Research Report
Nick Emtage
School of Integrative Systems, The University of
Queensland
ISBN 9781921359309
Published June 2009
MTSRF Project 4.9.4 -
Integrating ecology, economics and people in forest and
landscapes
Executive Summary
This report describes a series of community sector or group
profiles with varying levels of interest and engagement in natural
resource management (NRM) activities, based on responses to a
survey of rural landholders in the Wet Tropics NRM region of far
northern Queensland. Indices were developed to represent
landholders' interest in and concern about NRM issues and to
represent their level of engagement with (i.e. adoption of)
currently recommended practices (CRPs).
Indices were used to undertake a cluster analysis of survey
responses, resulting in the identification of five groups ranging
from the 'well-connected and progressive' landholders (10% of the
sample), who are highly motivated and engaged in using CRPs, to the
'concerned but unengaged' (20%), who are interested but not engaged
in CRPs. Other groups include the 'multiple objectives group' (20%)
who are moderately interested and engaged in the use of CRPs, the
'production orientated' landholders who are engaged in the use of
CRPs but not greatly concerned about NRM issues (10%), and the
'disconnected and conservative' landholders (40%), who have low
levels of interest in or engagement with NRM activities.
Profiles of the five groups were developed through examining the
characteristics and differences in group members' properties and
land uses, their management goals, trust in others, communication
behaviour and management behaviour. The final section of this
report presents recommendations for tailoring programs to help meet
the objectives described in the Wet Tropics
Regional NRM Plan.
Three of the five groups were predominantly composed of members
whose primary purpose for property management is agricultural
production (the 'multiple objective', 'production orientated' and
'well-connected and progressive' groups). Members of these groups
had moderate to high levels of adoption of both enterprise related
CRPs and those that could potentially apply to any rural property.
The members of the 'well-connected and progressive' group are
characterised by their strong interest in NRM issues together with
a strong interest in building their businesses. They rated all
information sources as useful to inform their management decisions
and typically regularly attend meetings of several social groups
including Landcare groups, industry groups and NRM groups. This
group appears to have an 'information rich' decision making style
and high level of integration in social networks that makes them
relatively easy to communicate with in relation to CRPs. The
'production orientated' landholders are strongly motivated to build
their enterprises but have relatively low levels of concern about
NRM issues. These landholders find information from 'productivity'
sources most useful, are typically members of 'industry' groups and
most have attended short training courses related to land
management. Members of this group are likely to be best supported
and encouraged to continue development of their management
practices through continued support of industry led training
courses and information programs. Members of the 'multiple
objectives' group have moderate levels of adoption of CRPs. They
are equally motivated to manage their property for commercial,
environmental and social outcomes. They are most interested in
vegetation management and have adopted a number of recommended
vegetation management practices but are less likely to have adopted
industry-based CRPs than members of the other two 'agriculture
dominated' groups.
Approximately half the members of the two remaining groups did
not undertake commercial-scale agricultural enterprises. Members of
the 'concerned but unengaged' group were concerned about NRM issues
and engaged in vegetation management practices but not other
recommended practices such as property planning or short course
attendance. Members of this group were less involved in social
groups relating to agriculture and land management than those in
the three groups dominated by landholders involved in agriculture.
The high level of interest in improving the environment means that
members of the 'concerned but unengaged' group could be expected to
take up CRPs relatively quickly, yet their lack of identification
with industry groups and lack of time means they would need to be
targeted with different education and support programs than those
for 'full-time' farmers.
The final group was termed the 'disconnected and conservative'
landholders. This group comprised forty percent of the total
sample, half of whom are involved in agriculture. They had the
lowest levels of interest in NRM matters and lowest rates of
adoption of CRPs. Members of this group are characterised by the
low levels of importance they attach to any property goals, the low
ratings of usefulness for any information sources, low levels of
participation in industry or environment based social groups and
relatively low levels of trust for other people and institutions in
the region. With low levels of concern about NRM issues and a lack
of motivation to improve management practices for commercial or
environmental purposes, the members of this group appear unlikely
to adopt many CRPs. The first step to encouraging these landholders
to improve their practices requires first convincing them of the
need to address NRM problems.
