Beyond the resource curse: charting a path to sustainable livelihoods for mineral-dependent communities. Over 20 million people in developing countries depend on informal mining for their livelihoods, producing large amounts of mineral commodities. This project challenges the current paradigm on informal mining and aims to improve the livelihoods of these people while enhancing environmental sustainability.
Going for gold: safe livelihoods for informal gold miners in South and Southeast Asia. Informal gold mining by the rural poor is transforming contemporary rural Asian economies. This project will focus on the community level, and on mineral-rich tracts in South and Southeast Asia, to explore how the livelihoods of the rural poor are changing in response to high gold prices.
Sustainable Development Of Tropical Australia: R&D For Management Of Land, Water And Marine Resources
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$25,085.00
Summary
In response to the need for sustainable development of tropical Australia, CSIRO (Divisions of Marine Research, Tropical Agriculture, and Land and Water) in collaboration with State and Territory Departments (Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia), and the Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation (LWRRDC) and Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) are developing a project which aims to overcome the significant gaps that exist in current knowledg ....In response to the need for sustainable development of tropical Australia, CSIRO (Divisions of Marine Research, Tropical Agriculture, and Land and Water) in collaboration with State and Territory Departments (Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia), and the Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation (LWRRDC) and Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) are developing a project which aims to overcome the significant gaps that exist in current knowledge relating to the impacts of catchments and their associated land uses on the coastal zone and to integrate current and new knowledge to underpin the development of negotiated approaches to multiple use management.
The project will by necessity require strong integration across a range of physical, chemical, biological, economic and social disciplines. The integration of scientific knowledge with a broad suite of innovative approaches to regional planning will allow new benchmarks that exceed current practice in natural resource management. As such, it is likely that the proposed project could serve as a model for future work and, in so doing, deliver significant benefits to both tropical Australia and the nation. Objectives: 1. Identify natural resources priority issues with stakeholders, and determine their management priority, R&D needs, and institutional and organisational capacity; 2. Identify and review existing natural resource management data, process understanding and information; 3. Examine and critically review opportunities for R&D to underpin improved natural resource management and identify potential obstacles and risks to R&D in natural resource management; 4. Specify R&D priorities to underpin improved natural resource management and options for implementation. Read moreRead less
Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies ....Water availability and demand: better forecasts, better management. This project aims to improve Australia’s capability in the provision and use of water forecasts for managing water resources. The current water forecasts are not fully utilised by water agencies as they are not sufficiently comprehensive and advanced. This project expects to achieve a step change in the uptake and utility of hydro-climate forecasts through an extensive partnership of leading researchers and operational agencies of hydro-climate forecasting, with federal, state and regional water agencies.Read moreRead less
A decadal to inter-decadal streamflow prediction system. This project will develop the first ever decadal streamflow prediction system for Australia, leading to predictions of streamflow for the next 10 years and beyond that take into account both natural climatic variability (driven by factors such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation) and changing greenhouse gas concentrations due to a warming planet.
The political ecology of forest carbon: mainland Southeast Asia's new commodity frontier? Spurred by international climate change policies, forest carbon markets are being promoted in mainland Southeast Asia to protect its forests against persisting rates of deforestation. This research examines the implications of this new commodity market for local livelihoods and cross-border forest product trade in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Development Of Aquaculture Techniques For Production Of The WA Dhufish (Glaucosoma Hebraicum)
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$213,186.00
Summary
Objectives: 1. Reliable production of fertilised eggs (in excess of 100,000 on 5 occassions during 1998/9) 2. Successful production of larvae (minimum of 500,000) 3. Successful production of fingerlings (minimum of 10,000) 4. Development of production procedures for commercial production of fingerlings 5. Development of pelletised grow-out diet 6. Production of market size fish in one year 7. Increased knowledge of the species
Forecasting drought impacts months ahead using satellite data. Skillful seasonal water and crop forecasts could do much to help cope with drought and water-related food crises. Recent advances in hydrological modelling and satellite remote sensing of surface soil moisture, landscape water storage and vegetation biomass have created a great opportunity to produce such forecasts over large areas. This project will exploit that opportunity by assimilating the satellite observations into a global wa ....Forecasting drought impacts months ahead using satellite data. Skillful seasonal water and crop forecasts could do much to help cope with drought and water-related food crises. Recent advances in hydrological modelling and satellite remote sensing of surface soil moisture, landscape water storage and vegetation biomass have created a great opportunity to produce such forecasts over large areas. This project will exploit that opportunity by assimilating the satellite observations into a global water and vegetation forecasting model. The resulting improvement in seasonal forecasts of stream flow, soil moisture and crop production will be quantified and compared to the limited forecasts that are currently available.Read moreRead less
Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN co ....Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN commodity chain in the threatened Heart of Borneo, Indonesia, and the major urban trading centres of Jakarta, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The project offers novel insights into the trade’s sustainability across rural and urban regions of Asia and informs policy for poverty reduction and environmental management in the region.Read moreRead less
Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catch ....Delivering robust hydrological predictions for Australia’s water challenges. This project aims to build a virtual hydrological laboratory to identify the best hydrological models that maximise predictive performance in a range of catchments, accounting for their dominant hydrological processes and data availability. New process-informed hydrological model structures will be developed using this virtual laboratory to embody our best understanding of hydrological processes and data from real catchments. The expected outcomes include major improvements in hydrological predictions for Australian catchments. This project will provide major benefits to irrigators, water authorities and engineers, who rely on hydrological predictions for sustainable water management in the highly-variable, semi-arid Australian climate.Read moreRead less