National Land & Water Resources Audit 1997 to 2008

1. National Land & Water Resources Audit1997 to 2008 Blair Wood, Executive Director, 2003-2008 Warwick McDonald, Technical Director, 1998-2002 Colin Creighton, Executive Director, 1997-2002

2. Our Philosophy • Get the question right • Get the right information • Get the science right • Deliver benefits and legacy

3. Build the infrastructure for continuing assessment What is the… health and trend of Australia’s natural resources? effectiveness of program investments in nrm? If we want to be able to undertake successive assessment of the condition of our natural resources and assess why they are changing • What information do you need to collect? • Getting agreement to collect • How do you manage it? • How do you report condition and trend? Audit 1 Audit 2

4. M&E indicators What information to collect? • Extent indicators –national baselines: • Vegetation extent (2004 ), Wetlands Extent (2007), Extent of weeds (2007), Invasive vertebrates (2007), Extent of Coastal Habitat, Land use – 2001, 2006, Regional institutional capacity (2007) • Condition Indicators • National Vegetation Assessment 2007/2008), River Condition, Wetlands Condition, Estuarine and Coastal indicators and reporting, Social and Economic Information Framework, Biodiversity indicators • Developed indicator methodologies • Soil condition, Salinity

5. Information Management‘Information for NRM is a National Asset’ • Getting agreement • Supporting Information Hubs (ASRIS, Ozesturies OzCoast, NVIS, Land Use) • Atlas and Library • Building Capacity – Information BMP Tool kit • Pushing the envelope –Interoperability (Water information, vegetation) Toward a National Environmental Information System

6. WATER Surface water - use & allocation

7. WATER Water Implications • Surface management areas • Groundwater management units • Sustainable yields definitions & assessment • Buy-back process initiated (Namoi) • Water allocation on the map

8. WATER Groundwater flow systems

9. WATER Groundwater Implications • Response time to impact • Management options for intervention • Economics for effective investment • PMSEIC leading to… • National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality

10. Vegetation Vegetation clearance - a live issue

11. Vegetation Vegetation Implications • National Vegetation Information System • Vegetation clearance • account for past actions and remnants • Legacy – baseline for evaluation • The ‘naked’ truth

12. Rangelands Rangelands cover 75% of Australia • Ghost gums, Hammersley National Park, Western Australia • Photo: Australian Picture Library/Owen Hughes

13. Rangelands Rangeland Implications • Unique Australian asset • Rigorous monitoring system • Desert Knowledge • Australia’s resource Cinderella

14. Agriculture Industry - information user & provider

15. Agriculture Agriculture Implications • Australian Soil Resources Information System • Industry information partnerships • Soil acidity a national issue • Soil erosion mapped at sub regional scale • Soil – a fundamental resource

16. Agriculture Farmers manage ~60% of the landscape

17. Agriculture Agriculture Implications • Industry leadership towards best practice • Strategies for continuous improvement and innovation in sustainability • Understanding industry evolution • Farmer focussed and solution orientated

18. Environment Landscape health & biodiversity

19. Environment Biodiversity and Landscape Health Implications • Integrated ecological assessment • Stressed and threats – keystone species, weeds • Volunteer bird observation network – citizen science • Biodiversity 2002, 2008 • Rangelands 2002, 2008 • Stark picture of biodiversity loss

20. Environment Australia’s aquatic ecosystems

21. Environment River & Estuary Implications • Sediment and nutrient story for Australian catchments • Sources and sinks (SedNet & ANNEX) • OzEstuaries: Estuary inventory – process drivers and condition • Basis for priority setting under NAPSWQ, GBR Water Quality Improvement Plan • Estuaries finally on the map…

22. DATA A network of information services ANRA ANRDL Direct-link ANRA Access to data ASDD DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS NAVIGATOR STATE ATLASES

23. DATA Data management & knowledge implications • Australian Natural Resources Atlas >> Australian Resources Online • Australian Natural Resources Data Library • ANZLIC Spatial Data Management Policy • Monitoring protocols for natural resource assets • Australian Natural Resource Information Infrastructure • BOM Water, Creative commons

