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Managing land for integrated landscape outcomes - Steve Matthews
1. Managing land for integrated
landscape outcomes
Steve Mathews
16th February 2011
Climate change research strategy for
primary industries conference
2. The story so farâŚ
⢠Not primarily a farmer â but part of the story
⢠Biodiversity and landscape conservation
⢠Integrated landscape management and
sustainable use of land
⢠Multiple values, multiple uses
⢠Many different
regions, landscapes, communities, neighbours
⢠Driven by passion and initially speculative
3. What I have tried to do
⢠Purchase properties with high conservation
values
⢠Manage these to protect and enhance the
values, permanently
⢠Develop a model which pays its way (interest,
management)
⢠Therefore income generation vital â a range of
options
4. DiscussâŚ
⢠the enterprise
⢠the model
⢠how tracking
⢠some of the principles
⢠some observations
5. The enterprise
⢠12 properties, many titles
⢠5,500 ha approx
⢠8 bioregions from SA border to NSW border in far
northeast
⢠Approx 60-70 Ecological Vegetation Classes
⢠Wide variety of threatened flora and fauna
⢠Range from mix of pasture and
bushland, incorporating former agricultural
land, regenerating bush, through to original
bushland
6. Relevance of climate change
⢠Driving changes in landuse, management and
primary production
⢠Influences how manage for biodiveristy and
landscape values
⢠Driving changes in policy
7.
8.
9.
10. Land selection for biodiversity and
landscape benefits and returns
⢠Size: bigger is better
⢠Biodiversity values: priority species, communities, assets
⢠Important contribution to ecological processes
⢠Proximity to other bush especially reserves
⢠Connectivity including along waterways
⢠Diversity of habitats
⢠Presence of water bodies, including riparian environments
⢠High in catchment (less vulnerable to influence of others actions)
⢠Manageability
⢠Low level weed and vermin
⢠Bargain
⢠Resale value
⢠Landscape based tourism opportunities
⢠Access to management services
⢠Adequate boundary fencing with stocked neighbours
11. Maximizing âcapturableâ biodiversity
value
⢠align with public policy eg connectivity,
riparian, priority species and assets
⢠identify where policy supported by incentives
and markets
⢠hope the policies, incentives, market
mechanisms get it right â do they correctly
identify the priority biodiversity and ecological
assets, and the actions for real gains?
12. Taking a punt â they created a market
⢠No market for ecosystem services when began â only for
âbush blockâ fans
⢠Vic govt created a market for public goods
(biodiversity, catchment, carbon) by
- regulation: Native Vegetation Management
Framework (âavoid, minimize, offsetâ), s52.17 VPPs
- purchase of âpublic goodâ from private sector
suppliers, using âtenderâ mechanism (eg BushTender)
⢠Standards needed on actions and outcomes to guarantee
services delivered
- recognized in White Paper, draft Victorian
Biodiversity Strategy
16. Have rejected:
⢠quarrying
- granite slabs on exposed rock faces â rare
species
⢠timber harvesting
- fenceposts and firewood
- full logging and pulping operations
⢠grazing of forest and high conservation-value
grassy vegetation
⢠subdivision and sale for rural residential
17. Under development
⢠Sustainable forestry
- high-pruned blackwoods naturally regenerating in fields and forest
- salvage of large old trees fallen in paddocks
- plantations of highly durable, engineering grade, fast growing
eucalypts (E. bosistoana)
⢠Carbon-neutral arts and music festival
- 5000 people
- landscape based
- percentage to biodiversity and landscape restoration, incorporating
biodiverse, locally indigenous plantings for carbon offsets
- opportunities for participation in landscape restoration
⢠Urban fringe residential development â zoned residential; 50% of the site
into reserve
18. Best project
⢠580 acres rare vegetation in East Gippsland
⢠Some paddock and infrastructure
⢠BushTender payment over 6 years
⢠Lease 50 acre paddock (management included)
⢠Lease shed
⢠6 year payback cost plus interest
⢠Significant capital appreciation (300%)
⢠Opportunity for future biodiversity services
payments
⢠Other properties have yet to yield
19. Opportunities â where is it going?
⢠Ecosystem services payments
- eg biodiversity, carbon sequestration
- incentive and market-based schemes
- strongly supported in biodiversity strategies
- Victoria: BushTender, CarbonTender, EcoTender, etc
⢠Offsets under NVMF
- price $13,000 â 293,000/hha depending on bioregion
- average price across bioregions ranges from $35,000
to $179,000
- small amount traded to date through BB - 234 hha
(other trades independent of BB)
- this may represent 1000-1500 ha actual land area
protected.
20. Opportunities â where is it going?
⢠Biodiverse plantings and restoration â eg
connectivity driven
⢠Destocking â carbon credits for removing or
not running stock
- problem of setting baseline stocking rate:
do you overload the property to set the
baseline higher? Perverse outcome⌠so
set on assessed carrying capacity
21. Management: setting objectives for
realistic outcomes
What do we use as benchmark?
⢠âPre-Europeanâ?
- do we know really what that was?
- dynamic nature of ecosystems: they werenât
set in stone
- conditions have changed: hydrology, flora,
fauna, soil
- climate change: may never see the same
climatic conditions again
22. Management: setting objectives for
realistic outcomes
So what do we want?
⢠Manage to maintain maximum range for future:
- evolution of flora, fauna and biological -
communities in situ
- contribution to ecological processes
- ecologically sustainable economic
uses
- avoid permanent loss of primary productive
capacity (system may slip permanently less
complex, less productive)
23. Management: setting objectives for
realistic outcomes
⢠Manage for priority species, communities and
ecological process (eg threatened spp, crucial
ecosystem services)
⢠Review projected climate change in area, adjust
strategy
- eg choose species or communities from
locality with range of tolerances: âecotonalâ
cf âpuristâ approach in restoration, reveg
⢠Expert assistance vital to get biodiversity right
24. Management: setting objectives for
realistic outcomes
⢠Revegetation
- secondary to protection of remnants
- assist connectivity (risks eg vermin, fire)
- must be biodiverse and non-weedy, local
- may have to accept lower C-seq
- must assist with priority assets
25. Management: setting objectives for
realistic outcomes
Water
⢠increased demand for water (flora, fauna, us)
⢠include riparian habitats, wetlands, swamps, springs, soaks
⢠avoid plantations, drainage, extraction impacting on these
⢠include flora and fauna design features in property water
systems
⢠exclude stock from waterbodies
⢠dam design to minimize evaporative losses (eg deep,
sheltered, shaded)
⢠groundwater extraction may limit evaporative losses and
excess groundwater interception cf dams
⢠manage groundwater extraction so sustainable
26. Benefits for local farming community
⢠Grazing opportunities for locals seeking feed
eg drought (high price, get their cooperation)
⢠Employment and income through providing
ecological management services
27. Attitude change
Can contribute to change in attitude towards conservation
management:
⢠Neighbour One:
- ISO 14001
- fenced all native vegetation, waterbodies and dams;
- stewardship and offset payments for bush;
- now contracting ecological management services
⢠Neighbour Two:
- BushTender: from âwouldnât do it on principleâ to âhow do I
get it?â (more secure, reliable; less risk, outlay,
inputs, and work than cattle)
28. Conclusions
⢠Opportunities and markets are developing
⢠Still highly speculative
⢠It helps if you really love it
⢠Lots to work out yet â
research, standards, protocols, are actions
delivering real gains
⢠flexible strategies responding to
research, new knowledge and opportunities
⢠Requires landscape scale, cross tenure, câty