Title: Progress in valuing native vegetation - changing values, changing landscapes Andrew Campbell Executive Director, Land
1Progress in valuing native vegetation- changing
values, changing landscapesAndrew
CampbellExecutive Director, Land Water
Australia
2Key Points
- Weve come a long way
- Values have changed, we have many new tools
- Community values
- Planning and valuation tools
- But landscape improvement remains patchy, modest,
ambiguous - Understanding vegetation in the landscape
- Getting signals right for landscape change
- Pointers to ways forward
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4Land Water Australia
- One of 14 Rural RD Corporations and related
companies - Statutory Authority (PIERD Act 1989) - research to support sustainable resource
management - we buy, broker and manage research, we dont do
it - managed corporately, independent Board (CAC Act)
- 12.8m appropriation 35m RD spend (2005-6)
- gt30 co-investing partners (including Greening
Australia) - Were in the knowledge business
5RD Programs
- Landscapes
- Native Vegetation Biodiversity
- Agroforestry (through RIRDC)
- Riparian Lands
- Weeds
- Tropical Rivers
- Environmental Water Allocation
- Innovation
- Innovation Call
- Scholarships Fellowships
- Industries
- Grain Graze
- Managing Climate Variability
- Sustainable Irrigation
- Land, Water Wool
- Healthy Soils
- People
- Social Institutional
- Indigenous projects
- Land Water Resources Audit
6Some great products
- Innovative landmark reports on incentives
- Carl Binning, Mike Young Emily Cripps
- Landscape scale experiments - world class
landscape ecology - David Lindenmayer et al Andrew Bennett et al
- Major contributions to understanding the ecology
of remnants - Jamie Kirkpatrick, David Paton, Sandy Carruthers,
Jann Williams - Principles for classifying landscapes managing
grassy woodlands - Sue McIntyre Richard Hobbs
- Significant work on economics, perceptions
values - Michael Lockwood, Sandra Walpole Carla Miles
Jim Crosthwaite Bill Malcolm Neil MacLeod
John McIvor John Cary Kath Williams Suzanne
Jenkins Denys Slee
7More great products
- A high quality scientific stoush on landscape
design - Rob Lambeck, David Freudenberger, Richard Hobbs,
Sue McIntyre, David Tongway, David Lindenmayer,
Ted Lefroy and other protagonists - Groundbreaking work on genetics of remnants -
Andrew Young - Wonderful synthesis work on the riparian zone
- Siwan Lovett, Ian Rutherfurd, Pete Davies, Stuart
Bunn, Ian Prosser others - Understanding the ecology of the arid zone and
tropical savannahs - Jill Landsberg, Craig James, Steve Morton, John
Woinarski, Alaric Fisher, Jeremy Russell Smith
and Rod Fensham - Complementary work on commercial options as a
partner in JVAP - Master TreeGrowers - Rowan Reid Trees Water
Salt - Richard Stirzaker, Ted Lefroy, John
Williams FloraSearch and the Oil Mallee story -
John Bartle et al
8Valuing Australian Vegetation
- about 7-10 of total world species
- 30,000 sp flowering plants (85 endemic)
- tallest flowering plants to tallest mosses
- gt300,000? invertebrate taxa (gt95 endemic)
- 1350 endemic terrestrial vertebrates (Indonesia
next highest with 850 species) - Centre of marsupial radiation
- 85 mammals endemic
- One sixth of the worlds parrots
9Valuing vegetation
- The grey green mantle of beauty rich and rare
- A profound place in our national psyche
- A fundamental element of Australian landscapes
and ecosystems - heritage
- vistas, buildings, struggle, livelihoods
- hydrology
- water balance, filtration, rainfall?
