Experts to present in online federal government forum on drought resilience

Drought experts from the Northern Territory and Western Australia joined their interstate counterparts online for the Building the Foundations of Drought Resilience forum.

• New $21.9m ‘hubs’ aim to droughtproof Territory

DROUGHT experts from the Northern Territory and Western Australia joined their interstate counterparts online for the federal government’s Building the Foundations of Drought Resilience forum.

Partners of The Northern Western Australia and Northern Territory (NWANT) Hub participated in the Future Drought Fund Science’s forum, held from June 29 to July 1.

The NWANT Hub will present its plans to co-design and rollout a drought innovation and adoption program, aimed at boosting drought resilience and agriculture productivity across the regions.

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Charles Darwin University Research and Innovation director Dr Steve Rogers, NT Farmers director Andrew Dalglesish, Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council chair Dr Anne Poelina and Kimberly Pilbara Cattleman’s Association’s (KPCA) Emma White will speak at the forum.

The NWANT Hub will build upon research, extension and adoption projects and practices across northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and operate from partner locations including Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs, Broome, Carnavon and Kalgoolie.

Since the Hub was announced in April a formal partnership agreement has been finalised between consortium of members.

Dr Rogers said participating in the forum was crucial for future plans to tackle drought.

“This is an important first step in getting hub partners together to deliver practical solutions and strategies to assist producers to better manage drought in our communities,” he said.

“A key priority of the hub will be prioritising future research priorities. It will be up to the hub to set the research agenda which will best support primary producers in the NT and WA.”

Ms White added preparation and resilience for drought was valuable to northern regional and remote communities.

“Through the innovative tools techniques and practices for forage production pastoral producers will achieve greater efficiency and sustainability in the management of Northern Territory and Northern Western Australian rangelands, to both enhance their productive resilience and protect the ecological services they provide,” she said.

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Originally published as Experts to present in online federal government forum on drought resilience