The Australian Agroforestry Foundation (AAF) is a not-for-profit organisation committed to providing education and extension support to help farmers, and those that work with them, develop and sustain 'forests' within the Australian agricultural landscape that reflect their interests and aspirations.
By helping farmers grow the 'forests' they want, we are helping provide environmental and economic benefits to the wider Australian community: including the reduction in land degradation, enhanced biodiversity habitat, provision of sustainably produced timber and non-wood tree products; and a more diversified and sustainable rural sector.
The team involved in AAF have been working to promote farmer participation in multipurpose tree growing on farms since 1993, particularly through their involvement with the Otway Agroforestry Network (OAN) and the Australian Master TreeGrower Program (MTG).
The MTG was established by Rowan in 1996 (when a lecturer at The University of Melbourne). Since then, 108 regional courses have been conducted across all states and territories involving over 2500 land managers and more than 50 partner organisations. In 2000 the program was awarded the Eureka Prize for Excellence in Environmental Education and in 2013 Rowan led a team to Uganda to run the first international MTG course.