouraged by Dr Haines comments.
“Organising events like the Carbon Farming Conference is part of what we are doing to support landholders to understand and engage with opportunities to lower their emissions and explore carbon farming. Having some dedicated staff to support farmers directly would be providing what we know they need - one-on-one support to understand their options from someone independent that they can trust, and that understands local farming systems.”
With other organisations, such as the National Farmers Federation, also calling for independent carbon extension officers, NRM Regions Australia CEO Dr Kate Andrews is hopeful that sufficient long-term funding can be found for an extensive network across Australia.
“A regional network of carbon farming and environmental extension officers is what everyone is calling for to support more investment in nature. We know that farmers are finding understanding their emissions, and what they can do about them, extremely tricky. Regional NRM organisations are the obvious partners to support landholders in this work - we’ve been involved in carbon farming for over ten years, we have staff already in the regions, and we are used to working with everyone - be that Landcare groups, researchers, or industry. We are ready to get on with supporting all landholders to jump on the opportunities that are available in the energy transition.”
NRM Regions Australia is the peak body representing the 54 regional NRM organisations across Australia. Regional NRM organisations have been around for over 20 years and plan and deliver programs that support healthy and productive land, viable communities and sustainable industries for positive landscape scale change.
NRM Regions Australia is the peak body for Australia’s 54 regional Natural resource management organisations.
Contact: Kate Andrews – [email protected] 0403604823
