Australian Landscape Science and its role in NRM

Australian Landscape Science and its role in NRM.

Wayne Meyer

Landscape science and NRM

30 September 2009 Copyright © 2008 The University of Adelaide

Wayne S Meyer

Slide Number 1

Applying Landscape Science to Natural

Resource Management

Wayne Meyer, Brett Bryan, Andrew Fisher,

Neville Crossman and Megan Lewis


30 September 2009 Copyright © 2009 The University of Adelaide 2

Landscape science – integrating environmental,

ecological, economic and social perspectives



Wayne S Meyer

Slide Number 3

Why the need for landscape science in NRM?

• Apart from some great local improvements, evidence that

condition of soil, water, native biota and atmosphere is

improving is hard to find.

• Natural resource condition is being eroded by:

• grazing production systems

• agricultural production systems

• urban and industrial growth

• Inherently, we agree that this is not viable in the long term

So the question is:

"what are the combinations of plans, incentives and actions

that will encourage changed attitude and practice to stop

exploitation and maintain renewable land use systems?”



Wayne S Meyer

Slide Number 4

Why the need for landscape science in NRM?

• Integration requires good process

• Planning without a shared vision is deficient

• Planning without people and resources to implement will fail

• Implementation without clear governance and management will

squander resources

• Action without evaluation is lost learning

• To improve, many pieces need to come together

• Successful NRM needs:

• system understanding

• people who do things differently

• supportive institutional arrangements

i.e. landscape science


29 May 2008 Copyright © 2008 The University of Adelaide

Wayne S Meyer

Slide Number 5

Landscape science: the science of social-ecological systems

• Geology

• Climate

• Topography

• Hydrology

• Soils

• Biota

• Crops

• Agronomy

• Animals

• $$$$’s

• Conservationareas

• People

• Preferences

• Politics

• Institutions


Are we currently missing the mark with

maintaining natural resource condition?


• Soil

• Erosion – significant wind and water, loss of nutrients

• Carbon – low and declining

• Nutrients – some in balance, K and Mg being mined

• Condition – salinity, acidity increasing, physical structure variable

• Water

• Surface – 30% rivers and wetlands significantly degraded

• Groundwater – many beyond sustainable yield

• Native vegetation and biodiversity • 32% cleared

• ~ half agricultural areas have lost connectivity within native vegetation

• excessive rate of species loss NLWRA - 1995 to 2002


“Australian farmers spent $3 billion on NRM over 2006-07 .. $2.3 bn on weed and

pest management …$649 m on land and soil related activities” (Farm Facts 2009–10, NFF)

“The dusty blanket that wrapped itself around Sydney this morning pushed air

pollution levels to 1500 times their normal levels - the highest on record” (SMH 23 Sep 2009)

A mismatch of measures and intents





“The widespread adoption (35 – 90%) of conservation tillage practices represent

an agricultural practice revolution”

Soil carbon levels in Australian soils are generally low and declining – (NLWRA, 2002)

“farmers plant 20.6 million tree seedling for conservation purposes” (Farm Facts 2009–10, NFF)

Native vegetation and biodiversity

• 32% cleared in total

• half agricultural landscapes have lost remnant vegetation connectivity

• excessive rate of species loss (NLWRA, 2002)


Australian farms and their closely related sectors generate $137 billion-a-

year in production – underpinning 12% of GDP” (Farm Facts 2009–10, NFF)

A very large proportion of Australian grazing and agriculture make no or very little

profit (NLWRA, 2002)

Farm enterprises often show a “spectacular mismatch between their

economic efficiency .. and their biophysical inefficiency”

i.e. short term profit is used to justify long term asset degradation





Wayne S Meyer

Slide Number 10

Challenges for regional NRM

• local improvement, regional decline

• limited resources

• multiple demands

• an uncertain and changing future

• prioritisation

• are we making a difference?

What can we do to help?

- recognise the complexity

- improve decision support tools and capability

- identify cost effective planning and implementation

- promote successes



Wayne S Meyer

Slide Number 11

Regional NRM – operating in the landscape science domain

Human & social

capital

Natural resources

‘environment’

• Atmosphereoclimate

• Soils

• Wateroquantity

oquality

• Biota

Economics and

finances Adapted from

Good and Bald 2008

• Institutions

• Community

• Jobs

Landscape science

domainDecision „space‟

of NRM Boards


• Identify regional NRM targets

• Gather regional data

• Agree on future scenarios –

uncertain but not unknown

• Analyse for possible options

• Options inform plans

Lower Murray Landscape Futures (LMLF)

- regional planning for the future


http://www.landscapefutures.com.au/


25 August 2009 Copyright © 2007 The University of Adelaide Slide Number 13

Least cost

Cost:

-1.2% of agricultural GRP

Cost:

-12.1% of agricultural GRP

Most cost effectiveConservation

farming

Deep rooted

perennials

Ecological

restoration


Lower Murray Landscape Futures

Landscape Futures Analysis – regional benefits and costs

Policy options

IndicatorsGo

Anywhere CheapestBest for

BiodiversityBest for

NRMMost Cost Effective

Sustain -ability Ideal

Ecological Restoration (ha)

Total Biodiversity Benefits (Remnant vegetation) ($)

Total Wind Erosion Benefits ($)

Net Economic Returns ($/yr) -$64.1M -$3.8M -$38.3M -$39.5M -$33.8M -$92.4M

No option is economically better than current practice!


25 August 2009 Copyright © 2007 The University of Adelaide Slide Number 15

Key message – landscape futures analysis

The look and function of future landscapes are determined more by the way we use the land now than by climate change effects


• Potter Farmland Plan (1984 - )

• Trees, fences: Andrew Campbell (Landscapes, lifestyles & livelihoods)

• (2005 - )

• Linking land and water management to resource condition targets

• Learn from previous actions: Ted Lefroy

• (1998 - )

• Assess and prioritise environmental and natural resource projects

• 20 regions: Geoff Park

Other Australian experience and research

assisting NRM



• The Fenner School of Environment and Society

• Knowledge for a Sustainable Future: Steve Dovers

Other Australian experience and research

assisting NRM


International connections

• A multidisciplinary research group that explores the dynamics of

complex adaptive systems: Nick Abel



Successful NRM needs:

system understanding

people who do things differently

supportive institutional arrangements


Proposed model for a sustainable regional NRM

system. J A Williams et al.(2008)

30 September 2009

Copyright © 2009 The University of Adelaide

19

Landscape/

Ecosystem

Approach

Integrated

outcome

focused plan



Successful NRM needs:

a solid foundation of system understanding


• Vision and commitment

• Plans based on a sound foundation of systems

understanding

• Supportive institutional arrangements

• Policy with unambiguous signals

• People with capability and motivated to change

• Recognition and repetition of local improvement

• Adaptive learning

For a good result we need



• Financial drivers of land use continue to over-ride natural

resource maintenance

• Regional NRM needs new tools and capability

• Landscape futures analysis can show options for greatly

improved land use to land capability

• A sound bio-physical representation of an NRM region is a pre-

requisite to build renewable land uses

• Landscape science can help deliver improved NR condition –

successful improvement is infectious!

Conclusions

2 November 2007 Copyright © 2007 The University of Adelaide 22

The Environment Institute

Technology

Australian Landscape Science and its role in NRM