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February 2026

AABR’s 40th Anniversary is starting with an abundance of events and more in store as working groups and branches swing into action. AABR, as a volunteer organisation, provides opportunities for members to broaden their networks through attending events, making events happen, progressing issues of interest that effect all bush regenerators and strenthening connections through the branches. There’s something for everyone from learning to launching into leadership roles.

In this edition

Help it happen

Members Musing

Events

The Bush Regenerator #3, Jan 2026 – Long Reads on restoration –

Bush Jobs

Conservation Connections

Help grow the next AABRFest

AABRFest has always been built by the community it serves. Workshops, art, music and connection don’t organise themselves. We’re holding a one-hour online meeting to form an organising committee for AABRFest 2026. If a team doesn’t come together, the festival can’t go ahead. More info here.

Online organising meeting registration | Wednesday 25 February | 6–7 pm

 

Chemicals questions and community

The response was impossible to ignore so the CIMB Working Group will reconvene in 2026.
Over summer, two AABR information sheets on the use of chemicals in bush regeneration sparked hundreds of comments, tens of thousands of views, and some very frank conversations across the community. Questions about safe practice, glyphosate bans and on-ground decision-making struck a nerve. The message was clear. There is a real hunger for well-researched, balanced information.

In response, AABR is reconvening the Chemicals in the Management of Biodiversity (CIMB) Working Group on Tuesday 24 February 6-7pm. Register to attend

New Semester. Fresh Skills. Future Regenerators

Students membership is free

As TAFE, university and training courses kick off across the country, we wish all students a mind-expanding season of learning, questioning and growth. Bush regeneration needs your curiosity, care and critical thinking. AABR proudly supports the next generation with free student membership. Members and supporters, please help spread the word by printing and displaying our poster in the halls of your local educational institutions. Let’s grow strong, skilled regenerators together.

 

 

Advertising with AABR is a practical way to connect your business with the bush regeneration community while supporting the work of a national not-for-profit that has championed best practice for nearly four decades. Our advertising options reach practitioners, land managers, educators and decision-makers who care deeply about working with natural regeneration processes and achieving lasting ecological outcomes.

We’ve recently updated our advertising management making advertising simpler to manage, clearer to renew, and better connected to the wider work of the organisation. By advertising with AABR, you’re not only promoting your services, you’re helping sustain a strong, skilled and diverse bush regeneration community across Australia.

Setting up for the future 

As AABR continues to evolve, our governance needs to keep pace. A revised Constitution has been adopted to provide clarity, accountability and a solid framework for the work ahead.

The revised constitution provides

  • A clearer articulation of Board powers and responsibilities;
  • Improved definitions for governance roles and delegations;
  • Integration with AABR’s internal policy framework (Policy and Procedures Manual);
  • Enhanced provisions around membership, Board structure, subcommittees, and conflict management.
  • Streamlined the Accreditation content into one section, with detail moved into the Policies and Procedures document.

The AABR Constitution can be accessed at any time online 

 

Events

Understanding Vegetation Shifts (Part 2): Mesic Shift & restoring fire regimes 

Thursday 19 March 6-7pm webinar – Register to attend via Zoom

Mesic shift is changing how bushland functions and the habitat types it provides — and how we respond matters. This technical webinar explores the drivers of mesic shift, fire regimes and applied disturbance as tools for managing vegetation density and long-term ecosystem resilience. It is grounded in observation, reference ecosystems and real-world decision-making.

Speakers

  • Andy Baker – Disturbance regimes and managing mesic shift
  • Greg Taylor – Fire management, mesic shift and bushland vegetation density
  • Tein McDonald – Facilitator Q & A

Start planning your conference calendar

Beyond Bunya dieback symposiumBeyond Bunya Dieback Symposium–

AABR member Spencer Shaw is bringing people together again for the Beyond Bunya Dieback Symposium, a full-day gathering focused on caring for Country in the face of soil-borne pathogens and wider ecosystem decline. Now in its third year, the Symposium brings landholders, bush regenerators, scientists, artists, community members and Traditional Custodians into the same room to listen, learn and share practical responses grounded in on-ground experience. The 2026 program, will explore forest and ecosystem wellbeing, soil health and collaborative ways forward for resilient landscapes

 

