Maintaining regional Queensland’s natural capital: June conference
A symposium on 29, 30 June 2016 sought to explore pathways to practical and effective natural resource and conservation management in regional Queensland.
Rural producers, natural resource managers and conservation managers face a constantly changing set of climatic and human influences. Traditional land production systems and environmental management are under pressure. New approaches to production and natural resource management are required in the face of government financial resource and capacity constraints, as well as the intensifying environmental challenges.
Expert advice and technical reports on climate-change adaptation have been provided to Government since the early 2000s. However, with some exceptions, on-ground natural resource management has yet to reflect the new challenges. Further, some city-based community expectations of environmental management do not match the contemporary regional condition on farms or in conservation reserves. Four fundamental themes were pursued:
1. Sustainable regional communities.
2. Ecosystem services and natural capital in rural production lands.
3. Role and management of the conservation estate.
4. Identification and management of climate change refugia.
The event was held at the University of Queensland and co-hosted by the Sustainable Queensland Forum, Central Queensland University and The Royal Society of Queensland.
For more information, see updated program or the proceedings. The Society’s President gave a presentation on “A stewardship model for managing pastoral lands“.