www.environment.gov.au/soe soe 2011 – land chapter - overview this presentation is one of a series...
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www.environment.gov.au/soe
SoE 2011 – Land Chapter - Overview
This presentation is one of a series of Australia State of the Environment 2011 (SoE 2011) presentations given by SoE Committee members and departmental staff following the release of the SoE 2011.
The full report should be referred to for understanding the context of this information.
For more information please refer to:http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/index.htmlOr contact the SoE team via email:[email protected]
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New cover page
Presentation - Land chapter overviewPhoto: Aerial view of the Pilbara, by Andrew Griffiths, Lensaloft
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State of the Environment reporting
A report on the Australian environment must be tabled in Parliament every five years
No current regulations regarding scope, content or process
All reports so far written by independent committees
www.environment.gov.au/soe
Purpose of SoE 2011
Provide relevant and useful information on environmental issues to the public and decision-makers...
… to raise awareness and support more informed environmental management decisions …
… leading to more sustainable use and effective conservation of environmental assets.
www.environment.gov.au/soe
State of the Environment 2011 Committee
Chair
Tom Hatton (Director, CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country)
Members
Steven Cork (research ecologist and futurist)
Peter Harper (Deputy Australian Statistician)
Rob Joy (School of Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT)
Peter Kanowski (Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU)
Richard Mackay (heritage specialist, Godden Mackay Logan)
Neil McKenzie (Chief, CSIRO Land and Water)
Trevor Ward (marine and fisheries ecologist)
Barbara Wienecke – ex officio (Australian Antarctic Division, DSEWPaC)
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What’s new in 2011?
Improved relevance to decision makers
More detailed information
Discussion of the major drivers of change
Wide range of credible resources used in the analyses
Report-card style assessments of condition, pressures and management effectiveness
Discussions of current resilience and future risks
Outlooks
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Quality and credibility
Independence – written by an independent committee with relevant expertise, tasked with advocating for ‘accurate, robust and meaningful environmental reporting and identification of policy issues, but not for any particular policy position’
Authors sought best available evidence from credible sources
Extensive consultation
Workshops to determine consensus in expert opinion where evidence low
Transparency about quality of evidence and level of consensus
Peer reviewed (47+ reviewers of chapters and supplementary materials)
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SoE 2011 products
Full report – hard copy and online
Summary with 17 headlines Nine theme chapters – each with key findings Report cards
In-Brief – hard copy and online
50 page summary of full report
Additional online materials
Commissioned reports Workshop reports Additional tables and figures Peer review information
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Assessment summaries in the report
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Drivers chapter – context for rest of SoE
How are a changing climate, population growth and economic growth creating pressures on our environment?
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SoE 2011 Headlines
17 headlines in
summary chapter
give a high level
overview of the
big issues
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Key Findings (in theme chapters)
‘key findings’
give an
overview of
more specific
conclusions
for each
theme
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What is the general state of the environment? Much of Australia is in good condition shape or improving
Wind erosion has decreased
Some major threats to vegetation cover are lessening
Water consumption has fallen considerably in recent years
Many urban air pollutants are on the decline
Use of public transport is on the rise
Other parts are in poor condition or deteriorating The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing billions of tonnes of ice a year
Soil acidification and pests and weeds are affecting large areas of the continent
Our natural and cultural heritage continues to be threatened
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Drivers of environmental change
The principal drivers of pressures on Australia’s environment—and its future condition—are climate variability and change, population growth and economic growth
It is likely that we are already seeing the effects of climate change in Australia
The Australian economy is projected to grow by 2.7% per year until 2050
Under the base scenario, Australia’s population of 22.2 million people in 2010 is projected to grow to 35.9 million by 2050
We have opportunities to decouple population and economic growth from pressure on our environment
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Persistent pressures on our environment
Past decisions and practices have left ongoing impacts on our environment
Introduction of feral animals and weeds
Land clearing
Pollution
Unsustainable water resource management
Intense harvest of fish stocks
Lack of integrated and supported management
Our changing climate, and growing population and economy, are now confronting us with new challenges
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Land chapter statistics
100 pages of data and information
40 figures (graphs, tables, maps)
9 assessment tables
2 case studies
133 references
Photo by Christian Fletcher
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Key findings
Threats from widespread landscape-scale pressures
changing land use
land clearing
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Key findings
