Neil MacLeod 

CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems 

The need to find sustainable management regimes for Australia’s grazing lands is acute. This is the case for conserving both the landscape elements that underpin production and the viability of the non-urban community (e.g. soils, pastures and stock waters); and community-valued elements such as a rich biodiversity, an assured supply of quality water and general access to healthy landscapes. The community elements cannot be feasibly protected within the spatially limited network of formal conservation reserves. The solution must be found on the grazing lands themselves and how they are managed.

Over the past decade there have been many solutions proposed to promote sustainable grazing land management. These typically call for a balance to be struck between the imperatives to conserve local ecosystems while seeking to preserve the economic viability of grazing enterprises. A serious challenge remains to demonstrate that this is feasible under contemporary grazing systems and the institutional arrangements for sharing benefits and costs of changed land management between landholders and the wider community.

CSIRO is conducting research into landscape design for the sustained use of grassy woodlands and savannas under grazing. The work, conducted in collaboration with landholders, has advanced an integrated set of principles to optimise resource conservation for these grazing lands. These cover key elements of conservation of soils, pastures, trees, wildlife and watercourses, within a whole property planning and management context. The principles include thresholds (e.g. tree cover and patch size, watercourse buffers, bare soil surfaces, % of intensive development) below which some important ecosystem functions become increasingly dysfunctional. The work is also exploring economic aspects of management practices that are consistent with the principles.

Serious barriers have been identified to changing present practices. These include: poor economic prospects due to low farm returns and loss of grazing access to parts of the landscape; high capital costs (fencing, tree planting and protection); practical management issues (flood, fire, weed and pest control); and equity considerations for fairly distributing costs and benefits.  Suggestions are made on how landholders may address these issues in order to move forward. Options include: small conservation reserves in critical areas of the landscape (e.g. centred on permanent waterholes), agro-forestry options, strategic grazing regimes, and co-ordinated group-based activities. Some policy and institutional issues are considered that may improve the adoption of sustainable land management practices. These include cost-sharing and green payment schemes; and the establishment of markets for privately supported ecosystem services.

Conceptual Framework for Planned Landscape Change

Stefan Hajkowicz, Tom Hatton, Jim McColl, Wayne Meyer and Mike Young

CSIRO Land and Water

Summary: One of the major challenges facing Australian natural resource management institutions is a lack of integrated conceptual models that explain how a landscape (or catchment) functions from a  biophysical, social and economic perspective. Furthermore, we are just starting to discover how landscapes respond to changes in management practice, market signals or government policy. What are the fundamental physical and social processes that drive landscape change? What are the key components of planned and strategic institutional response? How can these issues be drawn together in an integrated framework that facilitates effective and targeted change? 

This paper presents a conceptual framework for the planned change of Australian agricultural landscapes. The framework was developed by an interdisciplinary team of biophysical and social scientists through a process of regional consultation with farmers, extension officers, conservationists and policy makers. The conceptual framework identifies the underlying landscape-scale processes that drive natural resource condition and the fundamental principles of strategic institutional responses. These are assembled into an integrative conceptual framework to assist the natural resource management community work through complex issues of planned landscape change.

Conclusions: Whilst regional variations will always require tailored responses, there exists a core set of social, economic and biophysical issues relevant to catchment scale landscape planning. How well these issues are handled, will govern the quality and impact of landscape scale plans. 

The process of landscape planning can be guided by an understanding of (a) community values, (b) the environmental, economic and social processes that govern landscape function and (c) the institutional responses open to public agencies. Handling these issues in a structured, yet adaptive, format as suggested in this paper will help government and communities attain desired landscape outcomes.

Farming as if Nature Mattered

Corey Watts 

Australian Conservation Foundation

Summary: Australia’s ‘clean and green’ image is low on substance and is now beginning to wear thin. Consumers are increasingly demanding that Australian farmers verify their sustainability claims or change their ways. In a global economy, the pressure is on for Australia’s primary industries to become more innovative, to diversify and to environmentally modernise. Issues like dryland salinity and unhealthy rivers impress upon us the need not just for land management change, but profound changes in land use. The first part of this paper seeks to explore a vision of sustainable rural landscapes in a future Australia, and then asks how we might get there from here.

