Natural resource management and enterprise development: can they improve Indigenous livelihoods? High on the Australian agenda is the removal of disadvantage faced by Indigenous groups and the sustainable use of biodiversity on Indigenous land. In terms of Eastern Indonesia, the Australian agenda relates to poverty eradication, with fewer threats to Australian borders in terms of illegal fishing and migration. This project provides fundamental knowledge on household resource use patterns, and th ....Natural resource management and enterprise development: can they improve Indigenous livelihoods? High on the Australian agenda is the removal of disadvantage faced by Indigenous groups and the sustainable use of biodiversity on Indigenous land. In terms of Eastern Indonesia, the Australian agenda relates to poverty eradication, with fewer threats to Australian borders in terms of illegal fishing and migration. This project provides fundamental knowledge on household resource use patterns, and the constraints and opportunities for natural resource activities, as a step towards identifying ways in which natural resources can be mobilised to improve livelihoods. Read moreRead less
Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the envir ....Improving water market outcomes through a better understanding of market behaviour. The issue of water resources and their sustainable use is probably the most important issue facing the rural sector. The water reform process and its aim to secure water for the environment will cause economic and social pain and result in structural change within the irrigation sector. Properly functioning water markets will play an instrumental role in facilitating this process by providing water for the environment and allowing water to move between competing resources. This study will enable policy makers and water managers to optimise the positive outcome of water markets and increase the likely success of programs to purchase environmental water.Read moreRead less
A framework for prioritising investment in natural resource management. If public funds applied to natural resource management are to achieve the highest level benefit, then the potential projects have to be prioritized. This is difficult when the expected benefits are both incommensurate (e.g. protection of roads v. areas of biodiversity) and uncertain. This project will evaluate alternative decision support methods for making such choices, with a particular focus on salinity management in We ....A framework for prioritising investment in natural resource management. If public funds applied to natural resource management are to achieve the highest level benefit, then the potential projects have to be prioritized. This is difficult when the expected benefits are both incommensurate (e.g. protection of roads v. areas of biodiversity) and uncertain. This project will evaluate alternative decision support methods for making such choices, with a particular focus on salinity management in Western Australia, although it is anticipated that the lessons learned could be applied to other NRM policies. The outcome will be a contribution to aid participatory decision making.Read moreRead less
Implementation of a strategic framework for investment for Natural Resource Management: evaluation and development. If public funds applied to natural resource management are to achieve the highest level benefit, then the potential projects have to be prioritized. This is difficult when the expected benefits are both incommensurate (e.g. protection of roads v. areas of biodiversity) and uncertain. This project will evaluate alternative decision support methods for making such choices, with a par ....Implementation of a strategic framework for investment for Natural Resource Management: evaluation and development. If public funds applied to natural resource management are to achieve the highest level benefit, then the potential projects have to be prioritized. This is difficult when the expected benefits are both incommensurate (e.g. protection of roads v. areas of biodiversity) and uncertain. This project will evaluate alternative decision support methods for making such choices, with a particular focus on salinity management in Western Australia, although it is anticipated that the lessons learned could be applied to other NRM policies. The outcome will be a contribution to aid participatory decision making.Read moreRead less
Integrating Economic Valuation and Water Quality Modelling for Improving Management of Coastal Catchments. This project will apply and integrate water quality models and economic assessment techniques to assist policy makers and catchment managers balance competing development pressures and environmental concerns in coastal catchments. The research is fundamental to underpinning the sustainable management of coastal catchments which provide major economic, environmental and community benefits. T ....Integrating Economic Valuation and Water Quality Modelling for Improving Management of Coastal Catchments. This project will apply and integrate water quality models and economic assessment techniques to assist policy makers and catchment managers balance competing development pressures and environmental concerns in coastal catchments. The research is fundamental to underpinning the sustainable management of coastal catchments which provide major economic, environmental and community benefits. The project will provide robust tools to predict water quality impacts under a range of conditions and it will develop techniques for the economic valuation of market and non-market impacts. The project will demonstrate the integration of water quality and economic modelling and how it can influence policy and investment in conservation and remediation.Read moreRead less
