M Lockwood

Governance Principles for Natural Resource Management

Sustainable natural resource use and management make novel demands on governance arrangements, the design of which requires normative guidance. Although governance principles have been developed for diverse contexts, their availability for sustainable natural resource governance is so far limited. In response, we present a suite of governance principles for natural resource governance that, while developed in an Australian multilevel context, has general applicability and significance at local, subnational, and national scales. The principles can be used to direct the design of governance institutions that are legitimate, transparent, accountable, inclusive, and fair and that also exhibit functional and structural integration, capability, and adaptability. Together, they can also serve as a platform for developing governance monitoring and evaluation instruments, crucial for both self-assessment and external audit purposes.

Landcare and catchment management in Australia : Lessons for state-sponsored community participation

Rural Australia is beset by a range of difficult, long-term environmental problems impacting on agricultural productivity, biodiversity, public health, and living standards. State intervention can be justified in terms of the public benefits that often flow from remedial and preventative works. While a suite of instruments has been used, intervention has focused on promoting voluntary change using participatory approaches. The National Landcare Program, the billion-dollar Natural Heritage Trust, and establishment of an institutional framework for regional catchment management have been the main mechanisms for delivering government support to private land managers. Recent experience in Australia suggests that state sponsored citizen participation can work. Critical factors identified include separating the roles of regional planning bodies and local organizations; effectively linking regional bodies and local groups; establishing robust, productive agency-community partnerships; adopting benefit-based cost-sharing mechanisms for public investment on private property; and designing flexible policy packages, including economic incentives for landholders to maintain the supply of public benefits.

Multi-level Environmental Governance: lessons from Australian natural resource management

Abstract The region has become a significant scale of governance for the implementation of public policy, including natural resource management (NRM). A community-based regional NRM governance model has been adopted by the Australian government in partnership with Australian state and territory governments. There have been persuasive advocates of this approach both within community organisations and government. Proponents point to advantages such as the capacity to integrate across social, environmental and economic issues; improved investment efficiency; ability to establish appropriate power-sharing and partnership arrangements; better conversion of planning products into on-ground outcomes; and community learning and capacity building. However, concerns have also been raised in the academic literature regarding insufficient devolution of power, lack of downward accountability, exclusion of some stakeholders from decision making, and inadequate vertical and horizontal integration. We interviewed representatives from each of the governance levels (national, state, regional) to examine these concerns, and in doing so identify the strengths and challenges of the Australian experiment with devolved NRM governance. We synthesise the interview data with insights from the literature and make observations on the current state of Australian NRM governance. From this analysis, we identify lessons from the Australian experience to inform the development of multi-level environmental governance systems.

Nonmarket economic valuation of an urban recreation park.

IntroductionWhile choices between different public policy alternatives may be most appropriately made in the political arena, economic valuations can contribute to such decisions by giving guidance on the economic costs and benefits of allocation options. The economic value of public goods can be broadly categorised into market and nonmarket components. Market economic values are determined by the exchange of goods and services in organised markets through the price mechanism. Price is thus an indicator of relative value, though where markets are distorted, adjustments need to be made to yield so-called shadow prices. Market price, and to a lesser extent shadow price, are relatively easily determined. However, the major economic values of many public goods such as recreation resources and protected natural areas are typically not directly captured through any price mechanism. Generally entrance fees to such resources are zero, or do not cover the full cost of providing the resource. Despite this, their economic value can be considerable in that people are willing to give up scarce resources, including time and money, both to use such areas and ensure they continue to be available. These nonmarket economic values are most commonly classified into use and nonuse components (Freeman, 1993).Use values are the benefits which accrue to visitors who use an areas facilities and enjoy its amenities. This category of value is likely to be the most significant nonmarket value of major urban recreation sites. There may also be vicarious use benefits which accrue to individuals who derive enjoyment from the park indirectly through the media (Randall & Stoll, 1983). Option value (Bishop, 1982; Weisbrod, 1964) is a future use value which can arise from the desire of an individual to retain the option to undertake future visits to a site which possesses certain known desirable qualities. However, more recent work has shown that option value is not a separate component of value, but merely the difference between an ex ante option price and an ex post consumer surplus (Smith, 1987).Nonuse value has often been divided into existence and bequest value. Bequest value arises when individuals value an area not because they want to use it themselves, but because they want to reserve that right for future generations. Existence value is the benefit received by those who derive satisfaction from knowing that the site is preserved in a certain condition irrespective of use or potential use by the individual or others (Brookshire, Eubanks & Randall, 1983; Krutilla, 1967; Walsh, Loomis & Gillman, 1984). However, the motivations underlying any nonuse value need not be defined when total value is being estimated (Freeman, 1993). In this paper we avoid any subdivision of nonuse value and simply consider that any value placed on the resource by nonusers must be nonuse value. Of course users may also have a nonuse value over and above their use value for the resource.In this study we estimated the nonmarket economic benefits associated with a major urban recreation resource, Centennial Park in Sydney, using the travel cost (TC) and contingent valuation (CV) methods. Centennial Park is situated five kilometres south east of central Sydney and consists of 220 hectares of parkland ranging from sculptured gardens and ornamental wetlands to sports fields and more natural areas. The land occupied by Centennial Park is vested in the Centennial Park & Moore Park Trust through the Centennial Park Trust Act. Centennial Park is a park of regional significance to the people of Sydney because it is at the heart of a large city, is surrounded by high density housing and has great historical significance (Mortimer & Grimwade, 1991). There were over three million visits to the park in 1992 (CPMPT, 1992), with visitors undertaking activities such as horse riding, cycling, jogging, bird watching, picnicking and walking. There is no entrance fee for use of the park. …

