Dr Christine Jones – Meeting the Challenge for Change

This extraordinary conference which was organised by Dr Christine Jones resulted in a very exciting 2 days for all who attended. Christine is a passionate spokesperson for restoring our soils and is very keen to bring that message to all of us – farmers and city folk alike. The future of the Australian nation depends on healthy soils.

So how could each of us be living in the future for the benefit of all?

Find out as you hear from the 5 chosen presenters and 4 GAIA Award winners of 2011

The presenters were all chosen to deliver a strong message for fundamental redesign to restore life and vitality to agricultural soils, improve landscape resilience and better community and catchment health – for both present and future generations.

All these presentations are included on the Films and there’s MORE!! See over

Hear from the  2011 GAIA awards  recipients who were each selected for their commitment to the land, the community & our future

Darryl Cluff. Originator of the Pasture Cropping technique and founder of the Stipa Native Grasses Association. Darryl’s property ‘Olive Lodge’ Birriwa, NSW, has been in the Cluff family since 1889. In recent decades Darryl has observed that although 50% of the area is bushland, however 90% of the wildlife, especially the birds, exist in the farmland areas. He will be discussing the possible reasons for this.

Colin Seis. Since the early 1980s Colin has sought ways to reverse the degradation caused by conventional farming techniques on his property ‘Winona’ in the Central West of NSW. Colin realised that problems such as crop disease, insect attack and the need for high fertiliser inputs were due to an ecological imbalance, although rarely approached in that way. Since restoring the ecological base for his farm, crop yields have been equal to conventional     while profits have increased significantly, due to much lower input costs.

Tom Nicholas. Farmer from Claremont, Central Queensland and Chair, Healthy Soils Australia. Tom’s message is clear, simple and powerful. To restore vibrant rural and regional communities, farmers must have sovereignty over the carbon they build in the soil through their management, regardless of tenure. The benefits of increased levels of soil carbon for the Australian landscape, the farming community and the nation as a whole, are too great to be ignored.

Charlie Sexton. Regional Landcare Facilitator, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Benalla, Victoria. During the drought, Charlie observed that conventional agricultural techniques were failing, expensive to maintain and were pushing farmers backs against the wall. He began working with innovative landholders with great success. He strongly believes farmers are in the best place to provide positive outcomes for the land and has been promoting farmer input to government organisations to develop strategic direction for agricultural, environmental, biodiversity and community outcomes.

Barry Hardwick. Regional Landcare Facilitator, NRM South, Southern Tasmania was unable to attend to receive his award

About Dr Christine Jones

Dr Christine Jones is an active participant and supporter of an Australian movement into a Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme. With numerous journals and publications produced on regenerative land management techniques, Christine possesses ample knowledge in regards to the treatment and maintenance of Australia’s lush and vast environmental resources.