Uncertainties around the implementation of a clearing-control policy in a unique catchment in northern Australia: exploring equity issues and balancing competing objectives

Australian agricultural resources: A national scale land capability map

Ongoing land clearing is a key driver of biodiversity loss and climate change. Effective action to halt land clearing and land degradation ultimately relies on understanding patterns of land capability for production uses, in particular agriculture, as a key driver of land use. Here we describe a national agricultural land capability map for Australia, based on harmonized state agricultural land capability datasets and modelled pastoral capability. State-level agricultural land capability datasets capture regional variations in crop selection and suitability. Hence, we reclassified these datasets to fit a nationally consistent land capability ranking scheme. For regions in which agricultural capability data was not available, we modelled agricultural and pastoral capability and mapped this to the same ranking scheme. The national land capability dataset fills an immediate knowledge need for Australia. This dataset has wide potential for utilization, such as for retrospective analysis of land use policies and prospective regional planning initiatives to ensure forward looking policies and land use plans optimize land allocation.

Using Optimal Land-Use Scenarios to Assess Trade-Offs between Conservation, Development, and Social Values

Development of land resources can contribute to increased economic productivity but can also negatively affect the extent and condition of native vegetation, jeopardize the persistence of native species, reduce water quality, and erode ecosystem services. Spatial planning must therefore balance outcomes for conservation, development, and social goals. One approach to evaluating these trade-offs is scenario planning. In this paper we demonstrate methods for incorporating stakeholder preferences into scenario planning through both defining scenario objectives and evaluating the scenarios that emerge. In this way, we aim to develop spatial plans capable of informing actual land-use decisions. We used a novel approach to scenario planning that couples optimal land-use design and social evaluation of environmental outcomes. Four land-use scenarios combined differences in total clearing levels (10% and 20%) in our study region, the Daly Catchment Australia, with the presence or absence of spatial precincts to concentrate irrigated agriculture. We used the systematic conservation planning tool Marxan with Zones to optimally plan for multiple land-uses that met objectives for both conservation and development. We assessed the performance of the scenarios in terms of the number of objectives met and the degree to which existing land-use policies were compromised (e.g., whether clearing limits in existing guidelines were exceeded or not). We also assessed the land-use scenarios using expected stakeholder satisfaction with changes in the catchment to explore how the scenarios performed against social preferences. There were a small fraction of conservation objectives with high conservation targets (100%) that could not be met due to current land uses; all other conservation and development objectives were met in all scenarios. Most scenarios adhered to the existing clearing guidelines with only marginal exceedances of limits, indicating that the scenario objectives were compatible with existing policy. We found that two key stakeholder groups, agricultural and Indigenous residents, had divergent satisfaction levels with the amount of clearing and agricultural development. Based on the range of benefits and potential adverse impacts of each scenario, we suggest that the 10% clearing scenarios are most aligned with stakeholder preferences and best balance preferences across stakeholder groups. Our approach to scenario planning is applicable generally to exploring the potential conflicts between goals for conservation and development. Our case study is particularly relevant to current discussion about increased agricultural and pastoral development in northern Australia.

The effects of a moratorium on land-clearing in the Douglas-Daly region, Northern Territory, Australia

Land-clearing represents the first step in agricultural development and signals a shift in landscape function towards provisioning ecosystem services, in particular food production. In the process, other types of ecosystem services are often unintentionally lost as illustrated by the associated decline in biodiversity, increased soil erosion and emission of greenhouse gases. In 2003, the Northern Territory state government in Australia promulgated a moratorium on the clearing of native vegetation on freehold land in the Douglas-Daly river catchment, an area experiencing increasing pressure from agricultural development. The moratorium was intended to limit the rate and extent of land-clearing for a period of time so that informed policy could be concurrently developed to guide future land-clearing and minimise negative impacts. Under the moratorium, land-clearing required a permit and had to conform to broad guidelines; clearing was confined to freehold land, was prohibited in close proximity to wetlands, rivers and rainforest to safeguard water quality, and there were prescribed limits on percentages cleared by property, vegetation type, sub-catchment, and the whole catchment. Remotely sensed data (1977–2011) were used to explore the effectiveness of the moratorium. The analysis shows that, during moratorium years (2002–2009), clearing rates accelerated rather than slowed in the moratorium area and was mostly (81%) conducted without the required permits. The extent of land cleared after the moratorium was declared, and the fallow nature of some of this land a decade later, suggests that much of the land-clearing may have been completed in anticipation of stricter future controls. The moratorium failed because it was not formally legislated and was too broadly defined. Consequently, the non-binding nature of the land-clearing guidelines, and the absence of systematic monitoring of land cover change or penalties for clearing land without a permit, led to uninformed and uncontrolled clearing. This paper demonstrates that effective policy is only as good as its level of implementation.