Land, Water & Wool an initiative of AWI in partnership with Land & Water Australia was the wool industry’s nation-wide program to develop better ways of management for more profit and a healthier environment. It provided Australian woolgrowers with research and information resources for high priority natural resource management (NRM) issues, driving awareness and adoption of improved management practices at the farm and regional scale. Woolgrowers have been key partners in steering its research, contributing knowledge and interpreting its findings.

With $20 million invested over five years, Land, Water & Wool was the wool industry’s most significant investment ever in natural resource management research and development.

The program tapped into a decade of natural resource management research and development by Land & Water Australia and built on the wool industry's own experience and research. It was backed by state primary industries and environment departments, CSIRO, universities and regional Natural Resource Management (catchment) bodies. Meat & Livestock Australia and the CRC for Salinity added another $10 million, as well as generous access to staff and research facilities.

The program’s objectives were to:

• identify key natural resource management issues from producers' perspectives and understand their perceptions, needs, priorities and practices;
• increase woolgrowers’ awareness of and motivation to tackle natural resource management issues;
• provide woolgrowers with the knowledge and practical tools to address key natural resource management issues through productive and profitable solutions; and
• increase the capacity of woolgrowers to apply natural resource management innovations within their commercial enterprise.

Land, Water & Wool tackled topics that are at the heart of profitable and sustainable land management for wool production in Australia, under the following sub-programs:

• Native Vegetation and Biodiversity
• Rivers and Water Quality
• Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands
• Managing Pastoral Country
• Managing Climate Variability
• Future Woolscapes (exploring what the industry’s future could be in 30 years)

A Benchmarking sub-program was also undertaken.

Program final reports

• Managing for sustainable profit (for farmers, consultants etc) (PDF 5.52Mb)
• Program management report (for funding providers) (PDF 1.57Mb)

Other overview reports

• Shaping the future – Land, Water & Wool (1.23Mb)
• AWI’s Beyond the Bale: Land, Water & Wool supplement (1.51Mb)