Challenge
Nearly 60 percent of Australia’s landmass is owned or managed privately. For the long-term survival of the nation’s biodiversity, private landholders should be included in expanding protected areas for conserving Australian landscapes and natural heritage.
For nearly 30 years, ecologists, conservation biologists, social researchers and farmers in the Australian National University’s Sustainable Farms project investigated the impact of enhancing or extending existing on-farm natural assets to better conserve biodiversity on private lands in Southeast Australia.
They found enhanced farm dams provide a number of benefits, including important conservation areas for native animals and improved livestock health and production.
The coordinators of the Sustainable Farms project sought assistance from The Comms Doctor® to help disseminate the results of the project to the leaders of local farming groups for their “train-the-trainer” workshops.
Approach
The Comms Doctor advised on and re-wrote materials provided by the project to better suit their intended audiences, which includes extension officers, farmer group leaders and Landcare coordinators.
The result was the training manual Enhancing Farm Dams: A guide to facilitating best practice, which provides information to trainer workshops in Southeast Australia on how to enhance farm dams. It also provides suggestions for workshop design and activities.
Outcomes
- Training manual Enhancing Farm Dams: A guide to facilitating best practice, initially provided to course participants in the project’s ‘train-the-trainer’ workshops; and,
- Links from the manual to additional materials produced by the project and available on the project website, including videos, podcasts, farmer case studies, and technical guides.