The Victorian State Government has recently made two major decisions which have influenced the work program of MCN. Firstly, the Government has pledged a 45-50% reduction in net emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. To achieve this “will require action across all sectors of the economy by governments, businesses and the community”, in both reducing emissions at the source and offsetting any remaining source emissions (Victoria's Climate Change Strategy, 2021). Secondly, they have decided to cease the logging of native forests by 2030, which will create a shortage of high-quality hardwood timber and a reduction in empoyment for those currently working in native forest logging (www.vicforests.com.au/about/transformation).

Given these policy decisions, therefore, MCN has been developing a work program in the field of AgroForestry with three synergistic objectives:

1. Provide a timber transition plan for the timber industry as they move from native forest logging

    to plantation harvesting,

2. Provide a job transition strategy for local contractors currently employed in the logging industry

    in the Murrindindi Shire, and

3. Provide a source of Carbon Credits (accredited under the Emissions Reduction Fund guidelines)

    which would assist the Murrindindi Shire Council and residents of Murrindindi Shire

    to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

Within this work program, four specific activities have been completed or planned:

1. Conduct a Farm Forestry Field Day at a working AgroForesty site in Kanumbra,

2. Plan for a Master TreeGrower workship course in March-April 2022,

3. Undertake a Feasibility Study for the establishment of a Farm Forestry plantation

    on unused Council land in the Shire of Murrindindi, and

4. With financial assistance from the Local Development Strategy Grants program

    (www.rdv.vic.gov.au/grants-and-programs/local-development-strategy-grants)

    undertake a more comprehensive Feasibility Study for the establishment of a Network of

    AgroForestry sites across the Shire of Murrindindi (and more generally in the North-East of

    Victoria) to meet the objectives outlines above.