Project will improve knowledge of high soil carbon landscapes within both agricultural and conservation landscapes in Tasmania
The Australian government is investing $2.34 million in efforts to improve knowledge of the state’s carbon-rich soils and provide better guidance for land use so as to lead to more sustainable agriculture.
This funding will be used for projects to locate and protect the state’s ‘high soil carbon landscapes’, as well as quantify their carbon storage content and potential and will be delivered through monitoring, change management, training and heritage programs.
Funding is delivered under the National Soil Action Plan.
The Action Plan has developed partnerships with states and territories to deliver 17 projects to address priority actions in support of good soil management and further demonstrating this Government’s commitment to soil.
The projects are being funded as part of the $20 million from the 2023-24 Federal budget to implement the plan in addition to co-contributions from each state.
They complement investments under the Natural Heritage Trust Climate-Smart Program, including $36 million to improve soil information and soil expertise, and $130 million to support farmers to adopt climate-smart sustainable agriculture practices.
New soil monitoring sites, on-the-job training and graduate mentoring delivered by the partnership will also help identify threats from current land management practices and promote better soil conservation and stewardship of natural resources.
These measures will enable improved decision making and planning by land managers – in both production and conservation landscapes – and inform climate change carbon emission and sequestration calculations.
Tasmania has relatively high soil carbon and the state has previously conducted digital soil mapping of its Wilderness World Heritage Area. The project will build on this existing wilderness mapping to increase knowledge and assist in the calculation of carbon storage and sequestration.
Mapping areas outside the heritage area, the latest project will also contribute to a national framework and standards.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP says, “This important project will improve knowledge of high soil carbon landscapes within both agricultural and conservation landscapes in Tasmania. The Tasmanian government has identified a shortage of appropriate soil information to assist emissions and sequestration calculations – so the carbon and natural capital information produced by the project will allow for mitigation and adaptation. It will deliver guidance products and tools for sustainable land management and inform important climate change calculations. Areas with high soil carbon often are home to important and seasonal surface water and groundwater reserves, so the work will also aid understanding of wetland, riparian, floodplain and swale areas and aquifers that are key during drought.”
