WITH news out of Queensland that $93 million will be distributed to land restoration projects across the State in the first round of Land Restoration Fund projects, I find myself wondering whether Western Australia is being left behind.
We get a lot right over here in the west.
We led the country in the adoption of no-till, our dryland cropping systems are second to none and we are continually innovating and adopting new technology to adapt to a drying climate.
But, driven by policies of the past, we've also historically led the way in reshaping the Wheatbelt bioregion - leaving less than 15 per cent remnant vegetation in parts.
Nowadays, most of us are planting far more trees than we're clearing - bringing back pockets of biodiversity, providing shelter for stock and managing the slow creep of salinity.
On our place we've planted 20,000 trees over the past decade.
Which leads me back to Queensland and the $93m announced last week under the Land Restoration Fund.
A $500m scheme, the Land Restoration Fund aims to expand carbon farming across Queensland by supporting land sector projects that deliver additional environmental, social and economic benefits.
The first of its kind in Australia, the scheme aims to empower farmers, land managers and landholders to create additional regular, diversified revenue schemes, bring down emissions in the land sector and create new, long term jobs in regional areas.
Which all sounds pretty good to me.
As a broadacre producer and chairman of AgZero2030, I'm committed to keeping an eye on national and global innovations in supporting farmers to accelerate our role in implementing climate solutions.
We've done a great job on climate adaptation for many years - yet with the clock ticking on limited time to alter our climate trajectory, we've got an important and exciting role to play in leading mitigation solutions - both on farm and within our communities.
It's early days for the Queensland Land Restoration Fund.
Which makes it the perfect time for us to look over the fence - is it time for WA to embrace our own pathway to enable producers to increase diversification through carbon farming - and better recognise the biodiversity and ecosystem services we provide to the community?
AgZero2030 may not have all the answers, but we're ready to ask the questions.
If you have a passion for the land sector, we're keen to hear from you.
- Simon Wallwork farms with his partner Cindy Stevens, on a 3700 hectare property at Corrigin. They produce broadacre crops, sheep and cattle. Both Simon and Cindy are committee members for AgZero2030, a movement within the WA agricultural industry to promote positive responses to climate change.
