Australia's first Landscape Enterprise Network announced in NSW Hunter Region

Ebony Greaves
Apr 20
3 min read

Australia’s first Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) region has been officially announced for the NSW Hunter region (Gloucester and surrounding landscapes), marking a significant step forward in delivering large-scale, nature-based solutions for climate, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture.

The initiative, led by SEAOAK Consulting in partnership with Macka’s Australian Black Angus Beef and LENs, has secured $500,000 in funding from the NSW Government under the Low Carbon Landscapes Grant Program. This forms part of a broader $11 million investment by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water to accelerate low-carbon farming projects across the state.

Macka's Australian Black Angus Beef will be Australia’s first LENs pilot farm, continuing its track record of leadership in sustainable and forward-thinking farming.

This milestone follows SEAOAK Consulting’s recent partnership announcement with UK-based sustainability consultancy 3Keel, supporting the introduction and scaling of the globally recognised LENs program in Australia. The milestone also follows a pre-feasibility study undertaken by SEAOAK last year that was funded by NSW Government Local Land Services.

Transforming landscapes through collaboration

The Hunter LENs region will bring together private organisations, public sector stakeholders, and farmers/landowners who share a reliance on the region’s landscapes and supply chains.

The program aims to co-design and deliver high-quality, landscape-scale interventions across at least 88,786 hectares, with an estimated carbon abatement of 500,000 tonnes of CO₂e over 25 years. Beyond carbon abatement, the initiative will focus on delivering measurable outcomes across:

Biodiversity enhancement
Climate mitigation and resilience
Soil health improvement
Water quality
Farmer wellbeing

The program will also develop investment-ready project concepts and produce a comprehensive case study to inform future LENs implementation across Australia.

Timelines

*Australia's first pilot LENs farm: Macka's Australian Black Angus Beef (Gloucester, NSW)*

Stage one Jan 2026 - Jun 2026: Stakeholder Consultation

Engage organisations, farmers and landowners who share a reliance on the regional landscapes and supply chains.

Key engagement points planned:

Impact Partner webinar - 15 April 5pm - 6pm AEST
Register for the farmer and landowner webinar - 22 April 5pm - 6pm AEST
Onsite co-design workshop at Woko Station Gloucester - 13 May

Stage two Jul 2026 - Dec 2026: Co-design & MRV Framework

Define shared outcomes; develop approved landscape interventions; alignment of MRV with Australian landscapes and environmental markets.

Stage three Jan 2027 - Jun 2027: Contracting

Finalise landscape measures, partnerships, and contracts.

Stage four Jun 2027 onwards: LENs Trades

LENs first trades begin for the region; monitor, report and verify outcomes on an annual basis; expansion of the network across the region.

Scaling Landscape Enterprise Networks in Australia

In partnership with 3Keel, SEAOAK Consulting will lead the establishment and operation of LENs initiatives nationally, adapting the European model to Australian landscapes, markets, and environmental priorities.

“Australia’s landscapes are some of the most diverse and complex in the world, and so too are the supply chains that depend on them. That creates real challenges, but also a powerful opportunity. LENs enables us to bring together the organisations, farmers and supply chains who share a stake in these landscapes, to co-invest in solutions that deliver meaningful, measurable outcomes at scale. This is about moving beyond fragmented efforts toward coordinated, landscape-level change that builds long-term resilience for the agriculture industry, the environment, and the supply chains that depend on them.” - Ebony Greaves, CEO and Co-Founder of SEAOAK Consulting

The Hunter region represents the first of several planned LENs regions in Australia. Additional regions with planning underway include:

Murray, NSW — focusing on drought resilience
Mackay, QLD — focusing on coastal landscapes

“We’re excited to see LENs launched in Australia in partnership with SEAOAK. We recognise that Australia faces landscape challenges, but there are also enormous opportunities for collaborative, market-led solutions which LENs can efficiently help to unlock” - Donald Lunan, CEO of LENs

Since 2021, LENs has already scaled to 7 regions across Europe, with planning underway for another 6 regions (including Australia). There are now 350+ farms and 16 funding partners participating in LENs regions across Europe, with more than $50m (AUD equivalent) being channeled to these farmers for implementing nature-based interventions on their land.