An Assessment of Social-Ecological Resilience in the Context of Marine Resource Management in Melanesia. Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are part of the so-called 'Arc of Instability'. Despite enjoying relatively high levels of food security, mainly due to low human population densities, both countries have low Human Development Indices, particularly in Health and Education, and sustainable development is hindered by a range of problems, including complex and often socially destructive resp ....An Assessment of Social-Ecological Resilience in the Context of Marine Resource Management in Melanesia. Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are part of the so-called 'Arc of Instability'. Despite enjoying relatively high levels of food security, mainly due to low human population densities, both countries have low Human Development Indices, particularly in Health and Education, and sustainable development is hindered by a range of problems, including complex and often socially destructive responses to global markets. Meanwhile fishery resources of both countries are being rapidly depleted by accelerating global commodity demand, threatening food security and undermining progress towards sustainable human development. Targeted, socially-informed resource management policy can prevent these problems from becoming ours as well.Read moreRead less
Toward a political ecology of risk in river basin development: The case of the Mekong. This project is designed to examine the distribution and redistribution of risk associated with environmental change and large scale development interventions in the Mekong Region. The research aims to make a theoretical contribution to the rapidly emerging field of political ecology, by moving beyond an analysis of winners and losers based on certainty and post-facto impacts. The study will work toward an ana ....Toward a political ecology of risk in river basin development: The case of the Mekong. This project is designed to examine the distribution and redistribution of risk associated with environmental change and large scale development interventions in the Mekong Region. The research aims to make a theoretical contribution to the rapidly emerging field of political ecology, by moving beyond an analysis of winners and losers based on certainty and post-facto impacts. The study will work toward an analysis driven by the inherent uncertainties that underlie both the social construction and social distribution of environmental risk. The research also has important practical implications for environmental and social assessment methodologies in and beyond the case study region.Read moreRead less
Water Scarcity and rural social hardship - can water markets alleviate the problem? Present review of water resources within catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin will result in reduced access to water for consumptive use with consequential significant socio-economic and community impacts. Water markets are seen as major instruments to assist farmers in managing this process and thereby minimize the impact within rural communities. However, research has identified several barriers to trade an ....Water Scarcity and rural social hardship - can water markets alleviate the problem? Present review of water resources within catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin will result in reduced access to water for consumptive use with consequential significant socio-economic and community impacts. Water markets are seen as major instruments to assist farmers in managing this process and thereby minimize the impact within rural communities. However, research has identified several barriers to trade and several future research needs. This project addresses five of these issues by providing insight into three community barriers to trade as well as a framework for ongoing monitoring, analyses and reporting of market outcomes and impacts to assist adaptive policy development.Read moreRead less
Does monitoring and evaluation improve joint management? The case of national parks in the Northern Territory. Joint Indigenous/government management is to be mainstreamed in 30 national parks and reserves in the Northern Territory over the next few years including some of Australia's iconic natural wonders. This project will identify how participatory monitoring and evaluation enhances the realisation of benefits from joint management, how it can be done cost effectively, and how it can be scal ....Does monitoring and evaluation improve joint management? The case of national parks in the Northern Territory. Joint Indigenous/government management is to be mainstreamed in 30 national parks and reserves in the Northern Territory over the next few years including some of Australia's iconic natural wonders. This project will identify how participatory monitoring and evaluation enhances the realisation of benefits from joint management, how it can be done cost effectively, and how it can be scaled up from six pilot areas to areas across the NT and Australia wide. The project will build capacity of Indigenous Traditional Owners to participate in monitoring and evaluation for improved management and livelihood outcomes for the benefit of not just the residents of these natural areas, but for all Australians. Read moreRead less