Soil acidification, erosion and loss of soil carbon may increasingly affect Australia’s agriculture
Climate change is expected to bring about profound changes in the Australian land environment, particularly native vegetation and production systems
Effectiveness of land management varies with land use and the nature of the pressures on the environment
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Key findings
Governance and institutional arrangements remain inadequate for soundly based adaptive management
There is a serious capacity gap in the professional and technical human resources necessary for effective land management
Trends in land environmental values are negative and likely to be exacerbated by climate change
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Land state and trends
Land management
practices have improved
Loss of soil carbon, and
soil acidification and
erosion
Loss of native vegetation
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State and trends
Progress evident in many aspects of managing Australia’s land environment
BUT – trends remain adverse
The loss of soil carbon, and soil acidification and erosion may have major impacts on production
< 50% of native vegetation remains in most longer settled agricultural and coastal zone regions
Approximately 13% of native vegetation nationally has been completely converted to other uses
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State and trends of soil – soil carbon
Assessment tables
provide insight into
the state and trend
of Australia’s land
environment
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State and trends of soil – soil acidification
Lime sales, WA
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State and trends of vegetation
Australia’s native vegetation can be classified into 23 major vegetation groups (MVGs)
Since European settlement, 13% of Australia’s native vegetation has been cleared and converted to other land uses, predominantly agriculture
In most longer settled agricultural and coastal zone regions < 50% of native vegetation remains
Photo by Nick Rains
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State and trends of vegetation
Native vegetation extent – outside intensive land-use zones
Native vegetation extent – within intensive land-use zones
Native vegetation condition – outside intensive land-use zones
Native vegetation condition – within intensive land-use zones
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Percentage of native vegetation remaining
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Pressures affecting the land environment
Australia’s land environment is
threatened by widespread
pressures:
Land clearing
Livestock grazing
Invasive species
Inappropriate fire patterns
Urban & peri-urban expansion
Photo by: Nikolai and Olga Vakroushev
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Pressures: declining soil health
Threats to our soil,
including acidification,
erosion and the loss of soil
carbon, will increasingly
affect Australia’s
agriculture unless carefully
managed
Photo by Jeff Drewitz
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Pressures: soil erosion by water and wind
Dust storms remain an issue but are less volatile than in the 1940s
Photo by: John Pryke
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Management effectiveness Varies with land use and the nature of other pressures
3 diverse management types:
government agencies
Family and corporate agricultural and pastoral businesses
Indigenous Australians
Complex legislative issues for public lands
Substantial yet still inadequate and investment
Gap in professional and technical capacity
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Case study: Caring for Country – Indigenous land and sea management
Box 5.1 of the report
Full case study online:
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soe
- see ‘supplementary
material’
Photo by Yirralka Rangers & DSEWPaC
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Resilience of the land environment
The resilience of Australia’s land, soil and vegetation can be assessed in two stages:
Firstly, in terms of the interaction of land with land use and the maintenance of environmental values under particular land-use regimes; and
Secondly, in terms of how well land regains these values after major disturbances such as clearing, flood or fire
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Case study: connectivity conservation in Australian landscapes
Photo by: Nick Rains
Box 5.2 of the report
Full case study online:
www.environment.gov.au/
soe
- see ‘supplementary
material’
www.environment.gov.au/soe
Current and emerging risks to the land environment
Profound changes in vegetation communities (major, almost certain)
The impact of invasive species, including new introductions and distributions (major, almost certain)
Decrease of soil carbon stores, widespread acidification of agricultural lands (major, likely)
Changes to agricultural and forestry production systems associated with climate change (major, likely)
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Outlook for the land environment
Subject to increasing competition for land use – human settlements, conservation, food, fibre & energy production
Future land environments are likely to be shaped by a different climate from that experienced in Australia’s human history
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Other SoE 2011 content related to land
Biodiversity
Built Environment
Coasts
Explore and discover linkages that are important to you
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Explore Land chapter of Australia State
of the Environment 2011
In Brief
Online www.environment.gov.au/soe
Supplementary products
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Strengths and limits of SoE
Describes trends over time where possible, and lessons
Highlights current and future issues of management concern
Was designed to assist decision-makers
Provides critical information, but can only be impactful if decision-makers consider it and use it
For more information email: [email protected]
To order copiesemail: [email protected]
Or read it online: www.environment.gov.au/soe