- ecological function
- habitat, pollination, pest control
- carbon
10Valuing vegetation
- A powerful lever in landscape change
- Salinity control
- Water quality erosion, nutrients, rivers,
floodplains, estuaries - Biodiversity conservation
- Carbon sequestration
- Private economic goods and services
- Were all here because its so important
11Some history
- Managing Australian Landscapes 1800 - 1950
- Landscapes are socially constructed
- British settlers British farming systems
(Bayliss-Smith 1982) - Three broad phases
- Survival - taming the (bizarre unfamiliar) land
- Fixing problems
- Increasing production
12Managing Australian Vegetation 1950 - 1980
- Increasing production (wool boom, myxo, clover
leys, new varieties) - Improving productivity
- Large scale mechanical clearing
- encouraged by governments
- Gung-ho plant introductions
- Pine plantations on cleared land
- A handful of farm tree pioneers
13Managing Australian Vegetation 1980 - 1990
- Grasping sustainability
- Large scale clearing continues (slows in south)
- Focus on Farm Trees (UniMelb 1980)
- Garden State Committee, Farm Tree Groups (Vic)
- Farm Forestry Loans, TGAS 1977-84
- Year of the Tree, Greening Australia 1982
- LCDCs (WA 82), catchment groups, Land for
Wildlife (Vic) - Potter Farmland Plan 1984-88
- Landcare (Vic 1986, national 1989)
14Managing Australian Vegetation 1990 - 2000
- Decade of Landcare, Save the Bush, One Billion
Trees, Natural Heritage Trust - Social programs with unrealistic biophysical
objectives - changes mainly between peoples ears, not on the
ground - Hitting the limits of voluntarism diffusion
- Native Veg, Joint Venture Agroforestry RD
programs - Master Treegrowers, agroforestry networks
- Trust for Nature, Bush Heritage Fund, Birds
Australia - Proliferation of community groups, plans,
strategies - Funding small projects the main game
- Seeds of creative policy (incentives, rights,
regions, markets)
15Managing Australian Vegetation 2000-2010
- Evolving Understandings
- role of vegetation in the landscape
- ecology of native vegetation
- planning and valuation tools
- the adoption context
- getting signals right for landscape change
16Understanding vegetation in the landscape
- What we know about remnants habitat
- Hydrological realities
- Practical constraints
17Some ecological principles
- Develop long-term shared visions and from these,
quantifiable objectives and constraints - Manage the whole mosaic not just pieces
- Patches can only be assessed and managed within
the context of the whole landscape - Manage in an experimental framework
- Dont do the same thing everywhere
- Single species/ecosystem management are
complementary
18More ecological principles
- Riparian Vegetation
- Is ecologically and economically productive
- Is the last line of defence for aquatic
ecosystems - Performs multiple functions and is vital for
terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity - Without a healthy riparian zone you cannot have a
healthy river (Siwan Lovett session)
- Amount of habitat is of key importance (but)
- Not all patches are equal
- Start with the best and intact
- Identify disproportionately important species,
processes and landscape elements - Manage for change
- Understand the management context
- Expect the unexpected
- Integrate aquatic and terrestrial
19Broader aspects of landscape design
- The contest for rural space
- Water
- Energy
- Amenity
- Commercial possibilities and constraints
20Three big challenges
- Sustainable management of agricultural, grazing
and forestry enterprises using native exotic
vegetation - Protection of native vegetation and habitat to
conserve natural biodiversity - Large scale revegetation to help restore
degrading landscapes and water resources (mainly
in southern agricultural regions and 400-600mm
rainfall zone)
21Adoption reality check
- Old adoptability rules still apply (Pannell et
al) - Relative advantage
- trialability
- Economic regulatory signals remain weak
22Adoption Issues
- On-farm change is more likely where innovations
- Offer relative advantage over existing
systems/approaches - Are not too complex
- Can be trialled, tested and evaluated (preferably
on a modest scale) - Fit with the farmers outlook, capacity and
farming system - Offer good returns within a reasonable timeframe
- Broadscale revegetation (including agroforestry)
options in Australia are rarely easily adoptable
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24Case study Kikuyu perennial pasture trees
Albany, WA
SGS data from Warren Mason
- A promising farming system?
- Profitability of the existing, annual pasture
based system 80 per ha - Profitability of the kikuyu/Bluegum system
230/ ha (without including forestry income) - Current system uses little water and leaks like a
sieve - The kikuyu/Bluegum system will reduce future
salinity and improve water quality in rivers
25On-Farm Impacts
- High initial outlay (trees Kikuyu)
- Low groundwater recharge/nutrient loss
- Soil acidification alongside/beneath trees
- Low soil erosion/low run-off/empty farm dams?