Managing endangered Banteng in a jointly-managed national park: contested values, Indigenous aspirations and resource use. Should north Australia's huge populations of feral animals be eradicated for conservation, or exploited as a rare opportunity for Aboriginal enterprise in remote regions? We examine options for a herd of Banteng, a cattle species endangered in its native Asian range but abundant in Gurig Ganak Barlu National Park, Aboriginal land managed jointly by traditional owners and a c ....Managing endangered Banteng in a jointly-managed national park: contested values, Indigenous aspirations and resource use. Should north Australia's huge populations of feral animals be eradicated for conservation, or exploited as a rare opportunity for Aboriginal enterprise in remote regions? We examine options for a herd of Banteng, a cattle species endangered in its native Asian range but abundant in Gurig Ganak Barlu National Park, Aboriginal land managed jointly by traditional owners and a conservation agency. In this unique cross-disciplinary study Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal stakeholders will identify Park values that may be threatened by Banteng. Those values will be incorporated in decision-support tools (bio-economic models) identifying tradeoffs between protecting values and providing incomes for Indigenous landowners.Read moreRead less
Timber harvest management for the Aboriginal arts industry: socio-economic, cultural and ecological determinants of sustainability in a remote community context. The Aboriginal arts industry is one of few development opportunities for Indigenous people in remote communities: in some regions a vibrant industry has been established for three decades. Yet there has been limited research that has combined assessment of the social, ecological and economic determinants of arts production sustainabilit ....Timber harvest management for the Aboriginal arts industry: socio-economic, cultural and ecological determinants of sustainability in a remote community context. The Aboriginal arts industry is one of few development opportunities for Indigenous people in remote communities: in some regions a vibrant industry has been established for three decades. Yet there has been limited research that has combined assessment of the social, ecological and economic determinants of arts production sustainability. This project addresses this issue with reference to the rapidly expanding manufacture of sculptures marketed by Maningrida Arts and Culture in central Arnhem Land. The project will survey resource use and availability, examine the ecological and economic viability of this emerging artistic tradition and make practical recommendations to enhance sustainability.Read moreRead less
Institutional transitions to sustainable agriculture: An inter-disciplinary analysis of a novel common-property resource governance system. Efforts to overcome the severe degradation of land resources supporting agriculture and human communities continue to be constrained by institutions and social norms. The knowledge needed for a transition to sustainable agricultural landscapes through institutional change is inadequate. A collaboration between specialists in economics, politics, sociology, ....Institutional transitions to sustainable agriculture: An inter-disciplinary analysis of a novel common-property resource governance system. Efforts to overcome the severe degradation of land resources supporting agriculture and human communities continue to be constrained by institutions and social norms. The knowledge needed for a transition to sustainable agricultural landscapes through institutional change is inadequate. A collaboration between specialists in economics, politics, sociology, ecology and soil science at the University of New England and graziers in an upper Murray-Darling subcatchment will analyse the transition to a common-property institution on this subcatchment. It will make a distinctively Australian contribution to international efforts to understand such transitions, and serve as a model for progress towards sustainability elsewhere in Australia.
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Presumed Guilty: An Economics Analysis of the Efficiency of Environmental Bonds for the WA Mining Sector. Environmental bonds have two important economic effects. First they give an incentive for mining firms to manage environmental damage and second they prevent excessive costs falling on the regulator in the case of bankruptcy. The aim of this project is to assess if this policy can be redesigned to increase its economic efficiency.
Bioeconomic Modelling of Marine Reserves. Australian waters contain a huge range of biodiversity, but are under threat from human activities. To face this challenge and resolve the problems of depleted fisheries and habitat destruction, innovative approaches are required to integrate marine biology with fisheries economics. The research meets this immediate need by developing bioeconomic models of marine reserves to determine reserve location and size, and analyse interactions between reserves a ....Bioeconomic Modelling of Marine Reserves. Australian waters contain a huge range of biodiversity, but are under threat from human activities. To face this challenge and resolve the problems of depleted fisheries and habitat destruction, innovative approaches are required to integrate marine biology with fisheries economics. The research meets this immediate need by developing bioeconomic models of marine reserves to determine reserve location and size, and analyse interactions between reserves and harvested areas under environmental uncertainty. The models will be developed using the latest developments in economics, biology and numerical methods and will be used to conserve Australia's marine biodiversity and improve fisheries management.Read moreRead less