Regional Planning in Queensland's Rangelands: Challenges and Prospects for Biodiversity Conservation

In Australia, the Commonwealth and State governments are increasingly devolving natural resource management (NRM) responsibilities to regional bodies. This move has led to the development of regional NRM plans. Native vegetation and biodiversity conservation, along with soil, pasture and water resources, are key components of the regional NRM plans in Queensland's extensive rangelands. This paper outlines and applies a set of criteria for evaluating the native vegetation and biodiversity content of accredited regional NRM plans for Queensland's rangelands. The evaluation showed considerable variation in the comprehensiveness of the information and knowledge base and management action targets among plans, including the poor articulation of impacts of excessive grazing pressure on biodiversity. The NRM plans lacked effective integration of natural resource, native vegetation and biodiversity conservation targets and actions. Several regions had too many biodiversity targets, many of which were poorly integrated. This is symptomatic of a limited understanding of rangelands as ecological systems and the lack of an integrated planning framework. We conclude regional NRM planning is not a 'silver bullet' for biodiversity conservation in the rangelands, but rather, it is the beginning of a long road to address complex, multi-scale problems at a regional level.

[1]  H. Possingham,et al.  Blueprint for a living continent : A way forward from the Wentworth group of concerned scientists , 2002 .

[2]  J. J. Mott,et al.  Building Grass Castles: Integrating Ecology and Management of Australia's Tropical Tallgrass Rangelands. , 1997 .

[3]  Hugh P. Possingham,et al.  The business of biodiversity: Applying decision theory principles to nature conservation , 2001 .

[4]  F. Söderbaum,et al.  Conclusion: What Futures for New Regionalism? , 2003 .

[5]  Craig James,et al.  Provision of watering points in the Australian arid zone: a review of effects on biota , 1999 .

[6]  M. Westoby,et al.  Climatic range sizes of Eucalyptus species in relation to future climate change , 1996 .

[7]  R. Fairfax,et al.  The effect of exotic pasture development on floristic diversity in central Queensland, Australia , 2000 .

[8]  T. Morrison,et al.  Decentralisation and Environmental Management in Australia: a Comment on the Prescriptions of The Wentworth Group , 2004 .

[9]  F. Söderbaum,et al.  Theories of New Regionalism , 2003 .

[10]  Arthur Conacher,et al.  Environmental Planning and Management in Australia , 2000 .

[11]  R. Fairfax,et al.  Buffel Grass and fire in a Gidgee and Brigalow woodland: a case study from central Queensland. , 2003 .

[12]  William C. Baer,et al.  General Plan Evaluation Criteria: An Approach to Making Better Plans , 1997 .

[13]  C. McAlpine,et al.  The South East Queensland Forests Agreement: Lessons for Biodiversity Conservation , 2005 .

[14]  E. Alexander.  Planning Rights: Toward Normative Criteria for Evaluating Plans , 2002 .

[15]  Ann Peterson,et al.  Benchmarking regional planning arrangements for natural resource management 2004–05: Progress, constraints and future directions for regions , 2005 .

[16]  A. Franks.  The ecological consequences of Buffel Grass Cenchrus ciliaris establishment within remnant vegetation of Queensland , 2002 .

[17]  Clive A. McAlpine,et al.  Cattle, crops and clearing: Regional drivers of landscape change in the Brigalow Belt, Queensland, Australia, 1840-2004 , 2006 .

[18]  Clive A. McAlpine,et al.  Biodiversity conservation and vegetation clearing in Queensland: principles and thresholds , 2002 .

[19]  Andrew Macintosh,et al.  Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act , 2006 .

[20]  G. Crowley,et al.  Vegetation change in the grasslands and grassy woodlands of east-central Cape York Peninsula, Australia , 1998 .

[21]  J A Bellamy,et al.  A systems approach to the evaluation of natural resource management initiatives. , 2001, Journal of environmental management.

[22]  Ann Peterson,et al.  New regionalism and nature conservation : Lessons from South East Queensland, Australia , 2007 .

[23]  H. Recher,et al.  Impact and response: a review of the effects of fire on the Australian avifauna , 1997 .

[24]  Craig James,et al.  Characteristics of Australia's rangelands and key design issues for monitoring biodiversity , 2004 .

[25]  T. Low.  Tropical pasture plants as weeds. , 1997 .

[26]  R. Fensham,et al.  Estimating Clearance of Acacia-dominated Ecosystems in Central Queensland Using Land-system Mapping Data , 1998 .

[27]  Neil Brenner,et al.  Decoding the Newest “Metropolitan Regionalism” in the USA: A Critical Overview , 2002 .

[28]  A. Accad,et al.  The extent and status of remnant vegetation in Queensland and its implications for statewide vegetation management and legislation , 2002 .

[29]  Allan Curtis,et al.  Regional Natural Resource Management: Is It Sustainable , 2004 .

[30]  D. Franklin.  Evidence of disarray amongst granivorous bird assemblages in the savannas of northern Australia, a region of sparse human settlement , 1999 .

[31]  Jenny Bellamy.  Regional natural resource management planning: the challenges of evaluation as seen through different lenses. , 2005 .

[32]  Stephen Dovers,et al.  Toward an ecological framework for sustainability: considerations for ecosystem management , 1994 .

[33]  R. Noss.  Indicators for Monitoring Biodiversity: A Hierarchical Approach , 1990 .

[34]  J. Wolfe.  A National Urban Policy for Canada? Prospects and Challenges , 2003 .

[35]  Roger Jones,et al.  Climate Change in Queensland under Enhanced Greenhouse Conditions , 2001 .

[36]  D. Crumpacker.  Prospects for sustainability of biodiversity based on conservation biology and US Forest Service approaches to ecosystem management , 1998 .