SLMACC Background

1. The Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change Research Programme(SLMACC)Where have we got to?Gerald Rys Science Policy Ministry for Primary Industries

2. SLMACC Background One of 12 programmes under 2007 SLMACC “Plan of Action” Over $42 million invested through annual funding cycle, partially administered by MBIE Addresses Climate Change for the land based sectors, under the paradigm of sustainable land management

3. Research Themes Projects of 1 or 3 years duration that address: impacts and adaptation to climate change mitigation of greenhouse gases in agriculture enhancements of carbon sinks through forestry cross-cutting topics on economic, social and systems issues

4. SLMACC Research Framework Framework for all research under the “Plan of Action” Addresses the provision of public good research Research to respond to international obligations Positions NZ as a world leader in livestock and planted forestry CC research

5. SLMACC Research Framework (outcomes) Builds capacity - new researchers and enhancing skills Allows cross-sectoral responses between land sectors (e.g. horticulture, arable, dairy, sheep, beef) and other sectors (e.g. industrial, transport, energy, consumer) Recognises the ongoing information and data base requirements, data transfer and informatics

7. SLMACC Output Stakeholders Inform climate change policies for central and local government, as well as industries Improve GHG inventory Guide further research Inform farmers and foresters to support management decisions Support private companies that wish to commercialise products

8. What have we Learnt about Mitigation and Adaptation? The direct impacts of climate change on NZ are becoming more certain We are dealing with complex and variable biological systems that have evolved over 10s of millions of years, and so it will not be an easy task to modify them There are an infinitely variable and flexible number of options, most of which pose many unknown challenges

9. What does this Mean for Mitigation and Adaptation? Unlikely to be one silver bullet to address mitigation of greenhouse gases and adaptation to climate change, so a strong multi-pronged research programme is required In 2013, we still have few direct mitigation options for methane but we have some leads that show strong promise. Nitrous oxide is more certain, with nitrification inhibitors being the most prominent.

11. Spill-over Benefits are Important The initial objective of SLMACC was to support climate change within a context of sustainable land management The MPI Doubling of Exports by 2025 needs to be done within a framework of long term sustainability Supports other policy areas e.g. water quality, general on farm decision making, that will improve productivity, sustainability and resource use

12. Spillover Benefits - examples All nitrous oxide research can have nitrogen use efficiency and water quality benefits as well Soil carbon research can have a marked impact on improving soil quality with productivity benefits Decision support tools can enable farmers to improve management of productivity, the environment, efficiency and profitability

14. Impacts and Adaptation Research Theme SLMACC is the only programme dedicated to impacts and adaptation of climate change in the land based sectors Research on first order climate impacts e.g. temperature, rainfall, wind, carbon dioxide is well understood Recent work has looked at second order impacts of fire, disease, pollination, nutrient cycling, ecosystem services. Not all second order impacts have been considered. Third order little studied

15. Impacts and Adaptation Research Theme Limited work to assess interactions and limited work on the economic, social and broader integrated systems impacts, and land use change A few studies have looked at adaptation requirements but this has not been comprehensive. There are few NZ studies on the impacts and adaptation to changing variability Needs update every 5 years with new IPCC scenarios release

17. Mitigation Forestry Research Theme SLMACC and LUCAS are the key forestry sinks research programmes LUCAS looks at changing land use classes under Kyoto, SLMACC focus is the knowledge base for forest carbon productivity, both now and in the future Various issues related to forestry The ETS Range of species, both planted and indigenous Impacts of climate change over a long life cycle

18. Mitigation Forestry Research Theme Decision support tools have been developed and a range of situations addressed e.g. steep hill country forestry In recent years, projects have been of direct support to MPI ETS policy and international LULUCF policy development The carbon sequestration rates of a range of minor species have not been addressed in detail and information on indigenous species is limited Only one project on role and potential of biofuels

19. Mitigation Agriculture Research Theme Collaboration with the PGGRC programme and NZAGRC Research in 4 key areas of ruminant methane research; rumen genomics, assessment of inhibitory chemicals and vaccine, exploiting animal methane variation and forage assessment Programme has supported farm systems model enhancement to address ghg emissions

20. Mitigation Agriculture Research Theme In the nitrous oxide area - novel research looking at nitrous oxide emissions from leaves - the Waikato river, and - ammonium emissions Several projects looking at soil carbon including : assessment methodologies, modelling, biochar impact on soils and animals methanotropes as a waste management system

21. Further Comments on Mitigation Agriculture Theme NZ should continue to invest in technologies that increase the efficiency of production as this will decrease emissions per unit of output (e.g. animal breeding, nutrient use efficiency, animal health, animal fertility and longevity, and feeding) Invest in technologies and practices that reduce emissions per unit of substrate e.g. inhibition of rumen methane, nitrous oxide from urine patches. Need for LCA Increase adoption of current technologies and future new technologies Ensure that national accounting systems can capture the benefits of mitigation actions on farm

23. Cross Cutting Research Theme Has been difficult area to obtain high quality bids Initially there were also few good social science bids, leading to development of a Climate Change Social Science research strategy for the Land Sector. Several proposals in the technology transfer priority area were rejected

24. Cross Cutting Research Theme Key projects that were supported include - Global Warming Potential assessment, - Project on a global trade model to assess the impacts of global climate change on NZ trade. This will be a key tool to use in future negotiations. - 3 Maori focused projects have been carried out

25. Conclusions –Land Based Sector Research Progress Biological systems are complex, and the options are many and variable. There are significant spillover benefits from climate change research into sustainable land management Significant progress has been made on first order impacts to climate change but second order, third order, interactions and how to adapt are less well understood Understanding forest sinks has been greatly enhanced, however, minor and indigenous species, and biofuels have had few studies

26. Conclusions –Land Based Sector Research Progress Limited progress on methane, but nitrification inhibitors are effective in reducing nitrous oxide. Limited progress on soil carbon Social, economic, Maori and systems have had few studies

27. Thank You Acknowledgement The hundreds of scientists and technicians that have carried out the research