National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

National Land & Water Resources Audit

1997 to 2008

Blair Wood, Executive Director, 2003-2008

Warwick McDonald, Technical Director, 1998-2002

Colin Creighton, Executive Director, 1997-2002

Our PhilosophyOur Philosophy

1. Get the question right

2. Get the right information

3. Get the science right

4. Deliver benefits and legacy

Build the infrastructure for Build the infrastructure for continuing assessmentcontinuing assessment

What is the…health and trend of Australia’s natural resources?effectiveness of program investments in nrm?

If we want to be able to undertake successive assessment of the condition of our natural resources and assess why they are changing

• What information do you need to collect?• Getting agreement to collect• How do you manage it?• How do you report condition and trend?

Audit 1 Audit 2

What information to collect?What information to collect?

– Extent indicators –national baselines:• Vegetation extent (2004 ), Wetlands Extent (2007),

Extent of weeds (2007), Invasive vertebrates (2007), Extent of Coastal Habitat, Land use – 2001, 2006, Regional institutional capacity (2007)

– Condition Indicators• National Vegetation Assessment 2007/2008), River

Condition, Wetlands Condition, Estuarine and Coastal indicators and reporting, Social and Economic Information Framework, Biodiversity indicators

– Developed indicator methodologies• Soil condition, Salinity

M&E indicators

Information ManagementInformation Management‘‘Information for NRM is a National Asset’Information for NRM is a National Asset’

• Getting agreement• Supporting Information Hubs

(ASRIS, Ozesturies OzCoast, NVIS, Land Use)• Atlas and Library• Building Capacity – Information BMP Tool kit• Pushing the envelope –Interoperability

(Water information, vegetation)

Toward a National Environmental Information System

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Surface water - use & allocationWATER

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Water Implications

• Surface management areas

• Groundwater management units

• Sustainable yields definitions & assessment

• Buy-back process initiated (Namoi)

Water allocation on the map

WATER

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Groundwater flow systemsWATER

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Groundwater Implications

• Response time to impact

• Management options for intervention

• Economics for effective investment

• PMSEIC leading to…

National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality

WATER

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Vegetation clearance - a live issueVegetation

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Vegetation Implications

• National Vegetation Information System

• Vegetation clearance account for past actions and remnants

• Legacy – baseline for evaluation

The ‘naked’ truth

Vegetation

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Rangelands cover 75% of Australia

Ghost gums, Hammersley National Park, Western AustraliaPhoto: Australian Picture Library/Owen Hughes

Rangelands

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Rangeland Implications

• Unique Australian asset

• Rigorous monitoring system

• Desert Knowledge

Australia’s resource Cinderella

Rangelands

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AgricultureIndustry - information user & provider

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Agriculture Implications

• Australian Soil Resources Information System

• Industry information partnerships

• Soil acidity a national issue

• Soil erosion mapped at sub regional scale

Soil – a fundamental resource

Agriculture

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Farmers manage ~60% of the landscapeAgriculture

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Agriculture Implications

• Industry leadership towards best practice

• Strategies for continuous improvement and innovation in sustainability

• Understanding industry evolution

Farmer focussed and solution orientated

Agriculture

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

EnvironmentLandscape health & biodiversity

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Biodiversity and Landscape Health Implications• Integrated ecological assessment

• Stressed and threats – keystone species, weeds

• Volunteer bird observation network – citizen science

• Biodiversity 2002, 2008

• Rangelands 2002, 2008

Stark picture of biodiversity loss

Environment

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

EnvironmentAustralia’s aquatic ecosystems

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

River & Estuary Implications• Sediment and nutrient story for Australian catchments

• Sources and sinks (SedNet & ANNEX)

• OzEstuaries: Estuary inventory – process drivers and condition

Basis for priority setting under NAPSWQ, GBR Water Quality Improvement Plan

Estuaries finally on the map…

Environment

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Access to data

ASDD

ANRDLDirect-link ANRA

ANRA

NAVIGATOR

STATE ATLASES

DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS

DATAA network of information services

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Data management & knowledge implications

• Australian Natural Resources Atlas >> Australian Resources Online

• Australian Natural Resources Data Library

• ANZLIC Spatial Data Management Policy

• Monitoring protocols for natural resource assets

• Australian Natural Resource Information Infrastructure

BOM Water, Creative commons

DATA

Data quality Trend

Distribution

Abundance

OccurrenceDensity

Feral pigs

ReportingReporting

• Baseline collations– (http://adl.brs.gov.au/anrdl/php/)

• Status of Information- (SNRI Series)

Indicator Indicator InformatioInformation Productsn Products

National Land UseNational Land Use

•National scale land use maps for 1992/93, 1993/94, 1996/97, 1998/99, 2000/01 & 2001/02

““Integrated” Report CardsIntegrated” Report Cards

Agreement to Useful Agreement to Useful national Productsnational Products

StateState

NRMNRMRegionRegion

IBRAIBRACatchmentCatchment

Veg Veg ExtentExtentBy…..By…..

