Sustaining our natural systems and biodiversity

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Sustaining our natural systems and biodiversity

• Paul Cristofani
• Steve Morton

For the Prime Ministers Science, Engineering and
Innovation Council
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Working group members

• Members
• Steve Morton (Chair) CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
• Greg Bourne BP
• Paul Cristofani National Farmers Federation
• Peter Cullen CRC for Freshwater Ecology
• Hugh Possingham The Ecology Centre, University of
  Queensland
• Mike Young CSIRO Land and Water, Adelaide
• Observers
• Max Kitchell Environment Australia
• Ian Thompson Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests
  Australia

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What is biodiversity?
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What is a tree?
House of species transactions
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House of Representative Species
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Naturestransactions
Exchange of stocks and services for community
benefit
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Natural systems deliver value

• Water filtration

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Ecosystem services
OR?
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Pollination as ecosystem service
sunflower lucerne clover pumpkin cherry apple grap
efruit plum apricot All gt70 dependent on
pollinators
native plants produce nectar
nectar feeds bees
bees pollinate crops at no cost to growers
VALUE OF PRODUCTS 1.2b pa
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Pest control as ecosystem service
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Multiple ecosystem services
timber
lifestyle
pest control
water filtration
shade and shelter
pasture plants
soil fertility
prevention of soil erosion
waste assimilation
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Salinity control as ecosystem service
REPAIR BILL 20-65b
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Why are we concerned?

• Because more indicators of landscape stress are
  getting worse than are stable or improving

• Stress index includes
• vegetation
• salinity
• pests and weeds
• threatened species and ecosystems

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What can we do?
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Moving forward
Production
NATURAL ASSETS
SERVICES USED BY PEOPLE
Maintenance
Repair
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Repairs eat away at earnings
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Targeting investments
National objectives
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Two areas of investment

• Market signals
• Economic signals to connect the health of natural
  systems with our use of them - urban and rural
  Australians alike

• Targetted actions
• Land clearing
• Water for rivers and wetlands
• Pests, weeds and diseases
• Climate
• RD

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1 Transparent costs and benefits
RECOMMENDATION
markets with externalities need initial
leadership from government
THE INVESTMENT develop and lead the use of
transparent costs and benefits in natural
resource decisions
THE RETURN reward for those who make better
investment decisionsshift from repair to
maintenance
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Options
environmental stewardship rebate
environmental management systems
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2 Limit broadscale clearing
RECOMMENDATION
THE INVESTMENT work urgently with the states to
limit clearing

• THE RETURN
• water quality
• salinity control
• biodiversity conservation

Over in the west we were 15-20 years too late
in acting.
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3 Maintain and repair river health
RECOMMENDATION

• THE INVESTMENT
• Heritage Rivers
• A Rivers Corporation

• THE RETURN
• cost-effective water quality
• long term productivity
• biodiversity conservation

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Rapid response to invasives
a stitch in time.
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4 Biosecurity invasives keep out!
RECOMMENDATION

• THE INVESTMENT
• keep them out in the first tighter ecological
  place assessment
• if they slip through respond rapidly

• THE RETURN
• massive future savings
• biodiversity conservation
• resilient, sustainable systems

... cane toad fireant serrated tussock ...
fox ... Salvinia northern Pacific seastar
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5 Climate variability and change
RECOMMENDATION

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Role of science, engineering and innovation in
Australian NRM

• Excellent performance in
• science and innovation in the paddock and the
  patch of remnant bush

• Relatively poor at
• predicting effects in catchments

• The next challenge
• providing confidence in managing trade-offs in
  the complex natural and human systems that make
  up Australia

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6 Shifting priorities in RD and innovation
RECOMMENDATION
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Biodiversity matters - natural systems deliver
value
Government can continue to lead change by -
targetting its own investment towards
maintenance - getting the market signals right
Repairing them after theyre damaged is very
costly
Arthur Streeton