CaneRise – sustainable practice change for farmers to improve water quality on the Great Barrier Reef

The Social Deck was engaged by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to develop cane farming practice change strategies and implementation plans for the Lower Burdekin and Mackay-Whitsunday regions, under the Reef Trust Partnership (RTP).

Programs under the RTP aim to directly reduce runoff of nitrogen, sediments and pesticides into waterways that flow to the Great Barrier Reef. Our goal was to help farmers adopt and maintain sustainable practices that would reduce runoff and increase water quality not just for the reef but their local area as well.

We designed practice change strategies for each region by:

• Reviewing and evaluating data and resources on effective practice change processes and previous projects in the area, and identifying key stakeholders
• Qualitative research stakeholder and grower interviews and grower survey
• Behavioural analysis and journey mapping to identify influences on water quality improvement practices among cane growers
• Design of customised behaviour change strategies and an evaluation framework for the Mackay Whitsunday strategy.

A key intervention of the Mackay Whitsunday strategy was the design and production of the region-specific CaneRise platform and newsletter. This platform is regularly updated with information and engaging content aimed at growers and community members and includes tools and resources, funding opportunities, grower stories and educational materials.

Now under local stewardship, the Mackay Whitsunday strategy will continue to:

• Build awareness among priority types of growers about water quality improvement practices
• Motivate and attract cane growers who are not yet engaged in water quality improvement practices to join existing water quality programs and adopt relevant practices.
• Sustain engagement of cane growers to encourage implementation of water quality practice improvements over the long-term.

Transitioning the platform to increased community ownership of content and updates was an important step for this project. This provides an opportunity to encourage and support cane growers to implement positive practice change over the long-term.