Climate Fund: Meet the Grassroots Projects Building a Positive Future

TRUST FOR NATURE

Working with wool growers to protect
Plains-wanderer grassland habitat

Across the Northern Plains of Victoria, on the Country of the Djaara, Wemba Wemba, Yorta Yorta, Barapa Barapa, and Barengi Gadjin Peoples, is a small population of birds called the Plains-wanderer. A critically endangered species, there are estimated to be only between 250 and 1,000 birds in the wild across Australia, but Trust for Nature aims to protect and increase their habitat—and thereby boost their numbers—through a unique partnership with the region’s wool growers.

Working closely with landholders in the Northern Plains, including Merino wool graziers, Trust for Nature partners with farmers on native grassland management, to ensure production can occur alongside conservation. This is where the project supported by the Climate Fund grant will come in, explains Trust for Nature’s senior conservation officer, Kirsten Hutchison.

“By building relationships with landholders, we can explain what we’re doing, what’s so special about the Plains-wanderer and how lucky they are to have this species in their backyards.

LANDCARE AUSTRALIA

Unlocking carbon and biodiversity opportunities—A toolkit for farmers

Across Australia, farmers play a crucial role in the fashion industry as suppliers of natural fibres such as cotton and wool. As large-scale landholders, they can also play an important part in restoring biodiversity, limiting soil erosion and improving the health of their land—and Landcare Australia aims to support them in these endeavours by helping them to engage in the emerging ‘green economy’.

“With support from the Country Road Climate Fund, Landcare Australia will build a toolkit to help wool and cotton growers understand the potential benefits of planting native vegetation on their property to not only sequester carbon, but also to enhance biodiversity,” explains Landcare Australia CEO Dr Shane Norrish.

The Climate Fund grant, alongside co-funding by Landcare Australia, will contribute $200,000 towards the development of the toolkit, as well as showcasing on-ground works across several pilot environmental planting projects.

The outcomes will then be shared across the nation via Landcare Australia’s network to reach a wide audience of Australian farmers and encourage participation in carbon sequestration projects.

FULL CIRCLE FIBRES

Mud to Marle—Giving a new life to low-value wool within the Australian fashion industry

Australia is renowned for its wool, supplying millions of kilograms of the prized raw fibre to countries around the world every year. Yet a proportion of the wool clip is deemed too low quality for the textile industry, with farmers selling it at much lower prices than premium fibres command. Industry collaboration Mud to Marle aims to address this issue by designing for circularity, sourcing low-value wool directly from farms and transforming it into a high-value yarn.

Led by social enterprise Full Circle Fibres, the Mud to Marle project brings together Deakin University, Geelong Textiles and Geelong Dyeing to trial end-to-end manufacturing within Australia. It will involve sourcing Australian grown wool and cotton with the aim of manufacturing fabrics entirely on-shore.

Full Circle Fibres founder and project leader Meriel Chamberlin says Mud to Marle will explore low impact processes at every step of garment production, starting with the raw fibres.

“The wool used in this project will be shorter off-cut fibre that is typically used in lower value products. It will be blended with cotton for functionality.”