Geographies of co-existence in urban and rural areas. Geographies of co-existence in urban and rural areas. This project aims to develop and trial a practical resource and set of protocols for Caring for Country—Indigenous-led natural resource management (NRM) that draws on Indigenous ways of working and being with the land—in densely populated urban and rural contexts. Caring for Country approaches have enriched NRM in Australia but their implementation in heavily populated rural and urban cont ....Geographies of co-existence in urban and rural areas. Geographies of co-existence in urban and rural areas. This project aims to develop and trial a practical resource and set of protocols for Caring for Country—Indigenous-led natural resource management (NRM) that draws on Indigenous ways of working and being with the land—in densely populated urban and rural contexts. Caring for Country approaches have enriched NRM in Australia but their implementation in heavily populated rural and urban contexts has been challenging. This project is expected to support resilient communities and build options for flexible, place-based responses to environmental change in urban and rural communities.Read moreRead less
Utilising innovative fishing technology to address key questions on the biology of Antarctic krill. Antarctic krill are an important species in the Southern Ocean supporting most of the Antarctic birds and mammals. A sustainable krill fishery is developing with krill products used in aquaculture and increasingly for human consumption. A new omega 3 krill oil industry has emerged and is rapidly expanding. The aim of the project is to predict the factors governing oil levels and the biochemical co ....Utilising innovative fishing technology to address key questions on the biology of Antarctic krill. Antarctic krill are an important species in the Southern Ocean supporting most of the Antarctic birds and mammals. A sustainable krill fishery is developing with krill products used in aquaculture and increasingly for human consumption. A new omega 3 krill oil industry has emerged and is rapidly expanding. The aim of the project is to predict the factors governing oil levels and the biochemical composition in krill which will help us understand growth, reproduction and recruitment. The research aims to also assess the possible effects of climate change on krill. Outcomes of this research aim to be used to manage the expanding krill fishery.Read moreRead less
Designing and Evaluating Biodiversity Conservation Policies for the Future. Biodiversity loss is a concern worldwide, especially in Australia with one of the world's 25 biodiversity "hot spots". Poor translation of ecology into policy and an absence of policy design principles are significantly impeding our ability to arrest these losses. This project aims to translate current developments in ecological theory into information useful for policy makers, develop and apply an evaluation framework t ....Designing and Evaluating Biodiversity Conservation Policies for the Future. Biodiversity loss is a concern worldwide, especially in Australia with one of the world's 25 biodiversity "hot spots". Poor translation of ecology into policy and an absence of policy design principles are significantly impeding our ability to arrest these losses. This project aims to translate current developments in ecological theory into information useful for policy makers, develop and apply an evaluation framework to current biodiversity policies using this new information, and develop policy design principles based on this evaluation. The project's expected outcomes - a clear translation of ecological theory for policy makers, and evaluation criteria and design principles for biodiversity policies - will contribute to conserving biodiversity. 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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Reconnecting with water: Lessons from a diverse economy. In 2008, the Australian government identified as one of its major development themes water and sanitation services in the Asia Pacific region. Focusing on the complex socio-cultural circumstances impacting on the implementation of water and sanitation policies in Timor Leste, this research will provide an in-depth account of the current barriers and potential opportunities for moving forward and successfully achieving positive outcomes in ....Reconnecting with water: Lessons from a diverse economy. In 2008, the Australian government identified as one of its major development themes water and sanitation services in the Asia Pacific region. Focusing on the complex socio-cultural circumstances impacting on the implementation of water and sanitation policies in Timor Leste, this research will provide an in-depth account of the current barriers and potential opportunities for moving forward and successfully achieving positive outcomes in this area. It will identify effective conceptual and methodological approaches for advancing community engagement and the development of adaptive management strategies which could be applied to achieve greater understandings, sustainability and aid effectiveness elsewhere.Read moreRead less
Multi-Objective Optimal Operation of Urban Water Supply Systems. In recent past, there has been a significant shift away from development of new water resources to optimal operation of existing reservoir systems. This project aims to develop a decision support framework to determine optimum operating rules of existing reservoir systems that consider a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, with a strong focus on decision analysis of alternative operating rules. The results of the ....Multi-Objective Optimal Operation of Urban Water Supply Systems. In recent past, there has been a significant shift away from development of new water resources to optimal operation of existing reservoir systems. This project aims to develop a decision support framework to determine optimum operating rules of existing reservoir systems that consider a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, with a strong focus on decision analysis of alternative operating rules. The results of the project will enable water planners to manage their urban water systems efficiently and effectively under a range of long term and short term planning conditions including droughts, while reducing associated environmental impacts.Read moreRead less