The Desert Uplands bioregion is a nationally recognised
Biodiversity Hotspot . Landscape Linkages aims to
protect remnant vegetation and areas of biodiversity significance
across (east-west) the southern Desert Uplands region. The Desert
Uplands bioregion forms part of the Great Dividing Range between
coastal and inland catchments in Central Queensland and covers an
area of approximately 75 000 square kilometres. The economy of the
region relies almost entirely on the grazing industry.
We have a project building on a Fitzroy Basin Association,
Central Queensland University and EPA project to “test the
use of a competitive tender mechanism to achieve outcomes for
ground cover, riparian conditions and biodiversity” run in
the Fitzroy Basin. The bidding process will reward landholders in
the most cost effective manner to achieve desired outcomes of:-
- improved land condition (using ABCD land condition monitoring
scales) by reducing stock numbers or access to areas and allowing
pasture regeneration;
- maintaining and enhancing biodiversity values and attributes
such as habitat trees, regeneration, weed free, diverse ground
cover species and presence of leaf litter;
- securing habitat for threatened species by creating linkages or
corridors of high value vegetation between neighbouring properties
and/or existing national parks or nature refuges;
- providing ecosystem services to the broader community.
Landholders in the region bid via an auction system which are
then assessed according to a contribution to biodiversity index.
The biodiversity index measures the value the vegetation/area a
landholder is willing to manage for biodiversity outcomes and the
linkages/corridors created.
Project Update:
The BDT’s Landscape Linkages is trialling the use of
market-based incentives to protect remnant vegetation and areas of
biodiversity significance across a potentially 10 km wide corridor
of the Desert Uplands bio-region.
- Three tender information workshops were held,
- Three tender rounds were conducted,
- Fifteen stewardship contracts were signed (covering over 80,000
ha), and
- Works proposed changing the stock rotation regime, reducing
grazing pressure, introducing additional watering points, and
photo-monitoring of changing land management practices.
Project outcomes
For more information see these reports:
Metric
Design : Rolfe, J., .McCosker, J. and Windle, J. 2006. Metric
design for the Desert Uplands Landscape Linkages Auction.
Main
Report : Windle, J., Rolfe, J., McCosker, J., and Linguard, A.
2007. The Desert Upland Committee's Landscape Linkage Auction: An
Outline and Evaluation,
Attachment 1 : Metric design
Attachment 2 : Participant evaluation survey
Key References:
Asutralian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment 2002 Case Study
Desert Uplands
http://audit.deh.gov.au/ANRA/vegetation/bio_asses/case_study.cfm?case_no=deu
Rolfe, J.C. and McCosker, J.C. 2003 Overview of the Issues in
Planning a Corridor Tender Process , Establishing
East-west Corridors in the Southern Desert Uplands
Research Report No. 1 Environmental Protection Agency
and Central Queensland University, Emerald.
Rolfe, J. C., McCosker, J.C., Windle, J. and Whitten, S. 2004
Designing Experiments to Test Auction Procedures ,
Establishing East-west Corridors in the Southern Desert Uplands
Research Report No. 2 Environmental Protection Agency
and Central Queensland University, Emerald.
McCosker, J.C. and Rolfe, J.C. 2004 Designing a Biodiversity
Index to Assess East-west Landscape Linkage , Establishing
East-west Corridors in the Southern Desert Uplands
Research Report No. 3 , Environmental Protection Agency
and Central Queensland University, Emerald.
Windle, J., Rolfe, J. C., McCosker, J.C., and Whitten, S. 2004
Designing Auctions with Landholder Cooperation: Results from
Experimental Workshops , Establishing East-west Corridors in
the Southern Desert Uplands
Research Report No. 4 Environmental Protection Agency
and Central Queensland University, Emerald.
Rolfe, J.C., Windle, J., Coggan, A., McCosker, J. and Whitten,
S. Recommendations for Establishing Linkage Zones, Establishing
East-West Corridors in the Southern Desert Uplands Research Report
No. 5, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton (in
preparation).
Rolfe, J.C., Windle, J. and McCosker, J. 2005 ,
Research Report No. 6 Final report for MBI Project 18,
Establishing East-West Corridors in the Southern Desert Uplands
Research Report No. 6, Central Queensland University,
Rockhampton.
Rolfe, J. 2006 "The potential for market mechanisms to achieve
vegetation protection in the Desert Uplands", in A.Smajgl and S.
Larson (eds) Adapting Rules for Sustainable Resource Use,
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Townsville.
Windle, J. and Rolfe, J. (2005). Competitive tenders for
conservation contracts: A practical guide for regional NRM groups
in Queensland. Report prepared for the Queensland Department of
Natural Resources and Mines, Brisbane. Central Queensland
University, Rockhampton. http://resourceeconomics.cqu.edu.au
(The main report which includes template documents can be accessed
at
http://www.regionalnrm.qld.gov.au/research_sips/sips/social_economic/pdf/competitive_tenders.pdf
)