Environmental Management Systems as Adaptive Natural Resource Management: Case Studies from Agriculture

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) have been trialled in the broadacre industries across Australia. This paper outlines the trends in extension service provision, comments on changes needed if environmental issues are to become higher priority and discusses institutional issues. For EMS in Australia to become a mainstream farm business management activity there needs to be sufficient private good outcomes for land managers to adopt them and sufficient public good outcomes for public money to be invested in their implementation. As there are few market drivers at present, extension and incentives are likely to be needed to facilitate their uptake. Evaluation of likely cost-effective public good outcomes is needed for continued public sector investment. Regardless of whether EMS or similar schemes are provided by the public or private sector, if they are to become mainstream there needs to be a move from the dominant extension models used by the public sector (group facilitation and empowerment) to a programmed learning approach. Building on a ‘personalised consultant’ model is recommended for land managers prepared to pay for information to maintain their competitive edge. For more ‘traditional’ land managers, partnerships with the public sector through Landcare networks and regional natural resource management bodies and rural resellers are more realistic. There is large need for formalised training of both public and private extension providers. The institutional arrangements and current alignment and supportiveness for EMS between state agencies, farmer organisations and regional natural resource management bodies is highly variable across the states, but currently appears strongest in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. Australian broadacre industries are globally exposed in being prepared to take on increased environmental scrutiny. It will take many years to reduce this risk given the large and dispersed nature of the broadacre industries. All players, especially governments, regional organisations, peak farmer and peak industry groups need to take a more proactive role in funding and implementing EMS or similar type schemes if they believe there are long-term benefits in doing so. The alternative is to wait for a crisis and be limited to taking a reactive approach to environmental accountability.

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Agricultural Land Ownership ChangeOwnership Change and Natural Resource Management: Comparing Australian and US Case Studies

Landscape Series - Demographic Change in Australia's Rural Landscapes ◽

10.1007/978-90-481-9654-8_7 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 153-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Emily Mendham ◽

Hannah Gosnell ◽

Allan Curtis

Keyword(s):

Resource Management ◽

Case Studies ◽

Natural Resource Management ◽

Natural Resource ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Land Ownership

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Integrated Mission-directed Research

10.1071/9780643100206 ◽

2010 ◽

Keyword(s):

Resource Management ◽

Case Studies ◽

Natural Resource Management ◽

Natural Resource ◽

Integrated Research ◽

Essential Questions ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

Support Policy ◽

Set Up ◽

Directed Research

This book offers readers the chance to learn from the experiences of researchers involved in integrated mission-directed research, particularly in the areas of natural resource management and regional development. Integrated Mission-directed Research covers important issues in integration science, supported by case studies that detail how to engage individuals and communities, and support policy decisions and development. The authors explore case studies undertaken in Australia, Europe, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as perspectives from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Closing chapters demonstrate key challenges for researchers and essential questions that should be answered when trying to set up integrated research. Potential benefits that could be obtained from effective integrated mission-directed research are included, as well as assessment questions to assist researchers to see if such benefits have been truly obtained. Written by experienced researchers, many of whom were involved in CSIRO’s Social and Economic Integration Emerging Science Initiative, the book explores how integrated research is now seen as crucial in achieving sustainability outcomes in natural resource management.

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Social Science in Natural Resource Management Systems

Journal of Range Management ◽

10.2307/3899668 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 86

Author(s):

David K. Mann ◽

Mart L. Miller ◽

Richard P. Gale ◽

Perry J. Brown

Keyword(s):

Resource Management ◽

Social Science ◽

Natural Resource Management ◽

Natural Resource ◽

Management Systems

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Where, and how, do monitoring and sustainability indicators fit into environmental management systems?

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1071/ea00177 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 307 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

G. Carruthers ◽

G. Tinning

Keyword(s):

Environmental Management ◽

Resource Management ◽

Farm Management ◽

Sustainability Indicators ◽

Iso 14001 ◽

Management Systems ◽

Environmental Management Systems ◽

Market Place ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Past Experiences

Despite the availability of numerous 'sustainability indicators' (as defined by researchers and resource-management agency staff), many farmers do not routinely use these indicators for monitoring and measurement of their everyday farm management. Farmers' past experiences with such indicators have often been through their use by researchers (trying to evaluate effects of management or quantify resource condition changes) or other external bodies (usually regulatory agencies endeavouring to regulate environmental impacts). Such experiences have added little or nothing to on-farm management. Rather, farmers often rely on a diverse range of personally relevant indicators to assess the performance of their farm business. Such indicators may not be recognised by others as indicative of sustainability. The process used in environmental management systems (EMS) implementation is predicated on the need for information to flow back to the manager to assist their management choices. In this way, the indicators of most use are those that the manager can determine and utilise. This paper describes the connection between environmental management systems, monitoring and indicators, and the importance of these linkages to the efficient and sustainable management of natural resources. It discusses a collaborative project between in New South Wales and Queensland grain farmers, and NSW Agriculture, to develop generic EMS guidelines based on the international standard for EMS, ISO 14001. While there are numerous recommended sustainability indicators, research with these farmers has found that it is more critical to determine which issues are of importance to the farmers and identify potential indicators they will utilise, rather than to recommend a prescribed suite of indicators. In some cases, these indicators may be of a larger-scale than just their property.Different users of resource-management information will require different indicators. The use of the EMS process provides structure and guidance in determining which of the plethora of indicators might be applicable, while allowing farmers to maximise benefits in the market place or the community. Resource-management agencies and customers may require a different suite of indicators. The use of EMS assists in streamlining all these demands, while keeping the focus on the management approaches required to achieve the greatest benefit for the manager.

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