Integrated Farm Modelling to Improve Resilience and Sustainable Prosperity. This project aims to improve farm resilience, farm management, and economic decision-making in Australia and internationally. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge to integrate our understanding of agro-ecosystems and innovative tools to assess their status and manage their operations more effectively. Expected outcomes include the ability to inform farmers, bankers, and land managers about the trade-off ....Integrated Farm Modelling to Improve Resilience and Sustainable Prosperity. This project aims to improve farm resilience, farm management, and economic decision-making in Australia and internationally. It expects to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge to integrate our understanding of agro-ecosystems and innovative tools to assess their status and manage their operations more effectively. Expected outcomes include the ability to inform farmers, bankers, and land managers about the trade-offs between resilience and efficiency on farms. This should provide significant benefits, including the ability to minimize financial risks to farmers and banks, allow better investment decisions, and achieve sustainable long-term outcomes for both private and public well-being.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100492
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$462,720.00
Summary
Robust strategies to achieve sustainable savannas under rapid global change. This project aims to design approaches for financial incentive programs that are robust to uncertainties in global climate and economic change, while delivering multiple ecosystem services. Despite billions of dollars allocated to landholders, these schemes have not been evaluated under a range of potential futures. This project expects to incorporate an unprecedented range of uncertainties into incentive program design ....Robust strategies to achieve sustainable savannas under rapid global change. This project aims to design approaches for financial incentive programs that are robust to uncertainties in global climate and economic change, while delivering multiple ecosystem services. Despite billions of dollars allocated to landholders, these schemes have not been evaluated under a range of potential futures. This project expects to incorporate an unprecedented range of uncertainties into incentive program design, and test program performance using spatial simulations of Australia’s dynamic savanna rangelands. This should lay the groundwork for applications to other environments facing similarly uncertain futures, and may prove vital to ensure we can adapt and thrive in a changing climateRead moreRead less
Developing Ecosystem Services Economies for northern Australia. The project aims to advance economic opportunities for Indigenous communities across Northern Australia by developing culturally appropriate ecosystem services economies. The project will offer new alternatives for collectively addressing chronic Indigenous socio-economic issues and pressing environmental issues. Expected outcomes include a co-developed ecosystem services economies business model with a toolkit, involving Indigenous ....Developing Ecosystem Services Economies for northern Australia. The project aims to advance economic opportunities for Indigenous communities across Northern Australia by developing culturally appropriate ecosystem services economies. The project will offer new alternatives for collectively addressing chronic Indigenous socio-economic issues and pressing environmental issues. Expected outcomes include a co-developed ecosystem services economies business model with a toolkit, involving Indigenous and business stakeholders, for establishing innovative enterprises across northern Australia. Key benefits include new ecosystem services-based enterprises; sustainable land sector development; jobs in remote locations; improved well-being of Indigenous peoples; and better environmental management. Read moreRead less
Advancing resilience theory and practice for water resource management. Water resources in Australia and worldwide are under severe stress, for example from drought and water demand. This project aims to investigate how water and other natural resources can be managed to build resilience to such stresses. The project expects to develop advances in resilience theory that generate new model-based tools for resilient decision-making. These advances will be tested in a model of water resource manage ....Advancing resilience theory and practice for water resource management. Water resources in Australia and worldwide are under severe stress, for example from drought and water demand. This project aims to investigate how water and other natural resources can be managed to build resilience to such stresses. The project expects to develop advances in resilience theory that generate new model-based tools for resilient decision-making. These advances will be tested in a model of water resource management in north-central Victoria. Expected outcomes of the project include increased decision-maker capability to respond to threats to water and other natural resources. Such outcomes will help ensure the sustainability of increasingly highly stressed natural resources in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101306
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,848.00
Summary
Valuing the non-market benefits of mine site rehabilitation. This project aims to improve decisions about mine site rehabilitation. Mining causes environmental damage, which mine operators are legally required to rehabilitate. Although companies invest considerably in mine site restoration and biodiversity offsets, we don’t know whether their practices match public preferences for rehabilitation outcomes. Filling this knowledge gap is challenging because the benefits of rehabilitation (eg biodiv ....Valuing the non-market benefits of mine site rehabilitation. This project aims to improve decisions about mine site rehabilitation. Mining causes environmental damage, which mine operators are legally required to rehabilitate. Although companies invest considerably in mine site restoration and biodiversity offsets, we don’t know whether their practices match public preferences for rehabilitation outcomes. Filling this knowledge gap is challenging because the benefits of rehabilitation (eg biodiversity) are not traded in markets. This project aims to address these challenges by estimating, in monetary terms, the values provided by mine site restoration. By identifying these values, the project expects to contribute to improving the design of mine rehabilitation standards, and will enable future policy decisions to be more closely aligned with society’s preferences.Read moreRead less
Transitioning to a water-secure future in the Basin. Increased water scarcity threatens the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin. There has been little analysis conducted of the consequences of water market impediments. The economic dimensions of trade impediments, water management, water market intervention and the net social benefits of water markets are at the core of this project. In particular, this project aims to explore: the impact of impediments and policy in water markets; how further ....Transitioning to a water-secure future in the Basin. Increased water scarcity threatens the viability of the Murray-Darling Basin. There has been little analysis conducted of the consequences of water market impediments. The economic dimensions of trade impediments, water management, water market intervention and the net social benefits of water markets are at the core of this project. In particular, this project aims to explore: the impact of impediments and policy in water markets; how further water market products may increase water market efficiency; and, the nature and sources of transactions costs in markets. Benefits from this project will enhance resilience and adaptation of irrigators to future climate change and water shortages, as well as providing future policy guidance.Read moreRead less
Consequences of water reform and changing farm adaptation in the Basin. This project aims to evaluate the consequences of, and lessons learned from, the past two decades of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). In particular, it will examine the recent economic and farm consequences of water recovery. Australia is over halfway through implementation of the MDB Plan, and has spent over $6 billion in water recovery to achieve basin-wide resilience, with billions more still committed. Pro ....Consequences of water reform and changing farm adaptation in the Basin. This project aims to evaluate the consequences of, and lessons learned from, the past two decades of water reform in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). In particular, it will examine the recent economic and farm consequences of water recovery. Australia is over halfway through implementation of the MDB Plan, and has spent over $6 billion in water recovery to achieve basin-wide resilience, with billions more still committed. Project expected outcomes include pioneering new methods to track how MDB irrigation efficiency, productivity and other farm outcomes have changed as a response to water reform. It will also draw lessons from both national and international case studies to consequently inform more effective water management.Read moreRead less
Multi-service assessment of intertidal treatment wetlands. This project aims to investigate the use of constructed intertidal wetlands to reduce nitrogen pollution while providing co-benefits including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This research will generate a holistic assessment of the services, disservices, and cost-effectiveness of intertidal treatment wetlands compared to traditional wastewater treatment approaches. Expected outcomes include a full-scale multi-disciplinary environm ....Multi-service assessment of intertidal treatment wetlands. This project aims to investigate the use of constructed intertidal wetlands to reduce nitrogen pollution while providing co-benefits including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This research will generate a holistic assessment of the services, disservices, and cost-effectiveness of intertidal treatment wetlands compared to traditional wastewater treatment approaches. Expected outcomes include a full-scale multi-disciplinary environmental and economic assessment of a constructed treatment wetland in a new urban development, providing industry and government partners the knowledge required to broaden uptake of intertidal wetlands as a cost-effective solution to growing levels of coastal anthropogenic pollution.Read moreRead less