All in Conservation

Kantri is for Laif

superuser — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:50:58 +0000

This report is the output of the LWA, NAILSMA and Tropical Savannas CRC project, A Strategy for the Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge and the Development of Indigenous Livelihoods on the Remote north Australian Indigenous Estate.

IDs and People

Program:

Social and Institutional Research Program

Program Theme:

Social and Institutional Research

Research Type:

Research Project

LWA Project Code:

TRC3

Host Organisation:

Land and Water Australia

Subjects

Subjects:

Conservation

Indigenous

Keywords:

Indigenous

knowledge

Natural resource

Management

land

sea

intellectual

property

protection

database

Technology

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

The Mungabareena Reserve: Wiradjuri Reconciliation Project 2000 - a 3 year journey

superuser — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:20:53 +0000

Yalmambirra does not give up!

A late comer to University, he now lectures at the Charles Sturt University, but the story Yalmambirra wants to tell is about initiating and maintaining community support in very trying circumstances.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Yalmambirra

Subjects

Subjects:

Landscapes

Biodiversity

Conservation

Indigenous

Keywords:

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

Yalmambirra does not give up!

Several years ago, and with the support of the local Wiradjuri Elders, Yalmambirra applied for and received a Natural Heritage Trust Grant to rehabilitate and revegetate about 45 hectares of land. Over many months, the project was disrupted by vandals and by Mother Nature, but Yalmambirra kept at it!

The unsympathetic nature of the community both Indigenous and non-Indigenous did not help.

The future looks a lot brighter. Cattle have been removed and more than 11,500 trees have been planted. Picnic tables, walking tracks and interpretive signs are next on the agenda.

‘I have not given in on the project [to rehabilitate the project area] nor have I given up on the people who have assisted me this far’ says Yalmambirra.

‘My story could be used to enlighten people as to the pitfalls of among many issues: applying for funding, what to do with the funding once it comes through, the attitudes of the community of environmental projects and how to use those attributes. And an awareness of indigenous people and their ties to the land’.

Land & Water Australia will support Yalmambirra to give a series of personal presentations covering these issues.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Landscape: Gold and Water

superuser — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:17:19 +0000

Gold and water are the elements of Mandy Martin’s story.

An artist in the Lachlan Catchment, Mandy is a partner in a property next door to the Cadia / Ridgeway Gold Mine.

Mandy wants to tell the story of the mine from its proposal to the current development and the future.

‘This project is designed to contribute to the debate about the short term benefits of mining against the long term benefits of protecting biodiversity and natural habitat, valuing landscape for its aesthetic qualities and maintaining environmental flows for the river’ says Mandy.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Researchers:

Mandy Martin

Subjects

Subjects:

Landscapes

Biodiversity

Conservation

Keywords:

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

Gold and water are the elements of Mandy Martin’s story.

An artist in the Lachlan Catchment, Mandy is a partner in a property next door to the Cadia / Ridgeway Gold Mine.

Mandy wants to tell the story of the mine from its proposal to the current development and the future.

The Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship will support a unique method of story telling a narrative complemented by art including an exhibition at the Cowra Art Gallery with contributions from a group of painters and a community project involving a river of painted rocks!

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Easy steps to a triple bottom line

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:05:13 +0000

John Fyfe reckons his experience shows there are ‘easy steps to the triple bottom line’. From the time he and his twin brother Max bought their property in the late 1950s, land-caring was a big part of the Fyfe families farming practice.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

John Fyfe

Subjects

Subjects:

Landscapes

Conservation

Landscape Management

Primary Industries

Water (General)

Rivers and Wetlands

Keywords:

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Surry River

Project Information

Summary:

Evironmentally, it meant learning about the local Surry River and its estuary and developing and retaining significant vegetation cover (15%), eventually placing 35 hectares under Conservation Covenants.

Economically, John increased the farms size and production and with vegetation shelter and covenants in place, the farm sold at above the area average price.

And socially, being a ‘land-carer’ has led to involvement in the local community at all levels an interaction John Fyfe wants to continue with help from Land & Water Australias Community Fellowship.