It is not an original observation that the ecologically sustainable management of Australia’s natural resources is less about the resources themselves, than it is about the various institutions and values that more or less govern our interactions with ecosystems. As the country’s premier environmental advocacy group, the Australian Conservation Foundation is profoundly interested in those tools that will catalyse widespread change. 

Two key initiatives that are helping to shift the agricultural sustainability policy debate forward are covered in this paper: The first is concerned with designing a policy framework to leverage large-scale private investment in rural industries and enterprises that are both sustainable and commercially viable. The second is about linking on-farm environmental management to processes and performance at the landscape scale, the problems with agricultural environmental management systems as currently being developed and where we might go from here. 

Tilbuster Grazing Commons: Theory plus action-learning is providing new understanding of synergies for social and ecological resilience.

David Brunckhorst and Phil Coop

Institute of Rural Futures, University of New England

Summary: The loss of ecological function across landscapes is a global priority, not only because of the direct impacts on biodiversity and the processes it sustains but also the social consequences arising in communities whose very existence is dependent on this natural capital. Conventional attempts to address these inter-related issues have generally failed and are hampered by narrowly focused agencies, entrenched property rights, other institutional impediments, and inappropriate scales. The enduring Common Property Resource (CPR) management institutions are not “Tragedies”, but rather “Triumphs”, demonstrating collective resource management Commons contribute ecological and social resilience despite an external context of high risk and uncertainty. The sustaining vigor of successful common property regimes has provided the interface through which the demands placed on the natural environment by CPR institutions are better matched to multi-scale natural processes that! supply ecological goods and services. We need to revisit these institutional forms and determine, through application, if these social organizational arrangements are socially and ecologically robust, to deliver sustainable landscape futures. We outline the “on-ground” development of a modern grazing commons model. With support from L&WA and NHT, a group of graziers in Australia are developing a contemporary CPR from private parcels of land in an attempt to address the degradational spiral that continues to challenge them, and their rural counterparts worldwide. Holistic resource management including rotational grazing, environmental rehabilitation and conservation and, water reallocation and creek restoration is undertaken across 4 adjoining properties on the New England Tablelands.

Native grasses – the case for managing what we’ve got

Jim Virgona (ab), Meredith Mitchell (ac), Anna Ridley (ac) and Brendan Christy (ac)

(a) CRC for Plant-Based Management of Dryland Salinity; (b) Farrer Centre, Charles Sturt University; (c) Natural Resources and Environment, Rutherglen, Victoria

Summary: Agricultural and pastoral practices through the 19th and 20th centuries have had a profound effect on the hydrology of the higher rainfall zone of southern NSW and north-east Victoria. As a generalisation, native grass species have been replaced by annual temperate species over much of the landscape. However, native species are still commonly found in the grasslands of the region. The available data regarding the effects of native on soil water relations show that they may have an important role in increasing the perenniality of the landscape and achieving desirable hydrological outcomes. 
The issue of how to improve the native grass component in these grasslands is addressed by contrasting the limitations of plant domestication programs with the more promising strategy of implementing management regimes that favour these species in situ.

A research strategy to increase the perenniality of these grasslands is proposed. It consists of three main elements. Firstly, to obtain a realistic estimate of the extent and contribution of native species across a ‘typical’ catchment. In particular, to examine the relationship between native grass abundance and position in the landscape. Secondly, an investigation of the impact of these species on soil water relations in situ will provide the most relevant data on their usefulness for increasing the soil moisture buffer. Finally, low cost and achievable management regimes that take into account species population dynamics need to be devised in order to increase perenniality in these landscapes while minimising economic impacts on landholders.

Conclusions: Managmenet of grasslands to improve the native (particularly, summer active) species is a key strategy in the fight to limit the spread of dryland salinity.

What will Australian agricultural landscapes be like in 50 years?

