Carbon, biodiversity and regional natural resource planning: towards high impact next generation plans

Abstract

Given the increased importance of adaptation debates in global climate negotiations, pressure to achieve biodiversity, food and water security through managed landscape-scale adaptation will likely increase across the globe over the coming decade. In parallel, emerging market-based, terrestrial greenhouse gas abatement programs present a real opportunity to secure such adaptation to climate change through enhanced landscape resilience. Australia has an opportunity to take advantage of such programs through regional planning aspects of its governance arrangements for NRM. This paper explores necessary reforms to Australia's regional NRM planning systems to ensure that they will be better able to direct the nation's emerging GGA programs to secure enhanced landscape adaptation.

Evaluating Governance Arrangements and Decision Making for Natural Resource Management Planning: An Empirical Application of the Governance Systems Analysis Framework

“…The GSA framework has been applied to evaluate governance arrangements for the management of the Great Barrier Reef (Dale et al, 2013c), and the Australian carbon farming initiative (Dale et al, 2013a).…”

Exploring the usefulness of structural–functional approaches to analyse governance of planning systems

“…Moreover, there is a strong recognition that complex planning systems need more adaptive and resilient planning approaches, rather than traditional, linear and static models (Dale et al, 2013a). This means that the planning process is often not focussed on just developing a static plan, but rather is designed as an ongoing process capable of responding to changes within the system.…”

“…Based on the concepts discussed above and Dale et al (2013a), Table 3 provides an example of a structural-functionally derived framework that can be applied by planning practitioners to systemically describe and analyse the core structures and functions of the planning system, while also considering the underlying complexities that are influencing the governance system. Table 3 uses the steps of policy analysis as the structures of the strategic planning process, which can then be discussed with stakeholders in the system to gain insight into the degree to which functional elements (decision-making capacity, connectivity and knowledge use) are present and applied in the system.…”

Natural Resource Management as a Form of Multi-level Governance: The Impact of Reform in Queensland and Tasmania

“…Formal federal, state and territory government commitment to progressively improving the standard and effect of regional NRM plans would ensure regional NRM bodies could (see Dale et al 2013):…”