Sustainable wildlife enterprise

In Australia, landholders work together across boundaries to harvest or make use of (ecotourism) naturally occurring wildlife populations such as the kangaroo sustainably.

Attaching value to native resources through commercial development has the potential to provide alternative sources of income, especially in areas where traditional systems are no longer as profitable or environmentally sustainable.

Conventional farming techniques have seen broad-scale environmental degradation in Australia’s rangelands, particularly during droughts where soil fertility and low rainfall limit natural production capacity.

[10] Landholders do not control or receive benefit from harvest of kangaroos on their land other than reduction of grazing pressure under this system.

Harvesters can benefit by gaining exclusive secure rights to properties and regular income, reward for implementing higher professional standards and access to training and development, resources, information, equipment, share in profits produced by ensuring market edge products.

Methane from the foregut of ruminant livestock cattle and sheep constitutes 11% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Providing consumers with a red meat alternative (protein) that is associated with far lower methane emissions and minimal soil damage is an important environmental outcome.

In the jargon of the carbon trade, sustainable kangaroo use in lieu of sheep/cattle provides landholders the ability to prove additionality and stop market leakage in protein production.