Michael Dunlop and Graham Turner

CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems

Summary: There are many factors that will determine the future of Australian agricultural landscapes. Some of these are out of our control (patterns of global growth, production in other countries), some may be partially under our control (land and water degradation, productivity improvements in Australia), and some are definitely under our control (where and how we choose to farm).  We have developed three scenarios of the 50-100 year future of Australian agricultural landscapes. These scenarios aim to help Australian address the critical question: What decisions will be critical in ensuring positive long-term outcomes for Australia's land and water resources? 

The scenarios have been simulated in the CSIRO Australian Stocks and Flows Framework, a simulation model of the Australian physical economy. The framework highlights physical trade-offs, constraints and opportunities that may be encountered under different futures. Resolving these issues gives the user of the framework insights into the future that can help in developing robust strategies and long-term policies. 

Conclusions: There is no certainty about what Australian agricultural landscapes will be like in 50 years, except they will be very different from now. The three scenarios we have developed are each quite plausible progressions from today's landscapes, they are recognisable from the trends of today, make sense in terms of the drivers that will shape the future, and they are physically feasible. But they are markedly different. 

This degree of uncertainty about the future must be considered when planning long-term policy agricultural or natural resource policy. We will illustrate how a narrow view of the future could lead to bad policy outcomes. 

Will also highlight a number of similarities among the scenarios - issues that we will have to deal with regardless of how the dice land in the future.

And we will indicate issues that may arise in some future but not in others.

How might greenhouse influence the way agriculture is practiced in Australia?

Jo Mummery and David Ugalde

Australian Greenhouse Office

Countries that ratify the Protocol will need to account for greenhouse gas emissions, including those from agriculture and land clearing.  Although Australia has not yet decided whether it will ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Australia remains committed to maintaining a strong domestic climate change program to meet its Kyoto target. All parts of the Australian economy will need to contribute if this goal is to be achieved. 

The agricultural sector is a major emitter of greenhouse gases (>20 per cent of national emissions). It also has the potential to reduce these emissions. The sector is particularly vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change. The latest climate change scenarios for Australia include reduced availability of water in key regions of inland Australia, increased risk of drought, increased soil erosion, reduced winter chill in temperate areas, and an increase in the frequency of hot days and bushfire risk. 

Planning for the impacts of climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions provide further incentive for the adoption of best management practices in agriculture. For example, changes in grazing to improve feed conversion, or changes in crop management to increase nitrogen use efficiency may reduce emissions of methane and nitrous oxide and at the same time improve productivity and natural resource management. Similarly, an increased understanding of the impacts of climate change at the local and regional levels can provide valuable input to decision making on farm. Some of the important implications of greenhouse and climate change for Australian agriculture will be discussed in the context of both production and environmental management.

Future roles for native woody species in Australian agricultural landscapes

Philip Newton and Isa Yunusa

Rutherglen Research Institute, Department of Natural Resources and Environment

Native woody species and shrubs when grown in phases can mitigate dryland salinity, soil degradation, emission of greenhouse gases and loss of biodiversity that often occur in agricultural landscapes.  Recently, herbaceous perennials, and lucerne in particular, are being incorporated into broadacre cropping for hydrological control, but there are strong indications that these perennials may not be as efficient as woody species in dewatering or abatement of greenhouse gas emission.  Arguments against incorporation of woody species often centre on loss of potential income during the years of their growth.  However, benefits from emerging bio-energy and plant oil production industries, and potential increase in crop yield due to improved soil structure, will provide opportunities for growers to obtain returns.  There are examples of studies conducted in Australia and elsewhere that support using native woody species in phase-farming.  Effective dewatering has been achieved within two years of planting with native woody species compared to three years with lucerne.  Studies have also shown that greenhouse gas emission from mature lucerne was twice that from actively growing woody species, because of the resistance of the carbon sources in the latter to decomposition.  Agricultural systems using phases of native woody species may also have the potential to oxidise significant amounts of methane within the root zone.  Serial phases representing different ages of native woody species will provide multiple niches to enhance biodiversity, thereby ensuring that biological assets are maintained when cropping and/or pasture phases are resumed.

