doi: 10.1111/j.1442-8903.2011.00591.x REVIEW Australia’s Stock Route Network: 1. A review of its values and implications for future management By Pia E. Lentini, Joern Fischer, Philip Gibbons, David B. Lindenmayer and Tara G. Martin Pia Lentini, Philip Gibbons and David Lindenma- Summary The Stock Route Network (SRN) is a vast system of public land, comprising yer are respectively PhD student, Senior Fellow and vegetated strips and small reserves across the eastern length of the Australian continent. Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Now predominantly following the road system, this network was historically established to Society, the Australian National University (Hancock allow for the movement of livestock prior to truck and railway transport. Owing to declines in Building (43), Biology Place, Canberra ACT 0200; traditional uses, parts of the SRN may now be sold to private landholders, or put under long- Tel: +612 6125 1496; Email:
[email protected]. term grazing leases, making them unavailable for other emerging uses. This is in spite of the au). Joern Fischer (formerly of the Fenner School of fact that it is widely accepted by researchers, practitioners, graziers and agriculturalists that Environment and Society) is a Professor with the the SRN holds great natural and cultural value. We conducted a review of scientific and grey Faculty of Sustainability (Leuphana University Lu- literature to determine the known values of the network for biodiversity conservation, cultural eneburg, Scharnhorststrasse 1, 21335 Lueneburg, heritage, rural communities and Australian society as a whole. We found that the majority of Germany).