Up2Us Secures Funding for Future Landscapes Drought Resilience Project

We are excited to announce that Up2Us Landcare Alliance has been awarded funding to deliver our Future Landscapes: Citizen Science and Indigenous Plants for Drought Resilience project. Running from April 2026 to October 2027, this 18-month initiative will bring Mansfield Shire residents together to monitor local biodiversity and grow drought-resilient native plants for farms and surrounding landscapes across our region.

A key part of the project is our partnership with Mansfield Autism Statewide Services (MASS) and their Indigenous plant nursery. Community volunteers and MASS participants will work together to propagate and plant native species, while MASS participants take on valued roles as peer educators and mentors throughout the project. In addition, six field days will provide hands-on training in biodiversity monitoring and citizen science, and eight volunteer leaders will undertake nationally accredited First Aid training to help strengthen community capacity.

This project is about more than planting trees and monitoring wildlife — it is about building knowledge, resilience, and strong community connections that will support our region into the future. We are incredibly grateful to our funding partners and to MASS for helping bring this vision to life. We look forward to sharing opportunities for the community to get involved over the coming months, whether in the field, at the nursery, or through citizen science activities across the Mansfield Shire.