‘I would like to encourage farmers and farm advisors to understand that environmental sustainability is achievable within one generation on high production farms,’ says John.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Our Search for a Sustainable Future

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:56:07 +0000

South of Benalla at Warrenbayne, Bill and Debbie Hill run a mixed property - Angus cattle, fine merino sheep in a rotational grazing system ranging from native grasses to high input pastures with an eclectic approach that successfully combines nature conservation and productivity.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Bill Hill

Debbie Hill

Subjects

Subjects:

Conservation

Livestock (Cattle)

Livestock (Sheep)

Keywords:

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

‘We have always looked for innovative ways to combine conservation with productivity. We continue to search for and adapt tools for more socially responsible, ecologically sustainable farming’.

The Hills want to assist other farmers who are looking for advice, motivation and most importantly proof that the approach works.

Land & Water Australia’s Community Fellowship will support the Hills’ production of an integrated document detailing their nearly 30 years of experience farming sustainably.

More information

billhill.com.au details their views and the work done through their Community Fellowship award.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Convergence: wetlands and communities

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:03:55 +0000

Karyn Bradford, a former farmer now business owner, now textile artist, community advocate and very recently, Regional Expansion Officer for Wetland Care Australia.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Karyn Bradford

Subjects

Subjects:

Biodiversity

Conservation

Water (General)

Rivers and Wetlands

Keywords:

2002 2003 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

Karyn Bradford, a former farmer now business owner, now textile artist, community advocate and very recently, Regional Expansion Officer for Wetland Care Australia.

Karyn’s story is about turning around community attitudes to help protect a Ramsar listed wetland.

For many years it was seen as a smelly, mozzie infested swamp. It was not valued by the community and locals were quite embarrassed by this eyesore in the centre of town’ says Karyn.

With Karyn’s initiative, the Community’s perceptions turned around, they attracted funding and the Milang Wetland and Snipe Sanctuary Project was born.

With support from a Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship, Karyn will celebrate the 2003 International year of Fresh Water by sharing the Milang experience and exploring the relationship between on ground wetland repair projects and community building.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Regeneration with Banksias

superuser — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:53:49 +0000

Mount Barker community leaders and Banksia aficionados Kevin and Kathy Collins have transformed five hectares of low-productivity farmland on their property into a Banksia woodland ecosystem.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Research Scale:

Farm

Researchers:

Kevin Collins

Kathy Collins

Subjects

Subjects:

Biodiversity

Conservation

Native Vegetation

Project Information

Summary:

Mount Barker community leaders and Banksia aficionados Kevin and Kathy Collins have transformed five hectares of low-productivity farmland on their property into a Banksia woodland ecosystem.

They also established a Banksia information centre and art gallery, an arboretum containing all species in the Banksia genus and a plant propagating nursery and seed orchard for Banksia and other native species.

They are using the Land & Water Australia Community Fellowship to produce a booklet depicting the transformation of their property and how they went about achieving success with the aim of convincing other landholders of the benefits of revegetation.

Current Activities

Status:

Pending

Fire regimes and biodiversity conservation in the Murray Mallee region

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:15:32 +0000

Fire is a major process that shapes the composition and structure of Mallee ecosystems. Ecological burning is commonly used as a management tool in the Murray Mallee to create a diversity of post-fire age-classes, promote patchiness during wildfire and to prevent large, intense fires that homogenise the landscape. Fire management is increasingly focused on maintaining heterogenous fire mosaics of differing fire history under the assumption that ‘pyrodiversity begets biodiversity’. This project aims to identify the properties of fire mosaics that enhance the persistence and status of native mammals in eucalypt-dominated mallee ecosystems.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

PhD Students

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

002312

Host Organisation:

Deakin University

Researchers:

Luke Kelly

Subjects

Subjects:

Biodiversity

Conservation

Keywords:

Fire

Murray Mallee

Project Information

Summary:

Fire is a major process that shapes the composition and structure of ecosystems across Australia. It is also an important tool available to manage faunal communities to achieve conservation goals. Fire management is increasingly focused on managing landscapes to maintain ‘fire mosaics’ comprising spatially heterogeneous patches of differing fire history and post-fire age. However, there is little empirical data available to guide the creation of mosaics that enhance conservation efforts. How many age classes are required? What percentage of each age class is essential? This research aims to identify the properties of fire mosaics that enhance the persistence and status of small mammals in eucalypt-dominated vegetation in the Murray Mallee region. It employs a novel landscape-scale study design to investigate the influence of fire mosaic properties on the ecosystem. In particular, this project is interested in how the diversity of post-fire age classes, the extent of long-unburnt mallee and the temporal fire history of landscapes influence small mammal distribution. This research is part of a large collaborative project: the Mallee Fire and Biodiversity Project. It aims to identify the properties of fire mosaics that enhance the persistence of a broad range of taxonomic groups in mallee environments including: mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates and plants.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Fire, fragmentation and small mammals; synergistic impacts on ecosystem dynamics

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:07:44 +0000

There is currently an important and unique opportunity to examine this question in some detail in southwestern Australia by using a mixture of natural and targeted experiementation. A series of sites is available within which native mammal populations have been reintroduced or have increased recently due to predator control. There are also sites that have been subjected to either no fire or known fire treatments in the recent past, and also areas that are likely to be burned in the near future. We propose to use this range of opportunities to develop an understanding of how fire and native mammal grazing interact to affect composition and structure and hence impact on the future success of biodiversity conservation in fragmented systems.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

PhD Students

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

2249

Host Organisation:

Murdoch University

Researchers:

Kellie Maher

Subjects

Subjects:

Biodiversity

Conservation

Keywords:

Fire

Ecosystem

fragmentation

small mammals

Project Information

Summary:

Fire, fragmentation and small mammals; synergistic impacts on ecosystem dynamics

Current Activities

Status:

Pending

Understanding alternative landscape design options for planning more sustainable regions

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:49:55 +0000

Understanding the future scenarios for landscapes is a worthwhile challenge when being able to map and demonstrate the outcomes of decisions and other drivers.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

002371

Host Organisation:

UNESCO Centre for Bioregional Resource Management and University of New England and Institute for Rural Futures

Researchers:

Professor David Brunckhorst

Subjects

Subjects:

Landscapes

Conservation

Current Activities

Status:

Pending

Agriculture land retirement as an environmental policy

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:04:44 +0000

Agri-environmental programs are expensive and there is pressure to achieve efficiency in the public spending used to retire land from agricultural production. The risk of regulators not knowing the cost of compliance to land holders (and hence the compensation), or whether compliance occurs, means schemes may be too expensive and ineffectual.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

002388

Host Organisation:

The University of Western Australia

Researchers:

Dr Benedict White

Subjects

Subjects:

Conservation

Governance and Markets

Project Information

Summary:

Agriculture land retirement as an environmental policy

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Use of Bayesian decision support tools in sustainable management

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:03:32 +0000

This project, lead by Barry Hart from Monash University, developed and tested Bayesian decision network (BDN) models that will assist decision-makers in making environmental flow allocations for Australian rivers and wetlands.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Innovation Call

Research Type:

Innovation Call

LWA Project Code:

002368

Host Organisation:

Monash University

Researchers:

Professor Barry Hart

Subjects

Subjects:

Conservation

Landscape Management

Project Information

Summary:

The project aims to develop and test Bayesian decision network (BDN) models that will assist decision-makers in making environmental flow allocations for Australian rivers and wetlands. The endpoint of the assessment will be focused on ecological sustainability. Sustainability will be examined within the context of regulatory frameworks that govern flow allocations (e.g. National Water Initiative). Two case studies have been developed: (a) La Trobe specifically to understand the hydrological components (magnitude, frequency, duration) that define a ‘flow event’ with two ecological endpoints (Grayling larval production, Blackfish larval production). (b) Daly River specifically to relate e-flows to two possible ecological (fish) endpoints – barramundi and sooty grunter. And now the concept is proven the project is building capacity and being used to generate scenarios.

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Ecosystem services from grasslands - effects on tree regeneration processes

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:56:09 +0000

Project Objective

To identify how typical grassland states influence tree regeneration processes. . To separate out the effects of the grassland states on tree establishment.
To conduct a series of field experiments in which tree seed and seedlings are sown into grassland patches. The results will add to a wider-ranging assessment of ecosystem services and disservices associated with grassland states, and provide inputs into landscape dynamic models that can use patch-scale data to simulate future landscape function under various land use scenarios.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Research Type:

PhD Student

LWA Project Code:

002590

Host Organisation:

Charles Sturt University

Subjects

Subjects:

Conservation

Project Information

Summary:

Ecosystem services from grasslands - effects on tree regeneration processes

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Sustainable Northern Landscapes and the Nexus with Indigenous Health: Healthy Country, Healthy People

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:42:30 +0000

The Sustainable Northern Landscapes and the Nexus with Indigenous Health: Healthy People, Healthy Country project was undertaken at the behest of Traditional Owners in central Arnhemland in collaboration with a transdisciplinary team of medical, ecological and social researchers.

