WITH concerns “deforestation” targets could limit routine land management and ultimately lead to negative environmental outcomes, a working group of is hoping to get ahead of the curve and give policy makers an on-the-ground perspective of land management and biodiversity.

The group has been set up by Agforce, Cattle Australia and others in the supply chain.

Companies and countries have been working to distance them from deforestation in recent years, with many setting targets to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains.

But concerns have been raised about the deforestation and reforestation targets being too reliant on numbers of trees and satellite images, prompting a group of producers has been trying to use their experience to better direct the policies.

About 50 representatives from corporates, finance, processors and family cattle companies and state farm organisations met in Rockhampton earlier this month to discuss how the industry was going to approach the wave of environmental policies coming its way.

Agforce cattle board director and agribusiness specialist Ange Hutchinson said it was important for the cattle industry to be working with governments and supply chain companies on these targets.

“There is a real desire out there from companies and governments to partner with industry,” Ms Hutchinson said.

“I think they don’t want to force rules on producers and we are keen to help develop a better framework for them to reach their targets and create better environmental outcomes.”

Priorities set for working group

Communication strategy

A communication strategy is being setup to articulates and demonstrates the land management practices and biodiversity outcomes that producers are achieving in the face of climate and biosecurity issues. Some of the main people behind the group have been communicating their land management credentials, by giving people a first hand perspective through farm visits.

This month’s roundtable also included a farm visit, where they showed the intricacies of land management to Qld Government representatives and supply chain advisors.

“People get it when they can see it,” Ms Hutchinson said.

“The property tours are demonstrating things like a monoculture, regrowth, timber thickening and the balance between pastures and trees in a healthier landscape. It is also highlighting the unintended consequences that can come through when you only define nature by trees.

“The producers involved in this have been really good at explaining how land management, biodiversity and production go hand in hand.”

Redefining deforestation

Coming up with an accepted definition of forest is one of the main issues arising from deforestation targets – Australia classifies it as woody vegetation with more than 20 percent canopy cover reaching two-metres-high.

However, the group is hoping to define deforestation in a way that accounts for geographic diversity and production systems.

Ms Hutchinson said the main aim was to move away from prescriptive numbers and focus on trees, to focusing on the appropriate management of the landscape.

“We want to get to a point where producers are being empowered to manage their landscape appropriately, trees are only one part of the land they manage,” she said.

“Ultimately, we would like to see corporates move from addressing deforestation to addressing biodiversity and nature positive outcomes, because that is a better representation of how our producers manage their landscape.”

Ms Hutchinson said work was needed to better align deforestation targets, with the different state government legislation.

Setting up sustainability and biodiversity stewardship programs

With deforestation and other policies like nature-related financial disclosures coming closer, the group is hoping to get on the front foot with a voluntary reporting standard that can help the industry better describe its environmental credentials.

Ms Hutchinson said it was a chance to move away from reporting standards that may not be suited to the unique challenges and opportunities of the industry.

“At the moment, a lot of third parties are filling the gaps with their own assessments, but there is a risk that the information won’t be aggregated to a national level for us to be able to demonstrate what we do on a global stage,” she said.

“We have commitment from industry and supply chain to work together for better outcomes for environment and land management.”