- Reduction in broadleaf weeds
- Reduced soil nitrogen fertility
- Much higher skills needed to balance risks
26Off-Farm Impacts
- Reduced salinity risk
- Reduced sediment nutrients to waterways
- Reduced contamination of groundwater
- Reduced erosion of river and creek banks
- More regional employment
- Potential invasion of waterways and native
vegetation by kikuyu
27Financial other considerations
- Gross Margin 80/ha to 230/ha (150 - 190
better) - Other Key Considerations
- High stocking rate required
- Increased need for insect control (RLEM) worm
control more difficult in sheep - Improved wool yield strength (diameter)
- Supplementary feed not needed
- Loss of pasture under trees plus long delay on
tree returns
28Overall Assessment
- A highly profitable system with many NRM
advantages but higher skills and investment
needed. - Pros
- More profitable and sustainable
- Reduced need for supplementary feeding
- Trees provide additional income
- Cons
- Poor winter performance if legume content in
pasture is low - Increased worm risk in summer/autumn
- Bluegums can acidify soils and reduce fertility
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30Rangelands
- Complex challenges to manage total grazing
pressure, fire and weeds - insidious and extensive biodiversity decline
- challenging demography Indigenous others
- best grazing country not well represented in
reserves - What biodiversity can we reasonably expect under
good grazing management? - How to specify environmental performance?
31Implications
- Current options wont be adopted widely in the
absence of intense intervention - It needs to be targeted options by region
where value stacks up - New more attractive and adoptable options are
needed hence the need for research - Genuine integration with agriculture or
pastoralism always demands higher level
management expertise - Hence good extension and persuasive signals
32Policy agenda
- Best-practice regulation
- Sorting out the planning hierarchy
- Setting minimum standards
- Defining the environmental deliverables
- Striking the right balance between
- Insufficient incentive
- Paying too much for too little
- Monitoring and evaluating impact and ROI
33The public good conservation problem
- Simple in theory balance social equity and
economic efficiency in delivering defined
conservation outcomes - Equity the costs of achieving conservation
outcomes should be shared fairly - Spatially e.g. urban/rural upstream/downstream
- Through time adequate long term support
arrangements costs to farmers others of
managing for conservation are real and on-going - Efficiency
- Use public funds effectively and at least cost to
public and private economy - Minimise perverse or unintended impacts and costs
of public interventions - Very difficult in practice (examples showcased
at this conference)
34The regional model an integrated approach
- The regional model is a world-leading effort to
implement sustainable NRM at a landscape scale
its also a grand experiment - Devolve decision making resource allocation to
appropriate scale - Tap into and build on deep local knowledge and
connection to place - Work across issues and industries in an
integrated way - integration means making whole
- across scales, issues, land tenures and land
uses - in the users context
- BUT Developing new institutions takes time
- Old institutions dont necessarily make way
- Lets try to hang on to the good bits of previous
models - Remember that on-ground change happens mostly
on-farm
35Vegetation futures and the regional model
- How does vegetation management relate to resource
condition targets for each CMA? - In relation to biodiversity, salinity, water
quality ( quantity) - How do these targets/values intersect to devise
optimal ( practical) investment strategies? - How to ensure that improvements are durable
- How can regions learn from each other, from
leading landholders, and from science and vice
versa?
36Managing Australian Vegetation 2006-2020
- A vibrant native vegetation management industry
- landscape planning, design and facilitation
- habitat management and restoration
- large scale revegetation (integrating commercial
environmental) - ecologically informed - viz genotypes, seed
management - Durable, clean, efficient incentives regimes to
support well defined environmental deliverables - A large private conservation estate
- Well-targeted, well-resourced RD informing
management and policy at all scales
37In summary
- Our vegetation is a priceless asset
- We know enough to manage it better
- You are all in a dynamic industry that will
remain a high priority for the foreseeable future - Delivering conservation and production
sustainably at landscape scale is tricky - It requires skilled application of agronomic,
ecological, economics and policy innovation - Lets hear from some great examples.
38for more info
- www.lwa.gov.au
- www.aanro.net
- Canprint 1800 776616