Project overview
The Landscape Function Toolkit (LiFT) project will equip land managers, farmers and First Nations’ peoples with the skills and tools to monitor the function of their landscapes and take action to increase the health and resilience of agricultural landscapes in the face of climate change.
Expected outcomes
This project will create a landscape function toolkit which is co-designed with technical experts, scholars and First Nations and tailored to natural capital markets and nature repair compliance frameworks. It will provide accessible workflows and methods adaptable to diverse agricultural enterprises and monitoring technologies. LiFT will meet the need for simple tools to manage complex landscape systems in the face of climate change and thrive in a sector that is rapidly incorporating the Nature Repair agenda. The innovative value of this project lies in its whole-of-system approach by bringing passionate experts together to formulate an easy-to-understand, streamlined pathway for landscape function-oriented measurement and decision-making. The methodology of landscape function is the most integrated methodology for tracking landscape health.
LiFT doesn’t just focus just on carbon, vegetation, or soil, but will also integrate an array of indicators. A data capture and display platform will be developed, based on monitoring modules that can be selected, based on scale and budget. Communities of practice will be developed through Mulloon Institute’s existing nationwide education and capacity building program. Landholders will be provided with an opportunity to test drive the tool, apply it to their own farms, and support uptake of LiFT to monitor the impact of changes in land management and repair.
This project is supported by Australian Government through funding from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program under the Natural Heritage Trust.
FAQs
Why SMART SPRAYS?
Smart sprays have the potential to reduce evaporation and redirect water for increased crop yield and profit.
Smart sprays components:
- Biodegrade in marine, soil, and compost environments into CO₂, water, and biomass.
- Do not degrade into microplastics in the environment.
- Reduce reliance on fossil fuels and have a decreased carbon footprint as no fossil fuel feedstock is used.
- Do not need to be retrieved from the field – they will biodegrade in situ.
The main component of SMART SPRAYS can be produced by microorganisms through the use of a wide variety of renewable feedstocks, like organic wastes, waste canola oil, brewers waste and glycerol, creating a circular economy.
What’s the different between plastics and bioplastics?
Plastics and bioplastics can be categorised based on their origin/feedstock (biobased vs. fossil fuel based) and their degradation properties (biodegradable vs. non-biodegradable).
Feedstocks
Fossil-based feedstocks: Derived from petroleum, natural gas, or coal.
Biobased feedstocks: Derived from plants, algae, or agricultural waste products.
Differences in degradation
Download the fact sheet to learn more about plastics and bioplastics.
What’s the different between compostable and biodegradable?
Biodegradable materials are those that can be fully broken down into natural substances, such as water and carbon dioxide, by naturally occurring microorganisms. In waste management, the term “biodegradable” is broadly used to describe materials that degrade either under composting conditions or in the natural environment. The key distinction is that compostable materials are designed to break down within a specific timeframe under controlled composting conditions, where factors like temperature, moisture, and microbial activity are optimised to accelerate decomposition and biomass formation.
Certified compostable
Compostable refers to a product’s ability to biodegrade into non-toxic, natural elements within a defined timeframe under specific composting conditions. Both fossil-based and bio-based bioplastics can be certified as compostable. However, compostability claims should only be made if the product has been certified to a recognised standard, such as Australian Standards AS 4736-2006 or AS 5810-2010.
Biobased bioplastic biodegradable
Smart sprays belong to this category.
Bioplastics made from bio-based feedstocks that fully break down into natural substances, either under composting conditions or in the natural environment. PHA bioplastics, in particular, are known to degrade effectively in both soil and marine environments.
Fossil-based bioplastic biodegradable
Fossil-based biodegradable plastics make up a relatively small category, which includes materials like PBAT and PCL. While PBAT is both biodegradable and compostable, improper disposal can still have environmental consequences, as its degradation requires specific conditions to occur efficiently.
Biobased bioplastic non-biodegradable
Bioplastics can be derived from bio-based feedstocks while remaining non-biodegradable. These materials are chemically identical to traditional fossil-based plastics.
Conventional plastics non-biodegradable
These materials do not biodegrade. In Australia, 2.9 million tonnes of plastic waste are discarded each year, with only 13% recycled, while the remaining 87% ends up in landfill.
Reference: State of Bioplastics in Australia, CSIRO, 2024 with permission.
Download the fact sheet to learn more about plastics and bioplastics.
News
- Article, Field Notes, Regional Nodes, Transformation Murdoch
- Article, Field Notes, Innovation Farmanco, PropaGATE, Regional Nodes, Showcase, Transformation Murdoch, Transformation Whole, X-hub Contour Consulting
- Article, Transformation Murdoch
- Article, Transformation ECU, Transformation Farmanco, Transformation Murdoch, Transformation UWA dams, Transformation UWA Natural Capital, Transformation Whole
- Media Release, Innovation Farmanco, PropaGATE, Regional Nodes, Showcase, Transformation Murdoch, Transformation Whole, X-hub Contour Consulting
- Article, Regional Nodes, Transformation Murdoch
- Article, Field Notes, Transformation Murdoch
- Media Release, Transformation ECU, Transformation Farmanco, Transformation Murdoch, Transformation UWA dams, Transformation UWA Natural Capital, Transformation Whole
Resources
- Webinar
- Podcast
- Webinar
External resources
- Not all Water is equal: Water quality is the key to WaterSmart Dams (and Farms)
- WaterSmart Farms: Reverse Osmosis trials giving rural communities fresh water for the future
- WaterSmart Farms: Unlocking Opportunities with Desalination – From Stockwater to Spray Quality
- WaterSmart Farms Deep Drilling project with Dr. Richard George
- WaterSmart Farms: Wongutha CAPS
Collaborators
Project team
Professor Daniel Murphy
Murdock University
Cheryl Rimmer
Murdoch University
Samantha Vijoen
Murdoch University
Alex Gulizia
Murdoch University
Joseph Boctor
Murdoch University
Associate Professor Fran Hoyle
Murdoch University
Lucy Tomassini
SW WA Hub
Contact
Sophie Hall-Aspland
Manager, Landscape Function Toolkit (LiFT), Mulloon Institute
mullooninstitute.org
Mary-Anne Glanzlowe
Extension Specialist and Knowledge Broker, South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
mary-anne.glanzlowe@gga.org.au