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Planning landscapes of the futureImagine a decision-making tool which can look at how a range of possible natural resource management actions could impact on the condition of sensitive and important areas of Australia. That's the outcome of a three-year project investigating the impact of different policy options and scenarios on the Lower Murray Darling Basin, a large agricultural region covering six million hectares across three States. The tool uses a range of future scenarios to help local natural resource management agencies understand the most strategic ways to encourage location of activities in the landscape in order to achieve particular outcomes or targets. It aims to guide decision making, in particular in designing trade-offs between economic, social and environmental costs and benefits. Water for a Healthy Country Flagship researchers in partnership with state agencies and local communities, undertook the work to analyse the impact of management actions on a range of areas, including:
The research highlights the challenges facing the region and provides natural resource managers with a tool to examine issues such as cost implications in different scenarios, the impact on on-farm profits, and new opportunities, such as efficiencies that can be gained through innovation. The project, which began in 2004 and was completed in 2007, was jointly funded by the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship and the South Australian and Victorian National Action Plan (NAP) for Salinity and Water Quality. Outcomes from this project have directly informed State Government policy and investment priorities including the A$6 million South Australian River Murray Forest program. Results are also being used in regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) planning at the Catchment Management Authority level, and in local planning and investment through the Local Action Planning networks. Analyses and results from the research have also drawn commercial interest. The project brought together a partnership of research organisations, State Government agencies and regional stakeholders from across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales with a shared commitment to broaden and deepen the way natural resource management and our future landscapes were considered. The project was initiated through the Land Technologies Alliance (LTA), a partnership of five institutions bound by a formal relationship agreement. The project was conceived in recognition of the fact that Australia was ready for an integrated approach to natural resource management, which accounted for the full costs and impacts of land use and development, according to Jeff Connor, CSIRO's leader of the project. Dr Brett Bryant, another key project member, said the research examined future scenarios where NRM policy would support initiatives such as carbon and water trading, and new industries such as biomass and biofuels production. The project uses scenario analysis to help guide the most strategic ways to implement NRM policy in order to achieve particular outcomes or targets. The scenario modeling approach helps in understanding how to achieve NRM goals in the face of uncertainty by assessing assumptions of climate change and the subsequent impacts on water availability, agricultural production and associated environmental impacts. Analyses were conducted separately for the Murray River corridor and the dryland areas. Contact: Jeff Connor, CSIRO Land and Water
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| About this email This E-Newsletter uses an HTML-rich media format to provide an easy-to-follow, visually attractive layout. If for any reason, your computer does not support HTML format email, please let us know by emailing editor.healthycountry@csiro.au with your full name and email address, and we will ensure you receive our E-Newsletter in a plain-text format. Please feel free to forward it to those in your organisation who would be interested in receiving future newsletters. If you do not wish to receive this electronic newsletter from the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship, please reply to this message with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Alternatively, please contact editor.healthycountry@csiro.au or telephone us on +61 2 6246 4565 to request the removal of your email address. This E-Newsletter is a publication of CSIRO. It does not purport to be comprehensive or to render professional advice. All material in this publication is subject to copyright. For permission to reproduce any part or all of an article, please contact the editor. |
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| Water for a Healthy Country Flagship CSIRO Editor: Leane Regan CSIRO Black Mountain Laboratories, Canberra, ACT, 2601 Phone: +61 2 6246 4565 Fax: +61 2 6246 5560 editor.healthycountry@csiro.au www.csiro.au/healthycountry/ |
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