An approach for adaptive and integrated environmental planning to deal with uncertainty in a Great Barrier Reef Catchment

Abstract

This paper presents the Mossman Mill District Practices Framework. It was developed in the Wet Tropics region within the Great Barrier Reef in north-eastern Australia to describe the environmental benefits of agricultural management practices for the sugar cane industry. The framework translates complex, unclear and overlapping environmental plans, policy and legal arrangements into a simple framework of management practices that landholders can use to improve their management actions. Practices range from those that are old or outdated through to aspirational practices that have the potential to achieve desired resource condition targets. The framework has been applied by stakeholders at multiple scales to better coordinate and integrate a range of policy arrangements to improve natural resource management. It has been used to structure monitoring and evaluation in order to underpin a more adaptive approach to planning at mill district and property scale. Potentially, the framework and approach can be applied across fields of planning where adaptive management is needed. It has the potential to overcome many of the criticisms of property-scale and regional Natural Resource Management.

Keywords:

• natural resources
• Australia
• management
• environmental management
• institutional arrangements
• sugar cane

Acknowledgements

Terrain NRM developed the Mossman Mill Eco-Accreditation Program. The Australian Government partly funded the programme through the Natural Heritage Trust, and the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management also contributed. The programme built on earlier research into cane farming practices by the Sugar Research and Development Corporation. This paper was produced thanks to funding from the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Population and Communities, through the Great Barrier Reef National Environment Research Program administered by the Reef and Rainforest Research Corporation. The authors would like to acknowledge contributions made by John Reghenzani and Neil Sing (Terrain NRM) and Darryl Parker (Mossman Agricultural Services Ltd) to work presented in this paper. The authors also thank Sharelene Blakeney from Terrain NRM for providing the Mossman Catchment Map. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 3rd World Planning Schools Congress, Perth (WA) 4–8 July 2011. This paper was also presented to the Australian National Coastal Conference ‘Coast to Coast 2012’ at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 17 to 21 September in a special symposium on ‘Alternative Futures for Great Barrier Reef Coastal Ecosystems’. The authors would also like to thank Associate Professor Neil Sipe (Griffith University) as well as two anonymous reviewers for providing constructive feedback to this manuscript.

Notes

1. This Plan was revised and an updated plan was published in 2009. Reference: Queensland Government 2009. Reef Water Quality Protection Plan 2009 for the Great Barrier Reef and Adjacent Catchments. Brisbane: Reef Water Quality Protection Plan Secretariat.

2. ‘Duty of Care’ refers to legislative requirements or social norms that outline the reasonable steps individuals and enterprises need to take to avoid foreseeable harm to people or natural resources. These duties are usually enshrined in legislation and accompanied by codes of practice or guidelines developed to clarify exactly what the duty entails (Earl et al. 2010).

3. BMPs in this case refer to agricultural land management practices that are considered best practice because they implement new technology or reduce impact on the environment.

4. Ecosystems services are the stock of services that come from natural capital. These are used to generate human welfare (Costanza et al. 1997).

5. Suasive measures include social recognition schemes to encourage management change. For a fuller description see Comerford 2004. Choosing between incentive mechanisms for NRM. A practical guide for regional NRM bodies in Queensland. Brisbane: Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.