THE YAMBULLA PROJECT

We are seeking seedbank funding from people like you to kickstart The Yambulla Project, a freshly minted social enterprise that aims to inspire fundamental changes in the way private land is managed in Australia. Funds raised will pay for a team of experts to masterplan the transformation of a 1,500ha former cattle station into a nature positive ecosystem that supports:

• perpetual habitat

• soil and waterway regeneration 

• Indigenous Culture

• research

• education 

• native food production 

• sustainable timber products

Over 50% of Australia’s land area is under private management, making up a significant proportion of the natural landscape.

To tackle our biggest challenges (climate change, loss of biodiversity and meaningful conciliation with First Nations peoples) we need to develop viable new models that give the private landholders of Australia achievable options for connecting with and learning from the Country they manage, enabling resilient, ecologically sustainable and Culturally sensitive nature assets.

The Yambulla Project aims to support and inspire this change across Australia. By contributing to our funding campaign, you too could be part of this transformation.

Our  South East NSW property 'Yambulla' is now being managed in perpetuity by a not-for-profit governing entity The Yambulla Project Ltd and all money raised will be directed to this entity to care for this Country. 

This shared custodianship model is highly unusual and it’s what makes us different from most regenerative farms. 

To date, restoration and knowledge gathering at  ‘Yambulla’ has been funded by our founder and property title holder Jim Osborne. By forming The Yambulla Project Jim is relinquishing his inherited control over the land, choosing instead to share both the responsibility and rewards of custodianship with multiple stakeholders while distributing knowledge and support to other landholders. 

Jim’s motivation is for this inherited land to be: 

• In a better state than he received it

• Shared and managed  by the community

• An inspiration to other landowners

Many landowners are impeded from changing the way they manage their land by simply not being able to afford to look outside the model they know. We have spent 4 years at Yambulla exploring what knowledge is needed for us to shift our thinking from cattle farming and monoculture plantation timber to something more connected with Country. 

Over this time we have narrowed down an expert team of stakeholders and advisors that we think is the right fit to collaborate on creating a masterplan for Yambulla’s future.

Together they will be inspecting ways to integrate timber production, carbon sequestration, biodiversity banking, native foods and fire ecology. 

• Back to Country – Indigenous Culture
• Black Duck Foods – native foods and grasslands
• Jack Pascoe - Fire ecologist
• Carbon Farming Foundation – carbon sequestration and ACCUs
• Heartwood – sustainable forestry 
• Lodge Environmental – biodiversity assessment and BCT
• Regen Labs – impact investment and funding 
• NSW Local Land Services– feral species control

We know we need to spend considerable money on our team of experts to fill this knowledge gap between the previous ‘business as usual’, extractive land management model and the holistic model we envision. If doing this was cheap, someone would have done it before.

We are asking supporters like you to contribute to this knowledge gap and be among the first to support this groundbreaking project

Right now we are setting what we hope is an achievable target in this crowdfund of $50k with which we can begin to make a real difference. It will buy us 2 really important milestones:

• A report from our timber and carbon advisors, Heartwood Unlimited and Carbon Farming Foundation to show what the financial future of the project will look like if we invest heavily in planting trees

• All the site monitoring biodiversity work from Lodge Environmental to tell us what species actually live at Yambulla. We’ll be employing  the latest technology including song meters and infrared drones for measuring nocturnal animals

It will also enable us to continue meaningful discussions with Indigenous knowledge holders around:

• Learning from Country

• Grasslands Studies

If we reach that goal (fingers crossed) we’ll raise it to $100k. Then (gulp) $ 150k. And then … deep intake of breath….$200k as we believe that this is actually what this knowledge gap will cost.

The sooner we reach our targets the sooner we can get this important work underway. (We all know time is not on our side for fighting climate change and biodiversity decline). This crowdfund has the potential to get us there by the close of 2025. If we don’t hit those targets, we are still determined to get there. It will just take us longer via a ’scenic route’ of chasing grants and loans.

Every contribution will be indispensable as it will help create momentum we need for this groundbreaking project. Whatever amount we raise will make a difference to growing our knowledge ‘seedbank’.

Once we have completed the masterplan we will know what steps are required to move forward. The aim is to be financially sustainable in perpetuity. In the next stage  we will be seeking impact finance partners. If this is of interest to you, be sure to let us know so we can be in touch at that time.

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  • Learning from and keeping Country safe 

  • Regenerating 1500ha that has been damaged by colonisation and will otherwise become overrun with invasive species

  • Sequestering up to 0.5 million ACCUs of carbon

  • Creating habitat for 20 vulnerable and 3 endangered species

  • Rediscovering First Nations knowledges and Culture in an area that has been cut off from it for nearly 200 years

  • Supporting Indigenous sovereignty over the development of native foods enterprises

  • Becoming a centre of excellence for research and sharing knowledge

  • Creating a blueprint for other landholders to adopt

Australia desperately needs to prioritise Indigenous land management knowledge and expertise to save our landscapes. All the work we do at Yambulla will include consultation with our Indigenous partners, working with us to bring traditional knowledge, expertise and Culture to every part of The Yambulla Project.

All donors become part of our knowledge-sharing  Yambulla Seedbank Community. You'll be joining ecologists, conservationists, First Nations Knowledge Holders and passionate people in an idea sharing environment, working toward a future of better land management in Australia. 

