Summary: Restoring freshwater wetlands has become crucial to improve outcomes for farmers. However, there is virtually no information on Australian farmers’ trade-offs when deciding on the use of privately owned wetlands. As part of a recently secured grant through the Future Drought Fund, Deakin’s Blue Carbon Lab is collaborating with the Wetland Revival Trust to trial and monitor the benefits of restoring natural wetlands in rural areas. We are monitoring the benefits of soil carbon, moisture holding capacity, native vegetation, biodiversity and impacts on landowners including the challenges and barriers that farmers have experienced throughout the project.
The purpose of this research is to:
Investigate monetary and non-monetary benefits of wetland ownership
Examine the impact of climate change on farmers
Identify socio-economic drivers for participation in wetland restoration projects
Develop a roadmap for optimizing wetland restoration.
https://www.bluecarbonlab.org/revitalising-freshwater-wetlands
By: Dr. Christie Lam