How has the information been How has the information been used?used?

Continuing the AssessmentsContinuing the Assessments

National Biodiversity Assessment - 2008• Building the capacity to measure trends• Report against the biodiversity assets threats

and responses• Much progress – but we still can’t report .

Rangelands 2008 “Taking the pulse”• Reporting change in many indicators and processes• Building an on-going capacity to interpret change• Evidence based policy and decisions

Regional Reporting – building capacity

Signposts for Australian Signposts for Australian Agriculture Agriculture

What did we learn?What did we learn?

• Good institutional systems for ongoing data management are essential• It is never enough to just collect the data• Knowledge should be seen as a public asset, not power• Levels of accuracy must be clearly defined• Rigorous science practice provides an excellent platform for building business propositions

Success factorsSuccess factors

•Purpose• Frameworks• Resources• Science• Partnerships• Good will• Institutional form• …Drambuie

Assessment principlesAssessment principles

• System approach – process understanding

• Data driven– Mapping > monitoring > modelling

• Scalable – continent context informing targeted

regional investment• Management orientated

One ExampleOne Example

Biophysical understanding of diffuse pollution

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Rainfall ErosivityR

Soil ErodibilityK

Cover ManagementC

Slope & Slope LengthL&S

Support PracticeP

HILLSLOPE EROSION RATE

Monthly Soil Loss Ratio

Monthly Distribution of R Factor

QDNR Daily RainfallASRIS Soil Attributes High res & 9” DEMs

Terrain Analysis

Woody cover and monthly grass cover

BRS Landuse AVHRR Derived NDVI

Time Series Analysis

Monthly C Factor

ReflectionsScientific underpinning

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

Land & Water Systems approach: multi-scale

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 %Runoff

%Point

%Bank

%Gully

%Hillslope

Fitz

roy

Targeting and setting regional prioritiesLAND & WATER

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

NRMPriorities for management identified

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

People Incentives – essential for public benefit

Sustainable Landscapes

Public Benefit, as a flow on from Public Benefit, as a flow on from Audit I & II Audit I & II

Reef Rescue & Project Catalyst Reef Rescue & Project Catalyst Roll OutRoll Out

Key Ingredients include:

Building on Audit outputs -

Incentives for public benefit [Reef Rescue]

Regulations [Qld Govt]

Monitoring

R&D [Project Catalyst]

Some International Flow OnsSome International Flow Ons

Input to EU Directive – Rivers Participated in design and rollout of Millennium Assessment [and then MDG’s] WMO Floodplain Management GuidelinesGlobal Water Partnership focus on multi-value water assets USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Nutrient Management from diffuse sources

Some Quotable QuotesSome Quotable Quotes“no – we will have a war against salinity” “well – haven’t you fixed it yet?” “ what’s in it for the farmer?” “but you know as well as I do, the media will take photos of dead sheep and dry dams and we are back where we started from” “taking information from regions, joining it together to produce a national overview should be simple” “the states don’t matter”

“that’s bullshit Minister – and you know it is”

Some Key LessonsSome Key Lessons

Politicians love a crisis – statesmen seek solutions Evidence-based decision making wins .......eventually

Timing is everything Business cases, partnerships and clarity of beneficiaries are essential

a well articulated vision

The Continued ChallengeThe Continued Challenge

• Public investment requires priorities

• For priorities we need long term strategic information – conditions and trends

• Information must answer the “what can you do about it?’ question

Information must be managed as a national asset and translated to

community knowledge

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Australia’s Emerging Challenge – Multi-objective Agriculture

Smart Precision Systems Agriculture – Productive, Sustainable, Reduced Emissions & Increased Mitigation

The exceptional circumstances of a changing weather and economic climate requires a re-think of EC!

National Land and Water Resources AuditA p r o g r a m o f t h e N a t u r a l H e r i t a g e T r u s t

National Land & Water Resources Audit

& thanks for all the fish....

Blair Wood, Executive Director, 2003-2008

Warwick McDonald, Technical Director, 1998-2002

Colin Creighton, Executive Director, 1997-2002