Victoria Branch

Grassland Resurrection Forum May 8, Fitzroy Town Hall

Presenter Call Out

Have a Victorian grassland story worth sharing? Grassland Resurrection: Connecting Knowledge, Research and Management is inviting practitioners, researchers and Traditional Owners to contribute case studies grounded in on-ground experience. From short, sharp 5–10 minute talks to deeper 30-minute presentations, we’re seeking real examples that explore trade-offs, applied learning and practical outcomes. If you work with grassy ecosystems and have insights to share, we’d love to hear from you by the end of February. Read more and submit your EOI by 27 February

Seeking Sponsors 

Support the people shaping the future of Victoria’s grasslands. Grassland Resurrection is a practitioner-led forum bringing together restoration professionals, land managers and decision-makers working at the front line of ecological restoration. We’re seeking sponsors and partners who want to align with best-practice restoration and connect with a highly engaged audience across conservation, government and consultancy sectors. Sponsorship offers meaningful visibility and sector leadership.

👉 Learn more about sponsorship opportunities. View sponsorship options (ranging from $500-$2000)

 

 

 

NSW/ACT AGMThis Branch Is Growing. Be Part of It.

In just one year the NSW/ACT Branch has established governance, supported Walks & Talks, progressed accreditation and insurance advocacy, and begun planning major 2026 events . Now it’s time to shape the next chapter.

Join our online AGM on 3 March, 6–7pm. Committee positions are open and new voices are welcome. If you want to strengthen bush regeneration across NSW and ACT, this is your moment. Read about what the Branch has been progressing, and here’s a nomination form.

Caring for CountryCaring for Country Day | 5 March | Macquarie University

On 5 March, AABR will be at Macquarie University for Caring for Country Day Dharug, hosted by the Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) and the Australian Harmony Centre for Ecosystem Futures. This important event recognises the wellbeing of Ngurra, Country, and the responsibility to care for land both physically and spiritually. Come by the AABR stall to say hello and join conversations about caring for Country in a changing climate.

Killara Park with Nancy Pallin. Saturday 14 March

The first event in AABR’s Now and Then: Walk & Talks series, celebrating 40 years of AABR, with a guided walk at Killara Park on Saturday 14 March.

Led by Nancy Pallin, the walk explores long-term bush regeneration in a remnant Sydney Turpentine–Ironbark Forest, now listed as a Critically Endangered Ecological Community. All the details are here.

 

Eucalypt Identification Workshop with Paul Gadsby 20–21 March – Sydney- Lane Cove

AABR is hosting this popular, hEuc ID workshopands-on,fully catered workshop in March at Lane Cove, offering a practical introduction to identifying Eucalyptus spp. with leading eucalypt botanist Paul Gadsby. The day combines a morning session on eucalypt morphology with an afternoon field walk, applying identification skills in local bushland. There is a Friday 20 March weekday or a Saturday 21 March weekend option, with places limited. Numbers are capped at 20 per workshop, so early booking is recommended. 

Paul is also hosting a 2-day Euc ID workshop in the Hunter at Holmsville on 17-18 April.

 

 

Restoration In Practice

Have you read the latest…

The Bush Regenerator #3, Jan 2026 – Long Reads on restoration –

 

Looking for a job?

Looking for staff?

When employers advertise a vacant postion on AABR’s website we’ll send a notice out to our list of 400 bush regenerators looking for work and share a post on our Facebook,Instagram and LinkedIn social pages. Information about posting a job with AABR is here.

 

Conservation Connections

Groups AABR is a member or supporter of

Monthly Call-out – AABR Member’s News

Have a short article, event notice or resource review to share? We’re keen on concise updates that point members to useful learning, good practice and upcoming opportunities. If it’s timely, practical and relevant to bush regeneration or ecological restoration, send it in for our monthly update. The AABR News will be circulated in the 1st week of the month in 2026. Email info to Suzanne Pritchard education@aabr.org.au by 3rd week of the month.

Call for ‘The Bush Regenerator’ Articles in 2026  –  March,  June,  September, December

We’re inviting stories from the field. Case studies, practical techniques, lessons learned and quiet wins in bush regeneration and ecological restoration. If it improves practice, supports resilience, or strengthens care for Country, we’d love to share it. Add your voice to AABR News. AABR’s ‘long reads’ editor is  Louise Brodie newsletter@aabr.org.au