Sharing knowledge to restore hydrological function to our lands

Our Executive director, Dr. Sophie Bickford, shared her expertise at the recent 2024 Victorian Landcare Forum in Bendigo as part of a panel discussing Water in the Landscape.

Alongside other experts, Sophie discussed:

• how dehydration of landscapes has a massive impact on both wetland dependent but also dry land biodiversity - and, restoring hydrology must be a key strategy in keeping landscapes productive for both agriculture and biodiversity.

• landscape rehydration can be integrated with existing landcare practices, but key to this is education and practical know how (e.g. as is provided through educational field days at Biolinks Alliance's demonstration hydrological-repair project Spring Plains Watershed Repair and the Mulloon Institute's Community of Practice programs). 

• how more people need to be in the room (including policy makers and  funders) - understanding what we are set to lose if we do not retain water in the landscape - and what returns are possible if we do.

Sophie reflected after the forum: “The forum showed what a phenomenal asset Landcare in Victoria is to the state and to Australia - providing a critical mechanism for repairing and future-proofing the environment.” 

“Collaboration and the functional repair of landscapes were strong themes throughout the forum - and are approaches Biolinks Alliance has long advocated are essential to ensuring local stewardship actions add up to bigger picture results.”