Bellinger Landcare is building a Regenerative Farming Network to support and connect landholders in the Shire to regenerate their agricultural soils, and biodiversity.

Landcare, through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, worked with fourteen Shire landholders to protect riparian biodiversity and enhance stream health by providing fencing and water troughs to eliminate or control stock access, use professional contractors to assist in weed control, and provide plants when needed to accelerate regeneration. Five regeneration teams were involved. This project was part of our mission to empower our community to create healthy ecosystems across the Shire. 

Nearly twenty hectares of riparian land was regenerated, using over three kilometres of fencing, over two thousands plants and over 1600 hours of paid regeneration work, plus the in kind contribution of the landholders in erecting fencing, establishing the plants, working alongside the regenerators, and maintaining the work into the future.

Workshops were also provided to Shire residents to help regenerate soils, enhanced by the creation of four fact sheets.

Landcare also provided education and networking opportunities through a grant from Bellingen Shire Council, and the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust, for a series of on-farm workshops, and contributing the the production of a new Landholder Guidebook, with versions for the Never Never catchment, the remainder of the valley, and the plateau. They are being produced in collaboration with the Never Never Catchment Group, with funding from the NSW Environmental Trust, Local Land Services, and the Landcare Enabling Program, and are due out by May 2025.

Hardcopies will be available, and downloads from the regenerative farming page, which already hosts our fact sheets and other resources.