Knowledge Synthesis for Watering Wetlands

The degradation of Australia’s wetlands has brought into sharp focus the need to manage factors such as altered flow and water regimes. Exchanging knowledge between wetland managers and wetland scientists and putting knowledge into practice is an essential part of this management.

Yet environmental watering of wetlands is a relatively new type of intervention, especially where engineering infrastructure is used. It is largely restricted to south eastern Australia. Thus, while there is considerable knowledge about biophysical responses to water regimes in wetlands, there are few specific examples of wetland watering from which we can draw practical experience.

This paper examines the effectiveness of knowledge exchange between scientists and wetland mangers regarding watering and the practical impediments that can govern the application of that knowledge.

In preparation for this paper, 32 wetland managers and 19 wetland scientists were surveyed about the use of scientific knowledge in wetland watering. The study blended traditional concepts of knowledge exchange with a model of consumer behaviour, a branch of marketing, and assessed:

•    factors that influence attitude
•    knowledge seeking strategies
•    barriers to knowledge exchange
•    the context for management decisions
•    the decision making process.
  

The survey was followed up with in-depth telephone interviews with 5 managers and 2 scientists.

Publications and Resources

None listed

Citation

Land & Water Australia. 2009. Knowledge Synthesis for Watering Wetlands. [Online] (Updated July 30th, 2009)
Available at: http://lwa.gov.au/node/3493 [Accessed Tuesday 19th of April 2011 12:05:11 AM ].