We will include you in all our progress by sharing copies of our masterplan and future impact reports, inviting you to online and in-person events and sharing what we learn along the way. 

You will receive a copy of our Seedbank Journal around four times per year, an example of this can be found HERE.

Most importantly, you will be a part of kick starting important changes to the way land is managed in Australia. 

All seed funders who contribute $250 or more have the option to receive a T-shirt designed by our new friends at Soft Power especially for our fundraising campaign.

Terms and Conditions of a Tshirt purchase:

We use AS Colour Staple T 5001 T-Shirts and a sizing guide can be found HERE. We intend to use ECRU as the T shirt colour. T shirt colour, sizes and styles are subject to change based on stock availability. 

We do not carry inventory, we will be printing (2) batches based on orders -Early December (cut-off date XXXX0) and then in January.

$250 or more

Become a Seed Funder 

Contribute 2% of the timber and carbon study, critical to Yambulla’s ability to support our works into the future.

We will thank you with:

• Yambulla Seedbank Membership

• Seed Funder’s certificate

• (1) T-shirt designed by Soft Power

$1,000 or more

Become a Gumnut Funder

Fund 4% of our biodiversity baseline study.

We will thank you with:

• Zoom call with our founder Jim Osborne

• Yambulla Seedbank Membership

We will send you:

• Seed Funder’s certificate

• Up to (4) T-shirts designed by Soft Power

$2,000 or more

Become a Gumnut 'Family' Funder  

Fund 8% of our biodiversity baseline study.

We will thank you with:

• Zoom call with our founder Jim Osborne

• Yambulla Seedbank family membership

We will send you:

• Regular cute images from our wildlife cameras that children will LOVE!

• Family Gumnut 'Family' Funder certificate

• T-shirts for up to 6 people, wrapped and ready for Christmas

$5,000 or more

Become a 'Front Gate' Gum Branch Funder 

You will fund 10% of our $50k goal.

We will thank you with:

• Zoom call with our founder Jim Osborne

• Yambulla Seedbank family membership

• A permanent plate on our front gate with your family/business name

We will send you:

•  Regular cute images from our wildlife cameras

• Family Gumnut 'Family' Funder certificate

• T-shirts for up to 6 people, wrapped and ready for Christmas

$10,000 or more

Become a 'Seat at the Table' Gum Branch Funder

You will fund 20% of our current Goal.

We will thank you with:

• Zoom call with our founder Jim Osborne

• A name plate dedication on one of the chairs at our decision making table

• A permanent plate on our front gate with your family/business name

We will send you:

• Regular cute images from our wildlife cameras

• Yambulla Seedbank family membership 

• Gum Branch Funder certificate

• T-shirts for up to 12 people, wrapped and ready for Christmas

We have identified what we think of as ‘the seedbank’ – $ 200K that will fund the knowledge gap required to masterplan the new models to a stage where they are ready for impact investment and/or grants.

Our ambition, once you have helped us raise this ‘seedbank’, is that we will allocate future earnings to supporting other landholders to create their own ‘seedbank’. This is how you can help us catalyse nature positive change across Australia.

Shown above is the breakdown of how the money we raise will be spent.

• Learning from Country $ 5,000

Engaging with Cultural knowledge holders and developing a Country-centred methodology for the entire project. Our aim is to partner with University of Wollongong and Back to Country Ltd for this work.

• Biodiversity Studies $25,000

ALL of Lodge Environmental’s fieldwork 

Quantifying and setting benchmarks for improving the nature resource of Yambulla and protecting our endangered species. Assess whether any changes will be positive or detrimental.

• Grasslands Studies $3,000k

3 days of Black Duck Foods team on Yambulla 

Developing native grain yields with Bruce Pascoe’s Black Duck Foods. Investigating other native foods that could be cultivated in our grasslands and forest.

• Timber and Carbon Studies $14,000

Preliminary feasibility study completed, enabling us to move forward with confidence in developing investment ready plantation and carbon sequestration models to support our works.

• Storytelling $5,000k

Our film maker (who made our awesome film on credit) paid 

Initial report created to share with Seedbank members, stakeholders and educators

• Learning from country $20k

Engaging with Cultural knowledge holders and developing a Country-centred methodology for the entire project. Our aim is to partner with University of Wollongong and Back to Country Ltd for this work.

• Biodiversity Studies $ 40k

Quantifying and setting benchmarks for improving the nature resource of Yambulla and protecting our endangered species. Assess whether any changes will be positive or detrimental.

• Grasslands and Native Foods  $20k

10 days of Black Duck Foods team on Yambulla 

Developing native grain yields with Bruce Pascoe’s Black Duck Foods. Investigating other native foods that could be cultivated in our grasslands and forest.

10 days of work on Country with fire ecologist Jack Pascoe to develop our fire management strategy

• Legal Advice $20k

4 sessions with our legal team towards developing our governance and land use agreements to allow a holistic and collaborative approach to multiple overlapping enterprises and programs.

• Financing and tax advice  $20k

Attracting impact funding and setting up our financial structures to assure a self-sustaining and equitable future for The Yambulla Project in perpetuity.

• Timber and Carbon  $45 k

Developing investment ready plantation and carbon sequestration models to support our works.

• Storytelling $35k

Producing high quality, practical content and events for providing information and inspiration to other landholders, our Seedbank Members, educators and researchers.