Managing natural resources across jurisdictions: lessons from the Australian Alps

Crabb, Peter; Dovers, Stephen

doi:10.1080/14486563.2007.10648719

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Both areas have a long history of pastoralism involving seasonal grazing by cattle, sheep, and horses (Cabena 1980, Crabb 2003). The EVA was the first area in the Australian Alps where horses were abandoned and allowed to become feral in 1843 (Dyring 1990).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of density‐impact functions to inform and improve the environmental outcomes of feral horse management

Berman

Pickering²,

Smith

et al. 2023

Wildlife Biology

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The available science often demonstrates the need for feral horse population control but not the degree of control required to achieve environmental conservation objectives. To better manage the influence of feral horses, we must first understand the relationship between feral horse density and environmental impact. We recorded vegetation and soil disturbance, and the sign of potential causes of this impact in two parts of the Australian Alps, the Bogong high plains (BHP) and the Eastern Victorian Alps (EVA). We calculated density‐impact functions to assist managers with determining feral horse density targets for control programmes. Minimal sign of feral horse impact was detected on the BHP, with no impact of feral horses observed along 99% of the length of transects. In contrast, impacts assigned to feral horses were significantly higher in the EVA, where a larger, higher‐density population of feral horses existed. However, greater than 83% of the walked transect length was still undisturbed by feral horses in the EVA. We detected a threshold of horse impact at ~ 250 horse faecal piles per ha. Above this threshold, a slight increase in horse density resulted in a disproportionately large increase in impact. In this context, a relatively small population control effort may substantially reduce direct horse impact. But where horse densities exist below this threshold, considerably more expense and control effort (resulting from the difficulties related to control at low density) is likely to make very little difference to an already low level of direct impact. The combined impacts associated with the sign of deer, feral pigs, fire and humans were large compared to that of feral horses. Management of feral horses to reduce their direct impact is unlikely to be beneficial without complementary management to reduce the effects of these other agents of impact.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of density‐impact functions to inform and improve the environmental outcomes of feral horse management

Berman

Pickering²,

Smith

et al. 2023

Wildlife Biology

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“…While protected area agencies have learned a great deal about how fire and feral horses could be better managed, learning at the political and social level for these significant cross-border management issues is still elusive. This has been a long-standing issue with the AACP (Crabb and Dovers 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite operating under an MOU, the AACP has survived many political cycles and contentious management issues. It has been presented as an example of an innovative and effective regional management institution (Crabb and Dovers 2007, Jacobs and Anderson 2012, Weiler et al 2012. While peer support, on-ground cooperation, and learning have been highlighted as key strengths of the program, the AACP has struggled to deal effectively with cross-border issues such as climate change and feral horse management (Crabb and Dovers 2007).…”

Section: The Australian Alps and The Institutional Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Letting the managers manage: analyzing capacity to conserve biodiversity in a cross-border protected area network

Clément¹,

Moore²,

Lockwood³

2016

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Biodiversity loss is one of the most significant drivers of ecosystem change and is projected to continue at a rapid rate. While protected areas, such as national parks, are seen as important refuges for biodiversity, their effectiveness in stemming biodiversity decline has been questioned. Public agencies have a critical role in the governance of many such areas, but there are tensions between the need for these agencies to be more "adaptive" and their current operating environment. Our aim is to analyze how institutions enable or constrain capacity to conserve biodiversity in a globally significant cross-border network of protected areas, the Australian Alps. Using a novel conceptual framework for diagnosing biodiversity institutions, our research examined institutional adaptive capacity and more general capacity for conserving biodiversity. Several intertwined issues limit public agencies' capacity to fulfill their conservation responsibilities. Narrowly defined accountability measures constrain adaptive capacity and divert attention away from addressing key biodiversity outcomes. Implications for learning were also evident, with protected area agencies demonstrating successful learning for on-ground issues but less success in applying this learning to deeper policy change. Poor capacity to buffer political and community influences in managing significant cross-border drivers of biodiversity decline signals poor fit with the institutional context and has implications for functional fit. While cooperative federalism provides potential benefits for buffering through diversity, it also means protected area agencies have restricted authority to address cross-border threats. Restrictions on staff authority and discretion, as public servants, have further implications for deploying capacity. This analysis, particularly the possibility of fostering "ambidexterity" -creatively responding to political pressures in a way that also achieves a desirable outcome for biodiversity conservation-is one promising way of building capacity to buffer both political influences and ecological pressures. The findings and the supporting analysis provide insight into how institutional capacity to conserve biodiversity can be enhanced in protected areas in Australia and elsewhere, especially those governed by public agencies and/or multiple organizations and across jurisdictions.

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“…To address such challenges, the three state/territory jurisdictions and the federal government Although this arrangement has been strong and flexible enough to survive political and funding cycles, major fire events, and contentious management issues such as cattle grazing in the Victorian Alps, it has struggled to effectively deal with some of the vexing cross--border issues impacting biodiversity (e.g. feral horses) (Crabb and Dovers 2007).…”

Section: Reform Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Using insights from pragmatism to develop reforms that strengthen institutional competence for conserving biodiversity

et al. 2015

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Clement, S., Moore, S.A., Lockwood, M. and Mitchell, M. (2015)Using insights from pragmatism to develop reforms that strengthen institutional competence for conserving biodiversity.Policy Sciences, 48 (4 Mitchell) AbstractThe poor performance of biodiversity institutions has prompted calls for reform. Adaptive governance has been promoted as a means of supporting improved biodiversity outcomes. However, incorporating adaptive elements into biodiversity governance has been a challenge. In particular, efforts to make institutions more 'adaptive' often fail to account for existing capacity and context--specific factors. Clear guidance on how to move from general, ambitious adaptive governance prescriptions to specific, context--dependent recommendations is needed. This paper demonstrates how insights from pragmatism can inform an approach for designing institutional reforms that address current shortcomings in adaptive governance approaches. This design scaffolds reform options on a platform of existing competency and institutional legacy. Informed by the results of a prior institutional diagnosis, reform development followed a three--stage process: defining plausible reform spaces; identifying reform possibilities within these spaces; and elaborating reform options. Two very different landscapes provided the case studies: a highly modified agricultural landscape, where private landholders are responsible for managing biodiversity as a public good; and a group of national parks, where the state holds primary responsibility. The reforms in the agricultural landscape build on successful landholder and organizational efforts to self--organize and pursue innovative solutions, while those for the protected area enable greater managerial discretion and address the challenges of working across multiple government jurisdictions. This context--driven approach draws on insights from pragmatism to provide guidance on the design of institutional reforms that meet the demands of adaptive governance in a way that is both systematic and realistic.

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Managing natural resources across jurisdictions: lessons from the Australian Alps

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Use of density‐impact functions to inform and improve the environmental outcomes of feral horse management

Use of density‐impact functions to inform and improve the environmental outcomes of feral horse management

Letting the managers manage: analyzing capacity to conserve biodiversity in a cross-border protected area network

Using insights from pragmatism to develop reforms that strengthen institutional competence for conserving biodiversity

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