Peter Kanowski

‘Crying for our Country’: eight ways in which ‘Caring for our Country’ has undermined Australia's regional model for natural resource management

Abstract The Australian Governments ‘Caring for our Country’ program has undermined Australias ‘regional model’ for natural resource management, and eroded gains made under the precursor Natural Heritage Trust and related programs, in eight significant ways. Contrary to expectations that Caring for our Country, established in 2008, would build on the foundations established by the Natural Heritage Trust, it has adopted a narrower agenda, increased central government control, and compromised buy-in by state and territory governments. In reaction to the difficulty of assessing the cost-effectiveness of natural resource management program investments, priority has been given to discrete projects capable of demonstrating short-term, measurable outputs. Implementation of Caring for our Country has failed to realise the aspirations of regional organisations for core funding, substantially increased transaction costs and diminished success rates under competitive funding arrangements, and prejudiced the goodwill of many in the natural resource management community. Commitment to local community natural resource management movements like Landcare has been inconsistent, and largely unsuccessful. Retracting investment in relevant research and development, notably the termination of Land and Water Australia in 2009, has severely limited knowledge creation and sharing to inform and strengthen the regional model. We contend that the Australian Government should revisit its strategy for enabling and sustaining natural resource management investment, and that there is a substantial body of evidence in favour of approaches based on the regional model.

Australian forest plantations: an overview of industry, environmental and community issues and benefits

Summary Australia has over 1.5 million ha of plantation forests. Governments and industry share a goal of doubling this area by 2020, with most new plantations to be established on previously- cleared agricultural land. Plantations currently supply over half of the raw material required by the forest products industry and also provide a range of environmental and social services. The ownership and management structure of Australian forest plantations and plantation-based forest industries has changed considerably over the past decade, and plantation growing, processing and marketing sectors are becoming increasingly globalised. This paper reviews the major forces driving development of forest plantations in Australia and the key policy and management issues to be considered if plantations are to meet varied expectations of the Australian community. Our assessment is based on papers and discussion at the ‘Prospects for Australian Forest Plantations 2002’ conference. The wide-ranging papers to the conference considered opportunities for Australias forest plantations and plantation-based industries in changing global wood markets. They discussed alternative and emerging markets for wood and other plantation products and environmental services, the potential for plantations to provide environmental benefits such as salinity mitigation and biodiversity conservation, effects of plantations on water yield and quality, and the effects of plantation development on rural and regional communities. The role of plantations in providing a broader range of environmental and social benefits emerged as a major focus of discussion. Lessons learned from Australias experience with plantation development are relevant in a wider global context where plantations will be expected to supply products for, and benefits to, society that historically have been supplied by native forest.

Household and farm attributes affecting adoption of smallholder timber management practices by tree growers in Gunungkidul region, Indonesia

Farm household characteristics determine the success of programs promoting agroforestry systems and practices. This paper reports household and farm factors affecting the adoption of timber management practices by smallholders in the Gunungkidul region, Central Java, Indonesia. The research used three logistic regression analysis models—based on each household and farm characteristic, and a composite of both together—to identify the key factors influencing farmers’ adoption and management decisions, and their relative importance. A sample of 152 farmers who managed their trees primarily for timber production was compared to a sample of 115 farmers with similar socio-economic characteristics who did not. The household condition and composite models identified both on-farm and off-farm gross incomes as significant factors affecting farmers’ decisions to manage timber trees. The models confirmed that farmers with larger farms, and with higher on- and off-farm incomes, were more likely to manage their trees for timber production. These results have implications for extension programs that promote adoption of commercial timber management by smallholders in the case study and similar regions.

Setting the bar: an international comparison of public and private forest policy specifications and implications for explaining policy trends

To date much of the global-scale comparative research on environmental forest policy has focused on ‘macro-level’ policy goals and objectives. Although it is important for identifying broad trends, such research overlooks the specific policy settings that serve to ‘set the bar’ for on-the-ground environmental performance. This article helps to fill that gap by presenting and applying a framework for comparing specific forest practice requirements across 47 jurisdictions worldwide. We develop inductive hypotheses to explore the policy patterns that emerge. Socio-economic parameters – the level of economic development, form of land ownership, and enforcement capacity – appear to strongly influence policy divergence, whereas environmental science, by itself, appears unable to explain our findings. The development of private certification standards is consistent with public policy differences. The article discusses the implications of these findings for policy strategists interested in promoting scientifically informed, and environmentally effective forest policies.

Marker-based adjustment of the additive relationship matrix for estimation of genetic parameters - an example using Eucalyptus cladocalyx

The effects of adjusting additive (numerator) relationship matrices (A) for inbreeding estimates taken from molecular markers were investigated using a small, model population of Eucalyptus cladocalyx. A number of individual-tree, mixed-models were compared, incorporating estimates of population- and family-level selfing and ancestral inbreeding applied either as average values to the entire population or as variable estimates for subpopulation and family groups. The consequences of ignoring inbreeding were inflated additive genetic variance estimates and underestimation of residual variance, with resulting inflation of heritability. We found models that correct for differential inbreeding at the subpopulation level give similar results to more complex ones including family-level estimates. Our analysis indicates that the commonly applied coefficient of relationship for first-generation eucalypt progeny of ρ = 1/2.5 appears to be quite suitable for correcting variance component and heritability estimates. However, if inbreeding is not specifically corrected for by adjustment of A, some minor rank changes of individual breeding values can occur, especially where levels of inbreeding vary among families, and some suboptimal selections and loss of genetic gain may ensue.