IDs and People

Program:

Social and Institutional Research Program

Program Theme:

Indigenous Natural Resources Management

Research Type:

Research Project

Research Scale:

State

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

NTU7

Host Organisation:

Northern Territory University

Researchers:

Stephen Garnett

David Bowman

Subjects

Subjects:

Landscapes

Biodiversity

Conservation

Landscape Management

Indigenous

Socio-Economic

Keywords:

Indigenous health

ICNRM

indigenous cultural

indigenous NRM

indigenous rangers

Project Information

Summary:

Outcomes:

he project concludes that a range of benefits may arise from Indigenous NCRM. These include improved environmental outcomes, health benefits, and other socio-cultural benefits. Indigenous NRM is a significant initiative in remote areas of northern Australia requiring further support and investment.

Without active management by Indigenous people, northern landscapes will continue to degrade.
Threatening processes include poor fire management and the impacts of exotic plants and animals.
Indigenous people have demonstrated their determination to be active in the landscape. One of the most powerful recent expressions of that determination is the Indigenous ranger movement.
Indigenous participants involved in active management of natural and cultural resources have better physical health than their counterparts who have been less involved.
Associated health outcomes include major reductions in risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes that not only severely disrupt Indigenous society but also require large public expenditure for treatment.
The broader Australian society benefits from increased activity of Indigenous people in northern landscapes, by mitigating adverse environmental outcomes and potentially reducing public health outlays.
The signals are sufficiently strong to warrant immediate and recurring investments to support Indigenous resource managers.

National policy analysis is required to:

Ensure that investments of this sort are not undermined by contradictory Indigenous policy in such areas as support for outstations, remote housing, education and definitions of legitimate work.
Review current investments to ensure that their scale is congruent with the seriousness of both the environmental and human problems confronted in remote and regional north Australia, with and the anticipated benefits of this integrated approach.
Develop governance procedures so that investment success is measured in terms of cultural and natural resource management outcomes, and health outcomes, and not simply process-related targets.

More information

Professor Stephen Garnett

School for Environmental Research
Charles Darwin University Darwin NT Australia 0909
Phone: +61 8 8946 7115
Email: stephen.garnett@cdu.edu.au
Website: www.cdu.edu.au

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Location

State & NRM Region:

Northern Territory

Locations:

Arnhem Land

Resources

External Links:

Healthy country, healthy people (EurekAlert! 7 May 2007)

Profitable, biodiverse wool production systems for the Northern Tablelands (NSW)

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:22:46 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Land, Water and Wool

Program Theme:

Native Vegetation and Biodiversity

Research Type:

Research Project

Research Scale:

Region

Subjects

Subjects:

Rivers and Wetlands

Threats and Pests

Landscape Management

Weeds

Conservation

Keywords:

Woolgrowers

Land Management

Riparian

Native Vegetation

Biodiversity

Natural Resource Management

Project Information

Summary:

A significant number of the world’s premium fine woolgrowers operate on New South Wales’ Northern Tablelands, which covers 2.5 million hectares and carries four million sheep. Over 1000 woolgrowers operate in the region, with granite, trap and basalt soil types and predominantly summer rainfall.

Current Activities

Status:

Pending

Background

Aims:

Profitable, biodiverse wool productions systems focused on productive management of native vegetation - an increasing priority for the region’s woolgrowers. The project aimed to develop solutions to natural resource management issues such as native tree dieback, unpalatable invasive weeds, gully erosion, compromised riparian vegetation and water quality, vertebrate pests and a decline in biodiversity, all of which have the potential to impact on farm productivity and profitability.

Case Studies

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Northern Tablelands Factsheets

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Location

State & NRM Region:

New South Wales

Locations:

Northern Tablelands