Linking Australia's Landscapes Lessons and Opportunities from Large-Scale Conservation Networks

About this book

Networks of land managed for conservation across different tenures have rapidly increased in number (and popularity) in Australia over the past two decades. These include iconic large-scale initiatives such as Gondwana Link, the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative, Habitat 141°, and the South Australian NatureLinks, as well as other, landscape-scale approaches such as Biosphere Reserves and Conservation Management Networks. Their aims have been multiple: to protect the integrity and resilience of many Australian ecosystems by maintaining and restoring large-scale natural landscapes and ecosystem processes; to lessen the impacts of fragmentation; to increase the connectivity of habitats to provide for species movement and adaptation as climate changes; and to build community support and involvement in conservation.

Linking Australia's Landscapes draws out lessons from a variety of established and new connectivity conservation initiatives from around Australia, and is complemented by international examples. Chapters are written by leaders in the field of establishing and operating connectivity networks, as well as key ecological and social scientists and experts in governance.

Linking Australia's Landscapes will be an important reference for policy makers, natural resource managers, scientists, and academics and tertiary students dealing with issues in landscape-scale conservation, ecology, conservation biology, environmental policy, planning and management, social sciences, regional development, governance and ecosystem services.

Contents

List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Foreword

Section 1. Scene setting
1 Linking Australia’s landscapes: an introduction
2 Connectivity conservation initiatives: a national and international perspective

Section 2. Case studies
3 Gondwana Link: 1000 kilometres of hope
4 Fitzgerald Biosphere Reserve: a framework for achieving ecological and community sustainability … or is it?
5 Territory Eco-link: 21st century conservation
6 Ten years of NatureLinks in South Australia
7 From Danggali to Riverland: experiences from the Bookmark Biosphere Reserve, South Australia
8 Habitat 141°: linking outback to ocean
9 Midlandscapes: matching actions to opportunities in landscape conservation in the Tasmanian Midlands
10 Wedderburn Conservation Management Network: Kooyoora connections
11 Conservation Management Networks: The Gippsland Plains Story
12 Conservation Management Networks for grassy ecosystems in New South Wales
13 The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative: a continental-scale lifeline connecting people and nature
14 Slopes to Summit: focusing on bite-size landscapes that matter
15 The Border Ranges Alliance: a Great Eastern Ranges regional partnership
16 The Bunya Biolink: an application of Greening Australia’s strategic approach to large-scale conservation

Section 3. Policies and frameworks
17 Scaling up: the policy case for connectivity conservation and the development of Australia’s National Wildlife Corridors Plan
18 Beyond the Boundaries: Bush Heritage Australia’s approach to multi-tenure conservation
19 Landcare: linking Australia’s landscapes by linking its land managers
20 Biolinks in south-eastern Australia – changing land use for a changing climate: Victorian policy responses
21 ‘Networking the networks’: coordinating Conservation Management Networks in Victoria
22 Reconnecting Natural Northland: New Zealand’s Large Landscape Initiative

Section 4. Broad themes
23 Connectivity conservation principles for Australia’s National Wildlife Corridors
24 Social aspects: linking the people and their landscapes
25 Socio-economic issues in establishing and successful operation of landscape-scale connectivity conservation initiatives
26 Collaboration across scales: the governance challenges of linking landscapes
27 The importance of interdisciplinary research in conservation networks: lessons from south-eastern Australia

Section 5. Synthesis
28 Challenges and opportunities for linking Australia’s landscapes: a synthesis

Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

James Fitzsimons is the Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Australia and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Deakin University. Through his role at TNC, James is involved in large, landscape-scale networks at a number of levels, including as a key partner of the Gondwana Link initiative, involvement on stakeholder reference groups for the Northern Territory Eco-link and Victorian Conservation Management Networks, and regularly provides expert advice to governments on the issue. He has published widely in the fields of conservation planning and policy.

Ian Pulsford is recognised nationally and internationally as a leader in the establishment and management of protected areas. He led the establishment of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative, Australia’s first continental-scale conservation corridor network that spans both public and private lands. He has experience in the application of conservation mechanisms and activities both on the ground with landholders and the community, and at the strategic and policy levels within government.

Geoff Wescott, currently Associate Professor in Environment at Deakin University, has previously been Deputy Chair of the Board of Parks Victoria, Convenor of the Victorian National Parks Advisory Council, a member of the Victorian Coastal Council and the National Oceans Advisory Group, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Victoria and is a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. He has published over 180 publications, including four books, numerous chapters in technical volumes and journal articles.