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Environmental Management

Prospects for adoption of ecological risk assessment by the Australian irrigation industry - Report 1

Although Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) can provide a basis for making the vague tenets of sustainability operationally meaningful, the capacity for its adoption among irrigation industries and stakeholders is unproven. This report details insights in the adoption process afforded through delivery of nine ERA awareness workshops delivered in irrigation regions throughout Australia.

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The Bowral Checklist

A framework for ecological management of landscapes

Leading and emerging researchers in landscape ecology and conservation biology gathered in Bowral, southern New South Wales, in March 2006 to discuss whether it was possible to create a general framework to guide the management of landscapes for conservation. Participants were asked to appraise a given topic in landscape research and identify 5–10 general insights or key issues emerging from that topic. The topics were clustered into 10 major themes with researchers asked to produce 4000 word (more)...

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National estuarine, coastal and marine habitat map series

This project aimed to discover and negotiate access to all existing GIS (electronic) ECM habitat maps, collate the GIS maps and then apply the relevant national classification schemes, develop new nationally consistent habitat classification schemes where not available and conduct quality assurance and document the national map series. The ECM national habitat map series consists of two (more)...

Development of Wool Industry River Management Guides for the High Rainfall and Sheep and Wheat zones of Australia

This project has resulted in the two Land, Water & Wool River Management guides – one for woolgrowers in the high rainfall zone and the other for those in the sheep wheat zone. They were developed as a resource to assist the wool industry and woolgrowers improve the productive use and environmental management of creeks, streams and associated riparian lands. The first step to developing the guides was to work with woolgrowers to identify the management issues (more)...

Optimising wool production and profitability in the Mid-North riparian areas

This project measured the effectiveness of alternative stock management and other rehabilitation methods that aim to improve pasture and wool quality from riparian areas. It quantified as far as possible the costs and benefits of these methods, and provided practical guidance to woolgrowers on how to implement them to improve both production and environmental management.

Managing gully erosion in the NSW Tablelands to improve water quality and maintain productive wool pastures

Gully erosion is a major issue for woolgrowers in many Tableland areas. If left unattended, it can lead to large areas of valuable soil and nutrients being washed away, choking streams and rivers with sediment. Gully erosion can also make stock management and pasture utilisation difficult, reducing whole farm productivity.

Wool producers with remote control: new tools for whole of property management

Pasture management in the pastoral zone is crucial to long-term sustainability of woolgrowing enterprises, but the large size of properties and scarcity of labour make it difficult for pastoralists to know the condition of the pasture base across the whole property. As well, like all agricultural producers, pastoralists are under increasing scrutiny to ‘prove’ whether they are managing their natural resources well. The ability of satellite imagery to provide frequent and whole-of-property (more)...

Environmental 'Health Check' for woolgrowers

Woolgrowers in South-East Queensland can now perform an on-line ‘health check’ of their natural resources using a new internet-based environmental management toolkit designed to compare the ecological status of wool properties. Woolgrowers from the Traprock Wool Association (TWA) have worked with researchers to develop the new resource, which aims to capitalise on the significant economic, ecological and social research undertaken in the region over the last (more)...

Research findings underpin wool's environmental credentials

New management options for up to half of the 2.5 million hectares of salt-affected agricultural land in Australia are among the key achievements of the biggest environmental management program ever undertaken by the wool industry. The five-year, $40-million research program Land, Water & Wool has commenced the roll-out of key findings. It is a research collaboration between Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI), Land (more)...