As demands on agricultural producers to clearly demonstrate their sustainability credentials increase, navigating the complexity and nuance of environmental stewardship initiatives is as challenging as ever.
Today, in a boost to producers wanting to be better informed about environmental stewardship, the University of New England (UNE) and AgriFutures Australia launched Environer at the National NRM Knowledge Conference in Cairns.
A free, online decision support tool, Environer equips producers with credible, easy-to-access information to make decisions about participation in sustainability projects across the sector.
The tool focuses on opportunities that provide access to commodity markets and financial products and outcomes related to carbon emission reduction, sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Lead UNE researcher, Dr Rhiannon Smith, said the Environer tool gave producers a simple, clear snapshot of the opportunities on offer to help improve agricultural sustainability.
"In one place, producers can find information about things like grants, pilot programs, research and sustainability initiatives," Dr Smith said.
"Sustainability practices present a growing opportunity for producers to unlock new income streams, access premium markets and deliver higher-value products while contributing to a more sustainable ag sector, and we're pleased to provide Environer as a tool to help facilitate that."
For many producers, navigating the evolving landscape of sustainability, carbon and environmental stewardship is complex and time consuming, and this acts as a barrier to participation.
AgriFutures Australia General Manager Rural Futures, Simon Vincent, said Environer had been developed to simplify the task for producers by combining opportunities, resources, practices, benefits and risks in an easily accessible format.
"The Environer tool is designed to take a lot of the leg-work out of assessing and evaluating whether or not a sustainability program, initiative or project is the right fit for your business," Mr Vincent said.
"It's another tool in the toolbox for farmers and advisors and will help them make informed decisions before taking that next step."
In consultation with AgriFutures, the UNE team built Environer by reviewing published opportunities and research in Australia and overseas, with a focus on commodity markets and financial products available to Australian primary producers in environmental stewardship and sustainability.
"We reviewed information covering the benefits and costs of improving natural capital, carbon and biodiversity, including the provision of ecosystem services, social license implications and economic impacts," Dr Smith said.
"The result is Environer - a discovery, opportunity and decision tool allowing Australian producers across all industries to make informed decisions about the management of carbon and natural capital in production systems."
Johan Boshoff, who led the CASI technical team that developed Environer, said that an interactive web-based decision support tool is dynamic and, with maintenance, stays relevant much longer than a one-time report.
"Environer is a standardised, updated and independent information knowledge hub in the ever-changing landscape of environmental sustainability opportunities that will deliver access to credible information needed by Australia's primary producers about relevant schemes well into the future."