Exploring Landholder Willingness and Capacity to Manage Dryland Salinity in the Goulburn Broken Catchment

In this article, we explore the socio-economic factors affecting landholder willingness and capacity to manage dryland salinity in the Goulburn Broken Catchment, Victoria. The primary data collection method was a mailed survey to one thousand landholders. The survey generated baseline information on key variables at the land management unit scale that was unavailable from other sources. Data analysis provided a coherent explanation of landholder adoption of best practices that will inform dryland salinity strategy and policy development in the Goulburn Broken Catchment. For example, research findings emphasised the importance of low on-property income as a factor constraining change in land management practices. On the other hand, off-property income and landholder age and family succession were not associated with adoption of best practices. This study proved to be a cost-effective method for gathering data on the socio-economic factors underpinning the poor adoption of best practices in salinity management. Given the increasing importance of dryland salinity, the dearth of socio-economic data and the need to develop sound regional catchment strategies, replication of this work in other catchments is warranted.

Integrated value theory for natural areas

Abstract Value assessment is a necessary component of any rational decision-making process concerning the use or management of natural areas. This paper describes an integrated value theory for identifying, measuring and aggregating human values for natural areas. To ensure philosophical coherence, the framework makes a commitment to a specific theory of end values. Three related levels of end value are identified, which give meaning to the values expressed by humans. The theory addresses the three rational modes of human value expression: weakly comparable, noncompensatory and exchange. Exchange value expressions are consistent with neoclassical economic notions of value. The other types of value expression are not. Current techniques for aggregating values include multicriteria analysis and benefit cost analysis. Multicriteria analysis can encompass the three modes of value expression, but does not readily discriminate between them, and so fails to take advantage of the full information content of noncompensatory and exchange preferences. Benefit cost analysis, on the other hand, assumes a particular structure of values which means it should be limited to assessment of exchange preferences. The framework outlined in this paper provides an advance on both of these methods, in that it combines the specificity of benefit cost analysis with the breadth of multicriteria analysis.

Exploring burnout in Australia’s Landcare Program: A case study in the Shepparton Region

The community Landcare program represents an important element of Australias approach to sustainable development. However, there is increased concern about burnout in volunteer Landcare participants. Until now, investigations of burnout in Landcare had largely failed to draw on international literature relating to the burnout concept. This article reviews findings from a regional case study of Landcare participants that used a modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Survey findings demonstrated that the modified version of the MBI was valid and reliable. A small proportion of individuals were experiencing high levels of burnout, and results indicate considerable potential for burnout to increase.The community Landcare program represents an important element of Australias approach to sustainable development. However, there is increased concern about burnout in volunteer Landcare participants. Until now, investigations of burnout in Landcare had largely failed to draw on international literature relating to the burnout concept. This article reviews findings from a regional case study of Landcare participants that used a modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Survey findings demonstrated that the modified version of the MBI was valid and reliable. A small proportion of individuals were experiencing high levels of burnout, and results indicate considerable potential for burnout to increase.

The relative unimportance of a nonmarket willingness to pay for timber harvesting

Abstract The magnitude of a nonmarket willingness to pay for logging of native forests in southeastern Australia is estimated using the contingent valuation method. This willingness to pay is apparently motivated by both the monetary and social costs of unemployment and a nonmarket intrinsic production value. We speculate that this nonmarket value for production may arise where a traditional land use is involved. Willingness to pay for intrinsic production value is small (4%) in comparison to the nonmarket economic value of reserving the same forests in national parks. Whilst this result may not be transferable to resource allocation issues which involve significant traditional land use, it does suggest that neglect of such a willingness to pay has not significantly prejudiced the results of past benefit cost analyses related to the preservation of natural environments.

Biodiversity governance and social-ecological system dynamics: transformation in the Australian Alps

Biodiversity conservation continues to be a challenging task for societies worldwide. We undertook a resilience assessment to address the following question: What are the ramifications of social-ecological system dynamics for biodiversity governance of a nationally significant landscape? Resilience assessment offers promise for guiding response strategies, potentially enabling consideration of ecological, social, economic, and governance influences on biodiversity-related activities. Most resilience assessments have, however, struggled to effectively incorporate governance influences. We applied a modified version of the Resilience Alliance workbook approach to explicitly address governance influences at each stage of an assessment of internationally significant biodiversity features in protected areas of the Australian Alps. The vulnerability of the Alps system to climate change suggests that it is moving into a release stage, with subsequent transformation hypothesized. Network governance is argued as enabling flexible, adaptive management and comprehensive engagement of stakeholders, both of which are critical to shaping how this transformation of the Alps as a valued focal system will occur. The Australian Alps Liaison Committee provides a promising governance structure for collaboration and comanagement across multiple jurisdictions. Our contribution was to demonstrate how a resilience assessment that explicitly embeds governance influences in social-ecological system dynamics can point to pathways for governance reform in the context of system transformation.

Analysing Conflict between Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation in the Australian Alps: A CVM Approach

The contingent valuation method (CVM) can be useful for assessing the non-market economic values associated with government land use decisions. A particular variant of CVM, which is based on dichotomous choice responses, has become widely used. Previous studies have employed a variety of techniques for analysing dichotomous choice CVM data to produce estimates of economic welfare changes. This paper summarizes these analytical options, and illustrates their application in a case study concerning cattle grazing on the Bogong High Plains in the Australian Alps. This case study is one of the few to assess the non-market economic value of cultural heritage conservation using contingent valuation, and is also unusual in that the competing values are both non-market in character. Nature conservation and heritage values were separately measured using two independent surveys. Mean willingness to pay for nature conservation and cultural heritage were estimated using a range of parametric and nonparametric methods.