Thank you to the Morris Family Foundation for providing this overview of their impactful work to protect one of the world’s greatest natural treasures.
Image supplied by AEGN member Steve Rothfield.
In 2018, recognising the scale of challenges facing the Great Barrier Reef (the reef), the AEGN and the Morris Family Foundation hosted the first ever Deep Dive event at Orpheus Island Lodge in the heart of the reef. The event brought together members, focused on climate and marine solutions, to learn from experts in the field and each other’s funding approaches.
We had a clear mission: To agree on what it was going to take to save the reef for future generations and what we as philanthropists are going to do about it.
Two key issues threatening the reef quickly emerged; climate change and water quality. Climate change in Queensland is already a focus area for us, and we have recently had some positive results for our renewable energy campaign.
Identifying the role for philanthropy in improving water quality in the reef was a more challenging task due to the hundreds of millions of dollars of government investment already allocated through the Reef 2050 Plan.
The power of regenerative agriculture
However, it became clear that most of this money is funding projects that support ‘less of the same’ and not a necessary systemic shift towards regenerative agriculture, where farming does away with chemical inputs and regenerates nature. Regenerative Agriculture is a process of farming that allows landscapes to restore themselves by working with nature. Practices include avoiding chemical inputs, not tilling the soil, eliminating bare soil, encouraging plant diversity, and integrating on-farm livestock and cropping operations.
In reef catchments, practicing regenerative agriculture can mean having a cover crop between growing seasons to minimise the amount of topsoil lost in the wet season, but it also means eliminating the use of pesticides and fertilizers. This in turn reduces the amount of fertilizer runoff washing into the reef and causing algal growth which kills corals.
Even better, regenerative agriculture practices are not just a water quality solution for the reef, they are also a climate solution. Working to improve soil quality and health on farms has the benefit of increased soil carbon, meaning that regenerative farms can reduce fertilizer costs, reduce runoff onto the reef, drought proof their businesses, and produce better products in higher quality soil that holds more carbon.
Collaboration to protect the reef
As part of the ongoing Deep Dive collaboration, this year the Morris Family Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies commissioned research by Sustainable Table into the potential for promoting regenerative agriculture in reef catchments. The resulting Blueprint for Impact: Regenerating agriculture across the Great Barrier Reef catchments, shows there is a lot of potential to catalyse change through philanthropic and impact investment, as well as excitement from farmers looking to be supported through this change.
Deep Dive 2021 will further collaborate between members who are interested in seeing strategic outcomes for the survival of the Great Barrier Reef and the growth of regenerative agriculture in Australia. The Morris Family Foundation, with their ongoing commitment to granting with a climate lens, see regenerative agriculture as an important avenue to see positive outcomes for the reef, the climate, and the rural communities who grow the food that feeds our nation.
There are many opportunities to contribute to protecting the Great Barrier Reef. You might like to consider the following:
- Join our climate change funder group and or sustainable food systems funder group
Contact Amy Huva, Morris Family foundation for the following: amy@morrisgroup.com.au
- funder collaboration and investing based on the blueprint strategy to increase regenerative agriculture in the Great Barrier Reef regions,
- joining the Orpheus Island field trip in May 2021 (for large funders)
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