The Establishment, Management and Evaluation of the Conservation Reserve System in the Rangelands of Western Australia
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The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2005 The establishment, management and evaluation of the conservation reserve system in the rangelands of Western Australia Anthony Brandis University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Brandis, A. (2005). The establishment, management and evaluation of the conservation reserve system in the rangelands of Western Australia (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/24 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Establishment, Management and Evaluation of the Conservation Reserve System in the Rangelands of Western Australia Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT University of Notre Dame, Australia. A. BRANDIS B.Ed., Post – Grad. Dip. EIA., MSc., MEd. COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any University or other institute of tertiary education. Information derived from published and unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text with references provided for that material. …………………………… A. J. Brandis ……………………………. Date ii CONTENTS Page No Declaration ................................................................................................................ ii Contents .............................................................................................................. iii Author’s Preface ....................................................................................................... x Abstract ............................................................................................................ xiii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. xv Summary ................................................................................................................ 1 Background .......................................................................................................... 1 The pastoral industry ............................................................................................ 2 Rangeland deterioration ....................................................................................... 3 The Gascoyne-Murchison Rangeland Strategy .................................................... 5 Conservation of biodiversity ............................................................................... 6 Conservation reserve system establishment ........................................................ 7 Reserve system design ........................................................................................ 8 Managing the conservation reserve system ....................................................... 10 Conservation reserve system status .................................................................... 11 Future land management in the rangelands ........................................................ 12 CHAPTER 1 - Introduction .................................................................................... 13 1.1 Background .................................................................................................. 13 1.2 Reserve system design ................................................................................. 15 Pastoral land acquisition ................................................................................ 17 Conservation of biodiversity on non reserve land ......................................... 18 Ongoing management .................................................................................... 19 Regional overview of results of acquisition program and status report ........ 20 Aims of the study........................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2 - The Western Australian rangelands ............................................... 25 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 25 2.2 Rangelands in Western Australia ................................................................. 26 2.3 Early settlement ............................................................................................ 27 2.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 3 - Land Administration in the rangelands .......................................... 35 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 35 iii 3.2 Legislation (pastoral lands administration) .................................................. 36 3.2.1 The Land Administration Act (1997) ................................................... 36 3.2.2 The Soil and Land Conservation Act (1945) ........................................ 38 3.3 Tenure of pastoral leases .............................................................................. 39 3.4 Viability of the pastoral sheep industry ....................................................... 40 3.5 Viability of the pastoral cattle indust ........................................................... 45 3.6 Conclusi ........................................................................................................ 46 CHAPTER 4 - Land-use issues in the rangelands .................................................. 49 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 49 4.2 Range deterioration ...................................................................................... 49 4.3 Landscape function ...................................................................................... 51 4.4 Soil – the basic resource ............................................................................... 52 4.5 Vegetation decline ........................................................................................ 56 4.6 The extent of vegetation decline .................................................................. 61 4.7 Causes of range deterioration ....................................................................... 67 4.8 Contemporary range deterioration ............................................................... 70 4.9 Stewardship of the land – who takes responsibility? ................................... 77 4.10 Costs of range deterioration ....................................................................... 79 4.11 Addressing the problem ............................................................................. 80 4.12 Ecosystem resilience .................................................................................. 81 4.13 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 84 CHAPTER 5 - The Gascoyne–Murchison Rangeland Strategy ............................. 86 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 86 5.2 Background .................................................................................................. 86 5.2.1 Climate ................................................................................................. 88 5.2.2 Vegetation............................................................................................. 89 5.2.3 Geomorphology .................................................................................... 89 5.3 Strategy development ................................................................................... 90 5.4 Attitudes, values and behaviour of pastoralists in the region ....................... 92 5.5 Policy setting – sustainable environmental outcomes .................................. 93 5.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 97 CHAPTER 6 – Why conserve?............................................................................... 98 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 98 6.2 Defining terms .............................................................................................. 98 iv 6.3 Biodiversity conservation ........................................................................... 100 6.4 Ethics and the environment ........................................................................ 102 6.4.1 Biodiversity in Western Australia’s rangelands ................................. 105 6.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 107 CHAPTER 7 - The conservation of biodiversity .................................................. 108 7.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................