Attitudes to Drought in Outback Communities in South Australia

Abstract

This paper explores the perceptions of drought by residents in outback South Australia and their associated responses to the drought. Behavioural Geography methodology is used with data drawn from interviews with pastoralists, business owners, and residents of small outback towns and Aboriginal communities. Although they were not resident in the region, the perceptions of tourists were also garnered. The results show that perceptions varied between the groups of people interviewed. Outback residents contrasted their own frugal water use with reports of wasteful behaviour by foreign tourists. Local inhabitants were largely 'accepting' of the drought, having survived worse droughts in the past and over many years. They were therefore of the sentiment that they would cope with future droughts. Despite the sentiments of acceptance, the dropping groundwater levels and continued lack of rainfall were leading to growing concerns for the future. The concerns point to a boundary to community resilience to drought in outback South Australia.

Attitudes toward Water Conservation: The Influence of Site-Specific Factors and Beliefs in Climate Change

“…Related to this current investigation, individuals' interactions with drought influenced resources contributed to an awareness of drought, which frequently resulted in more concern (Pearce et al 2010). Brody and others (2008) identified that residence proximity to climatevulnerable was related to awareness and concern for climate change.…”

“…Additionally, we were particularly interested to identify how concern for local drought impacts may mediate the influence of site-specific factors and climate change beliefs on water conservation (e.g., is concern necessary or are awareness, attachment, and beliefs enough to elicit support for water conservation?). Lake recreationists were selected as a study population because they presumably had interactions with a drought-impacted resource, and such resource interactions may influence awareness and concern for impacts (Brownlee, Hallo, and Krohn 2013), place attachment (Hammitt et al 2009), and water conservation attitudes (Pearce et al 2010). Furthermore, water conditions influence Figure 1.…”

Pastoralists' perceptions of biodiversity and land management strategies in the arid Stony Plains region of South Australia: Implications for policy makers

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