24. Feral pigs Density Occurrence Abundance Distribution Data quality Trend

25. Reporting • Baseline collations • (http://adl.brs.gov.au/anrdl/php/) • Status of Information - (SNRI Series)

27. Indicator Information Products

28. National Land Use • National scale land use maps for 1992/93, 1993/94, 1996/97, 1998/99, 2000/01 & 2001/02

29. “Integrated” Report Cards

30. Agreement to Useful national Products State Veg Extent By….. NRM Region Catchment IBRA

31. How has the information been used?

32. Continuing the Assessments National Biodiversity Assessment - 2008 • Building the capacity to measure trends • Report against the biodiversity assets threats and responses • Much progress – but we still can’t report . Rangelands 2008 “Taking the pulse” • Reporting change in many indicators and processes • Building an on-going capacity to interpret change • Evidence based policy and decisions Regional Reporting – building capacity

33. Signposts for Australian Agriculture

34. What did we learn? • Good institutional systems for ongoing data management are essential • It is never enough to just collect the data • Knowledge should be seen as a public asset, not power • Levels of accuracy must be clearly defined • Rigorous science practice provides an excellent platform for building business propositions

35. Success factors • Purpose • Frameworks • Resources • Science • Partnerships • Good will • Institutional form • …Drambuie

36. Assessment principles • System approach • process understanding • Data driven • Mapping > monitoring > modelling • Scalable • continent context informing targeted regional investment • Management orientated

37. One Example Biophysical understanding of diffuse pollution

38. ASRIS Soil Attributes QDNR Daily Rainfall BRS Landuse AVHRR Derived NDVI High res & 9” DEMs Time Series Analysis Woody cover and monthly grass cover Terrain Analysis Monthly Distribution of R Factor  Monthly C Factor Soil Erodibility K Rainfall Erosivity R Cover Management C Slope & Slope Length L&S Support Practice P     HILLSLOPE EROSION RATE Reflections Scientific underpinning Monthly Soil Loss Ratio

39. Land & Water Systems approach: multi-scale

40. LAND & WATER Targeting and setting regional priorities Fitzroy

41. NRM Priorities for management identified

42. People Incentives – essential for public benefit

43. Public Benefit, as a flow on from Audit I & II Reef Rescue & Project Catalyst Roll Out • Key Ingredients include: • Building on Audit outputs - • Incentives for public benefit [Reef Rescue] • Regulations [Qld Govt] • Monitoring • R&D [Project Catalyst]

44. Some International Flow Ons • Input to EU Directive – Rivers • Participated in design and rollout of Millennium Assessment [and then MDG’s] • WMO Floodplain Management Guidelines • Global Water Partnership focus on multi-value water assets • USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Nutrient Management from diffuse sources

45. Some Quotable Quotes • “no – we will have a war against salinity” • “well – haven’t you fixed it yet?” • “ what’s in it for the farmer?” • “but you know as well as I do, the media will take photos of dead sheep and dry dams and we are back where we started from” • “taking information from regions, joining it together to produce a national overview should be simple” • “the states don’t matter” • “that’s bullshit Minister – and you know it is”

46. Some Key Lessons • Politicians love a crisis – statesmen seek solutions • Evidence-based decision making wins .......eventually • Timing is everything • Business cases, partnerships and clarity of beneficiaries are essential • a well articulated vision

47. The Continued Challenge • Public investment requires priorities • For priorities we need long term strategic information – conditions and trends • Information must answer the “what can you do about it?’ question Information must be managed as a national asset and translated to community knowledge

48. Australia’s Emerging Challenge – Multi-objective Agriculture Smart Precision Systems Agriculture – Productive, Sustainable, Reduced Emissions & Increased Mitigation The exceptional circumstances of a changing weather and economic climate requires a re-think of EC!

49. National Land & Water Resources Audit& thanks for all the fish.... Blair Wood, Executive Director, 2003-2008 Warwick McDonald, Technical Director, 1998-2002 Colin Creighton, Executive Director, 1997-2002