Ensuring Resilience of Natural Resources under Exposure to Extreme Climate Events

Abstract

Natural resources directly support rural livelihoods and underpin much of the wealth of rural and regional Australia. Climate change manifesting as increasing frequency and or severity of extreme weather events poses a threat to sustainable management of natural resources because the recurrence of events may exceed the resilience of natural systems or the coping capacity of social systems. We report the findings of a series of participatory workshops with communities in eight discrete landscapes in South East New South Wales, Australia. The workshops focused on how natural resource management (NRM) is considered in the Prevent-Prepare-Respond-Recover emergency management cycle. We found that NRM is generally considered only in relation to the protection of life and property and not for the intrinsic value of ecosystem services that support communities. We make three recommendations to improve NRM under extreme climate events. Firstly, the support to communities offered by emergency management agencies could be bolstered by guidance material co-produced with government NR agencies. Secondly, financial assistance from government should specifically target the restoration and maintenance of green infrastructure to avoid loss of social-ecological resilience. Thirdly, action by natural resource dependent communities should be encouraged and supported to better protect ecosystem services in preparation for future extreme events.

The Emergence of Different Local Resilience Arrangements Regarding Extreme Weather Events in Small Municipalities—A Case Study from the Wielkopolska Region, Poland

“…Jacobs et al[43]-analysis of resilience to climate extremes of natural resources, through the phases of emergency management cycles Rapaport et al[44]-analysis of different communities, including rural, which are seen as a strong predictor of community resilience Carpenter et al[45]-propose an extreme events resilience approach concentrated on the recovery-resilience of socio-ecological systems Cutter et al[46]-comparison of resilience in urban and rural areas, where different capitals are behind in terms of disaster resilience Lai et al[47]-provide an overview of priorities to enhance community resilience in rural areas in Taiwan…”