Drivers of adoption of eucalypt tree farming by smallholders in Thailand

Eucalypt (Eucalyptus spp.) tree farming is a source of income for many smallholders in developing and emerging countries and critical to the resource supply of many pulp and paper companies. These companies rely on smallholders adopting tree farming, sometimes by offering a contract. This paper reports a study from four regions of Thailand, where smallholder eucalypt tree farming is important, which investigated what characteristics of smallholders were associated with greater adoption of tree farming. A total of 461 eucalypt tree farmers and 171 non-tree farmers were randomly selected and surveyed in these regions, using a door-to-door household survey. A logit analysis corroborated hypotheses about the drivers of adoption. Qualitative analyses were used to inform interpretation of the quantitative results and shed light on the role of eucalypt tree farming in smallholders’ livelihood. Results demonstrate that those with suitable land available are more likely to adopt eucalypt tree farming than others. In addition, perception of land tenure security matters in the adoption of tree growing, but holding a formal land tenure document does not. Adoption of eucalypt tree farming in Thailand is not part of a land use intensification strategy. Instead, eucalypts are used as an alternative crop for low productivity land, on which eucalypts are the most profitable crop. Eucalypt tree farming also gives smallholders an opportunity to diversify their income. In addition, this alternative land use has the advantage of requiring low labour inputs between planting and harvest. This is particularly advantageous for many tree growers who have off-farm income or rely on hired labour for farming their land.

Inquiries following the 2002–2003 Australian bushfires: common themes and future directions for Australian bushfire mitigation and management

Summary Major bushfires in south-eastern Australia in the 2002–2003 bushfire season caused the loss of ten lives, substantial damage both to rural and urban property and to infrastructure and primary production systems, and had significant environmental impacts. The scale and impacts of the fires prompted the governments of the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria to establish inquiries into the bushfires in their jurisdictions, and the federal House of Representatives and Council of Australian Governments to establish inquiries with wider terms of reference. This paper reviews the outcomes of these inquiries in the context of the most wide-ranging, that of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), which the authors conducted. The inquiries which followed the 2002–2003 bushfire season explored many of the common themes which had emerged from the preceding 13 inquiries into significant bushfire events in Australia since 1939. These include the importance of risk reduction, particularly through fuel reduction; of community education; of the role of volunteer firefighters; of local knowledge and of access for firefighting; and of the adequacy of resources for bushfire mitigation and management. While emphases varied, there was broad agreement amongst the four 2002–2003 inquiry processes about key actions necessary to improve bushfire mitigation and management: more pervasive and effective community education; decision-making within a risk management framework; improving governance and coordination; and supporting and sustaining the role of volunteer firefighters. All inquiries focused, to varying degrees, on the limits of knowledge and information, and how that might be addressed; on the importance of improved development planning and building design; on the role of landscape-scale fuel reduction burning in reducing risk; and on improving bushfire response and recovery processes. The inquiries agreed there was both scope and need for more effective fuel reduction burning to protect natural as well as other assets. However, as the Victorian Inquiry noted, this is ‘not necessarily about burning substantially more land, but rather, burning smarter’. The COAG Inquiry developed an indicative set of national bushfire principles, which it suggested should form the basis for future Australian bushfire policy, and COAG has since undertaken to develop a final set of principles based on these.

Escaping the disciplinary straitjacket Curriculum design as university adaptation to sustainability

Purpose – Curriculum design is often a challenge. It is particularly so when the subject is sustainability, which is an aspirational but contested concept, draws on a range of disciplinary insights and is relatively new to university curricula. There is no single “right way”, or even agreement across the disciplines that inform the collective enterprise about general approaches to sustainability curricula. The likely content is ill‐defined and spans departmental units and budget areas in most traditional universities. Like other societal and institutional attempts at realising sustainability, curriculum design for sustainability is beset by difficulty, yet an essential intellectual activity. This paper aims to focus on these issues.Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares actual curriculum development processes for “sustainability” in two very different Australian universities, as studied using participant observation and qualitative interviews.Findings – The paper draws out some of the common cha...

Factors affecting adoption of plantation forestry on farms: implications for farm forestry development in Australia

Summary Many factors influence adoption of plantation forestry as part of the farm enterprise. This paper reviews earlier work, and reports the results of a study of these factors in North East Tasmania. Before landholders are likely to adopt plantation forestry, they must be motivated to consider adoption of a new enterprise, and be able to access adequate information on farm forestry. Information commonly sought by landholders when deciding whether or not to adopt includes that on the biophysical requirements for commercial tree crops, the opportunity costs incurred, and the infrastructure available for farm forestry. Evaluation of this information is influenced by the socioeconomic status, attitudes and values of the landholder. Plantation forestry may only be adopted if all of the above factors combine in such a way that this form of farm forestry is considered the optimal utilisation of an area of land being considered by the landholder for establishment under a new agricultural enterprise. Promoting the uptake of plantation forestry on farms therefore requires development of adequate markets for the products of farm forestry, links between growers and those markets, credible information on economic returns, supportive regulatory environments and adequate information dissemination on farm forestry.

Managing forest country: Aboriginal Australians and the forest sector

Summary Aboriginal Australians have diverse interests in forest, encompassing cultural, economic, environmental and social values. Historically, the agencies and industries comprising the forest sector have engaged with only some of these interests, and have typically done so in a fragmented fashion. Our research with Aboriginal communities around Australia suggests a myriad of opportunities for a broadly defined forests sector, but this requires improved relationships between Aboriginal people and the dominant society and much deeper understanding of diverse Aboriginal aspirations at the local level. The National Indigenous Forestry Strategy promotes these aspirations, but requires a much stronger commitment from governments if it is to deliver them.