Bw Davis

Federalism and environmental politics: An Australian overview

SummaryThis overview paper examines past Australian conservation controversies and experiences to identify prospective means of ameliorating environmental conflict in the future. Since all community disputes should be resolved by means of political and administrative actions, emphasis is placed on federalism and intergovernmental relations, and measures are suggested which might improve environmental policy and practices in the future.

Contemporary ocean and coastal management issues in Australia and New Zealand: an overview

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of international treaties, conventions and agreements dealing with maritime issues and oceans governance. Most nations are attempting to cope with this expanding agenda at a time of fiscal constraint, competing environmental demands and the emergence of a new global strategic, political and economic order. However, similar issues do not always lead to similar outcomes. Australia and New Zealand share some common oceanic and coastal management problems, but variations in response arise from geographical differences, constitutional provisions, political style and administrative arrangements. This paper provides a brief overview of contemporary maritime issues and attempted solutions in both nations.

Antarctica as a global protected area: perceptions and reality

SUMMARY On 4 October 1991 the Antarctica Treaty nations meeting in Madrid signed a Protocol on Environment Protection, banning mining activity for at least 50 years and designating Antarctica as a ‘natural reserve, devoted to peace and science’. This was a far cry from the earlier CRAMRA proposal of 1988, which involved a draft Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities. The path between has been anything but smooth and the paper identifies some of the differing perceptions and processes which affected the outcome. It is argued that geographers may play a useful role in helping devise regimes for management of the global commons, since they are likely to avoid the superficiality and inaccuracy which often attends media and political discourse on such issues.

Land-based activities: what remains to be done

The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) represents an ambitious attempt to make the leap between the rhetoric of protecting and preserving the marine environment and action. With degradation of the marine environment from land based activities posing one of the most serious threats to the quality and productivity of the coastal and marine environment, the GPA can only be viewed as a milestone rather than a destination, as so much work remains to be done in this field. States supporting the GPA are entering the most challenging phase of the program, that of implementation. But the international community in taking on this challenge is not without a few signposts. The failure of the Montreal Guidelines to be implemented, provides States with many important lessons. This paper suggests that if the GPA is to have an impact on the complex problem of land-based activities then several tasks need to be grappled with. Substantial financial support needs to be generated, a proactive and cooperative secretariat established and the nexus between the GPA and United Nations Environment Programme Regional Seas Programme examined. The importance of people and training to the capacity building process needs to be recognised and a wider variety of stakeholders engaged in the follow up phase. Pivotal to the aforementioned is the need to generate political will to address the problem, without which the GPA will become yet another dusty volume on the bookshelf.

Australian Planner December 1981, Eco-Action: Does It Educate Or Divide?

Over the past two decades major conservation controversies mining on Fraser Island, woodchipping in New South Wales and Tasmania, bauxite mining in Western Australia’s jarrah forests, oil exploration on the Great Barrier Reef - have engendered widespread public debate.

Economic growth, environmental management and government institutions: the political implications of sustainable policies

Abstract Many nations are now pursuing a policy of ‘sustainable development’, but the interpretation of this concept, as well as practical implementation, pose special difficulties. However altruistic the intention, a variety of political and administrative barriers arise in trying to move from the outright pursuit of economic growth towards ecologically and socially acceptable forms of development strategies. In particular, existing interests may be challenged and new programs involve substantial adjustment of extant provisions, threatening profitability, employment and power. In such circumstances strong countervailing forces for the status quo may emerge. The difficulty is exacerbated for federal nations in that various levels of government, as well as private corporation positions, may be challenged.