Project 2.2
Development of an Ecosystems Services Strategy for Australia

Background to this project

Australia has the oldest land surface in the world. Erosion and leaching have created soils with far less self-repairing capacity than the recently glaciated, fertile soils of the northern hemisphere. It is therefore less forgiving of bad management. It is also one of seven “megadiverse” nations, with a rich and unique biota, evolved over at least 45 million years of isolation.

A history of over use and ignorance has resulted in increasingly fragile landscapes and ecosystems that are becoming less resilient to external pressures such as population growth and climatic change.

The Productive and Resilient Ecosystems (PARE) Project is aimed at transforming the way we use and manage ecosystems to put Australia on a more sustainable path. We do this by providing expert and non-partisan forums that bring together agriculturalists, land managers, scientists and government experts to develop new frameworks and to foster consensus for action to achieve sustainable natural resource use across Australia’s diverse landscapes.

The Science Faculty and the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of New South Wales provides the research focus for this program: Professor Mike Archer and Mr. Peter Ampt lead a University program entitled The Future of Australia’s Threatened Ecosystems (FATE) Program. The primary focus of the FATE Program is the exploration of the role of native species in the rehabilitation of Australian landscapes.

The FATE team supports the Australia 21 PARE program which has a broader focus than FATE and a capacity to convene and mobilize expertise from across Australia to explore the issue of agricultural landscape change. PARE is co-chaired by two Australia 21 directors who have extensive experience in the agricultural sector and in public policy development. The board of Australia 21 provides links across the academic, government and private sectors.

This unusual framework provides the opportunity to explore radically new ideas with a broad range of stakeholders in a safe and independent environment.

In 2005, Australia 21 worked with these groups to develop a proposal for a national certification system for the environmental stewardship of agriculture to the Australian Ministerial Councils on Natural Resource Management and Primary Industries. Both councils supported the central recommendations. A process is now in train for moving towards a national approach to the environmental certification of agricultural land.