Peter Ampt, Michael Archer, Barbara Bohdanovicz, Dan Faith, Alan Jones and George Wilson

Australian Museum

The FATE (Future of Australia’s Threatened Ecosystems) program offers potential for significant change to Australian agriculture. Its central idea is that the development of commercial activities based on the use of wildlife can create a more sustainable pattern of land-use than our past and present reliance on introduced species. If this is correct, FATE should result in improved social, economic and ecological sustainability.

The program will involve working with participating landholders and their local communities to identify potential wildlife enterprises. A marketing and enterprise plan will be devised for selected enterprises. These enterprises will then be adaptively managed by participating landholders over a period of 5-8 years. During this time marketing chains will be developed and the economic, social and environmental effects of the new enterprises will be monitored.

A key enterprise in appropriate areas will be the harvest of wild kangaroos since the populations of several species have increased significantly from past and present land-use. FATE is researching the existing and potential demand for kangaroo products and the economics of the existing industry and will actively encourage a marketing chain which can provide an income stream for landholders. 

The scientific research component of FATE has two broad aims. The first is to test whether the partial or complete replacement of domestic stock by enterprises based on wildlife will enhance ecological sustainability. This will involve investigating both structural (species richness and species composition of flora and fauna) and functional (through Landscape Function Analysis) aspects of ecosystems. The second aim is to optimise the net benefits to humans through complementarity analysis. This involves mapping species distributions on a regional scale so that unique (high complementarity) areas can be identified and protected.

Communication strategies will also be employed, utilising the strengths of the Australian Museum to encourage broad community participation and the communication of the progress and outcomes of the program. 

The program has already attracted the support of a wide range of people and organisations including individual landholders, farmer groups, scientists, relevant government agencies and private companies.

Stuart Hill - University of Western Sydney

The potential for farming systems to be ‘redesigned’ and improved, based on our understanding of biology and ecology, is enormous.  Among the few pioneers who have led the way in this ‘project’, the late P.A. Yeomans’ work in NSW is exemplary.  His understanding of soils as living systems, farms as  complex, integrated and evolving systems, and landscapes as the appropriate scale for planning and major decision-making was key to the development of his ‘Keyline’ approach to agriculture. 

In addition to learning how to make an inch of topsoil in 3 years (it normally takes 100s to 1000s of years), he designed a landscape that did not suffer from lack of water, was fireproof, high in biodiversity, and highly productive and profitable. 

This paper makes the case that we need to pay much more attention to soil ecology – as a basis for sustainable farming, habitat management and biodiversity conservation – and analyses Yeomans’ contributions with the hope that it may inspire a new wave of similar initiatives in agroecosystem design and management.

Landscape management in this millennium: Securing more enduring relationships between community and country through more inclusive conversations, more innovative choices and more collaborative action

Peter Cornish, Peter Davey, R Muston

Landscape and Ecosystems Management - University of Western Sydney

This paper develops the theme of the 2001 Fenner Conference, ‘Visions of Future Landscapes’, by seeking to understand what a ‘landscape approach’ to natural resource management might mean in the Australian context.  

We argue that, for progress in natural resource management to be achieved, the participants in landscape change must move away from subjugation of the natural environment through top down homogenous solutions, and embrace new ‘ecocivic’ concepts that empower communities to envisage and pursue shared sustainable futures.  This will require improved transdisciplinary learning across traditionally narrow professional domains and more effective integration of community knowledge and values.  It will require managers to look beyond traditional cadastral constraints (farms, local government boundaries, etc) and traditional subdivisions of the natural environment (soil, water, vegetation, biodiversity).  Real progress will reflect more holistic understandings of landscapes as ecological and economic entities, natural and modified entities and cultural and social entities.  New planning processes are required that enable informed and adaptive management to retain critical ecological processes within natural areas and mimic them in modified areas; to enable development of enduring economic and social capital without externalising costs and reducing options for future generations.

We conclude that landscape management is a process based on a philosophy that sees all landscapes as human constructions: mirrors on society reflecting their history, knowledge and values.  Effective landscape management is a transdisciplinary process that better enables communities (society) to:
 

• project forward and envisage desired environmental futures,
• “back-cast” the incremental steps needed to achieve those futures and
• become more empowered to act appropriately in pursuit of those futures.