Project Leader: Dr Cathy Robinson, CSIRO Sustainable
Ecosystems
Project 4.9.6 will develop a
regional/catchment water quality management model that produces
cost-effective programs of action suited to the socio-economic
context and implemented to meet environmental and water quality
targets.
Biodiversity values in regional and local
area planning incorporating new biodiversity metrics for capturing
and valuing different elements of biodiversity will be established,
for the protection or enhancement of biodiversity values applied
through case studies in local area planning. The Douglas
Shire of Far North Queensland will be one of the key case study
areas.
The key longer term outcomes being targeted
include improved planning and institutional arrangements
underpinning biodiversity, water quality and wider ecosystem
services in the Great Barrier Reef region whilst maintaining viable
regional industries and communities; and effective partnerships
between researchers, research institutions, resource managers,
policy makers, government and non-government agencies that increase
the relevance and impact of science in natural resource and
regional decision making and governance.
Key objectives of this Project are to:
-
Develop and implement a rigorous cost-effective catchment water
quality management model to meet targets for environmental and
water quality improvement;
-
Define biodiversity values and ecosystem services, based on
regional ecosystems, threatened species, threatening process and
beneficial processes provided by landholders will be applied
through case studies in local area planning; and
-
Refine, tailor and apply the concept of market based instruments
for implementing ecosystem goods and services specifically for the
pupose of using offset schemes for environmental conservation in
developing areas.
