Discussion Paper on Ecosystem Services for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Final Report

An example framework for the ecosystem services associated with Australian rural lands

Key conclusions from this chapter: A framework for ecosystem services associated with rural lands should have the following characteristics: A clear definition that is relevant to, and can be understood by, all stakeholders and is sufficiently broad to allow adaptation by different stakeholders to different situations but provides sufficient principles to avoid misinterpretation or miscommunication A typology that, as far as is possible, aligns ecosystem services and the ecological processes that underpin them with theory and practice in ecology and economics Acknowledges policy imperatives of government land management agencies as well as imperatives of businesses and communities living and working in and rural and regional Australia Existing typologies for ecosystem services need no modification for application to Australia’s rural lands (i.e., lands outside major urban centres), as rural lands represent over 99% of the area of Australia and therefore potentially deliver the full range of ecosystem services identified in existing typologies Rural land other than those in protected tenures represent over 60% of Australia’s land area and are managed for purposes such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and mining Managers of rural lands play a role in the delivery of benefits from ecosystem services in two ways: (1) they provide input of human and other capital to turn some ecosystem services into benefits (e.g., ecosystems provide the conditions for growing food and inputs from farmers allow food to be produced); and (2) they influence ecosystem processes (e.g., the role of native vegetation in soil retention or the role of soil organisms in maintaining soil fertility), which produce ecosystem services Strategies for achieving sustainable farm practices under Caring for Our Country already focus implicitly on improving delivery of ecosystem services Data being collected on land management practices under Caring for Our Country can be used to draw inferences about impacts of improved land management on ecosystem processes, ecosystem services and benefits to Australians, and steps are already being taken to establish these links.

Drawing on previous chapters of this report, a framework for ecosystem services associated with rural lands should have the following characteristics:

A clear definition that is relevant to, and can be understood by, all stakeholders and is sufficiently broad to allow adaptation by different stakeholders to different situations but provides sufficient principles to avoid misinterpretation or miscommunication

A typology that, as far as is possible, aligns ecosystem services and the ecological processes that underpin them with theory and practice in ecology and economics

Acknowledges policy imperatives of government land management agencies as well as imperatives of businesses and communities living and working in and rural and regional Australia

Below, we consider how existing typologies of ecosystem services can be adapted and aligned with current and future policy and management initiatives for improving the delivery of benefits to Australians from rural lands.

1.27What are rural lands?

Rural lands are all lands outside major urban settlements. By the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) definition (Figure 19), around 85% of Australia’s area is predominantly rural and most of the rest is rural with large urban centres embedded in it.

Figure 1