Climate Smart Agriculture

Empowering Farmers to Navigate Climate Change and Strengthen Natural Capital
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Period: 2025 – 2028 
Funding Body: WICC and the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program and delivered alongside South Coast NRM.
Project Officer: Kylie Cook

WICCs’s Catherine Reid documenting a newly completed fence protecting karri, marri, bullich and wetland habitats.

WICC has signed up to join the Future Ready South Coast program. This program supports improvement of biodiversity on farms and implementation of a range of sustainable agriculture programs. In May, WICC’s Kylie Cook met all the regional partners of this program (extending from us in the west, to Esperance in the east). Groups are implementing many interesting projects, including farm dam enhancements, pasture trials and carbon accounting. We can definitely learn a lot from what others are achieving. 

As part of this project, WICC is continuing our subsidies to fence off remnant bushland on farms. We have seen firsthand on many local farms what a difference a fence can make. By keeping cattle and sheep out of remnant bushland we can improve biodiversity on farms by allowing valuable understory plants to persist or return. These plants – like banksia, hakea and sheaoks – are key food resources for our native animals. As a bonus, a healthy understorey also suppresses weed species. Fencing remnant bushland can also be operationally useful on your farm. It’s a lot easier to run cattle or sheep when you can find them!

In this program, we have already funded 3.24 km of fencing that has been completed earlier this year on properties between Kentdale and Mount Barker. We have signed agreements with 4 more landholders to complete 3.28 km of fencing next financial year. This program will run until mid-2028. If you have an area of remnant vegetation on your property and would like to receive a fencing subsidy to protect it, apply here: Fencing and Revegetation​