Pastoralism, nature conservation and ecological sustainability in Western Australia's southern shrubland rangelands

Abstract

Two major issues are discussed in this paper. The first is the commitment of Federal and State Governments to the maintenance of biodiversity and nature conservation through their endorsement of conservation strategies. Based on a range land biophysical resource inventory survey (Pringle d aL, 1994) it is contended that existing nature conservation reserves are not representative of the biological diversity in the region. In 1990, less than 1% of the survey area was under nature reservation. Whilst 13 of 17 land types are present in reserves,_most of the reserves consist ofland types least suitable for pastoralism (but not necessanly lackmg conservation value). The land types most subject to preferential grazing and most threatened from a nature conservation perspective are poorly (three types) or not (four types) represented, and certainly not replicated, in nature reserves of the survey area, which exceeds 100 000 km~. Of the 23 priority plant species for nature conservation occurring in the survey area, 21 are not known to occur in nature reserves. Nature conservation in the area needs to improve because of the unrepresentativeness of the existing nature reserves and the absence of numerous priority plant species for nature conservation from these areas. We should recognize that reservation is but one nature conservation strategy. Viewed as a land tenure issue, this paper presents a case for a more representative nature reserve system, and substantial changes in outlook towards off-reserve nature conservation. First, an integrated appraisal of findings from rangeland and biological surveys is required. Together they provide a strong foundation for nature conservation planning, from which a mon~ representative nature resen·c system can lx· planned. Given that off-reserve natun.· conservation values are still likely to lx· substanual, partly as a rcsuh of compromise· with existing land uses, new approaches to land management, scmiuvc to these~ values, may be required.The second major issue concerns the suness of maintaining regional biological daversitv in the arid shnabland rangclands of Western Australia, which will be strongly influen~ed by the use of the semi-natural matrix of lands under pastoral management. In sax suggested opportunities, this paper addresses huw this use may be achieved. Central to the ideas is a regional approach in which all stakeholden can comr.ibute to, and have ownership of, regional emironmcntal management plans. Thu paper emphasizes the role that conservative pastor~tl management might be abl~ to. play and some approaches to encourage more widespread participation of pastorahsts m nature conservation management.

Ecosystem greenspots: identifying potential drought, fire, and climate‐change micro‐refuges

“…The extant native-vegetation cover in the study region is a legacy of ;200 years of land use since European settlement. Historically, protected areas have tended to be biased away from more productive landscape units, that is, land of higher value for human production systems which in the case-study region include agriculture, pastoralism, and forestry (Pringle 1995, Pressey et al 2002. This bias is evident in the percentage of micro-refuge areas for each vegetation ecosystem type found within the formal protected-area network.…”

BioPrEP – a regional, process‐based approach for assessment of land with high conservation value for Bush Heritage Australia

“…Historically, protected areas have tended to be biased away from more productive land of high value for human production systems, especially agriculture, pastoralism and forestry (Pringle 1995; Pressey et al. 2002).…”