Michael Hughes

Ecosystem services assessments help us understand the benefits that society obtains from ecosystems, and they are increasingly being used to understand the human–nature relationship in many applications. This paper presents the results of two ecosystem services assessments applied as part of mine closure planning and rehabilitation activities for two bauxite mining operations operated by the same company, one located in Brazil, the other in Australia. The focus was on the value of the postmining land use that was being realised for local community users. For the Juruti mine site, located in Amazon rainforest, the research examined the return of culturally and economically important forest products—such as Brazil nuts, natural fruits and timber—to local communities living in the vicinity of the mining operations. For the Australian operation, located in the jarrah forest of Western Australia, the research focused on recreationists’ perceptions of the value of rehabilitated bauxite mine areas for bushwalking and mountain biking. Interviews were the principal method employed to understand community stakeholder interactions with pre-mining and post-rehabilitation areas. Workshops were conducted with regulators responsible for mine closure planning and rehabilitation activity.In the Brazil case, taking an ecosystem services approach to explain and explore the mine closure planning process with both the community and the mining company alike provided a pathway for getting to an agreed post-mining land use as the approach’s inherent anthropic focus provides a way to include community perspectives. In the Australian case, the recreation values sought by forest users had not been returned in rehabilitated mined areas, although it was clear that forest users’ perspectives were strongly influenced by historical rehabilitation efforts, which have been transcended by recent practices. Regulators saw value in using ecosystem services assessment methods to both plan the mine closure and monitor the progress of rehabilitation as a way to demonstrate social benefits rather than solely ecological results. In both countries, regulators agreed that results analysis of rehabilitation practices was poorly done. While Brazilian regulators saw ecosystem services as an opportunity to fill some current gaps in rehabilitation practices, such as stakeholder engagement, the Australian regulators believed that the planning process already made implicit use of ecosystem services. In both cases, the actual biophysical basis of rehabilitation practices was found to be robust, but taking an ecosystem services approach to mine closure planning enhanced the process and generated valuable insights for guiding post-mining land-use determinations. Overall, the study demonstrates that meeting regulatory requirements for rehabilitation, as measured by ecological indicators, does not automatically correlate with acceptable social outcomes.

World Heritage status can both confer prestige on and potentially attract tourists to the areas so designated. However such designations can also lead to increased restrictions being imposed on an area’s local residents. In remote areas such as Western Australia’s Gascoyne region, where the challenges of both distance and low population numbers are extreme and government restrictions on the inhabitants were concomitantly light, local adaptation to World Heritage designation can be particularly challenging. The World Heritage designation of Shark Bay in 1991 was the first in Western Australia and occurred in the context of promises made during a federal election campaign. Both here and, much more recently, at Ningaloo, sections of the local populations therefore saw the World Heritage initiatives as being driven by ‘outsiders’ and reacted to the designation processes with suspicion and concern, fearing both loss of access to land and restrictions on a range of outdoor activities. Some Shark Bay residents travelled to Ningaloo (and a Ningaloo resident travelled to UNESCO in Paris) to campaign against the area’s 2011 designation, linking the two areas through spreading a fear of loss of local control. Increasing regulation from state agencies in both locations during the years before the World Heritage listing processes influenced local responses. This paper will report on the preliminary findings from a survey of both the literature and a range of local stakeholders of the community impacts of World Heritage designation on both localities.

The Western Australian mining boom is touted by government for the significant revenue and regional socio-economic benefits it generates. With government support, the resources sector is now expanding into new remote regions, including iconic tourism destinations. This is causing conflict based on contested views and land uses. Proponents argue that their industry creates wealth and employment opportunities for the regions they operate in. Those opposed to such activity argue that the benefits are exaggerated and costs are significantly high. This paper presents the case of an onshore LNG plant proposal for the West Kimberley coastal region, near Broome. A Government commissioned assessment concluded the development will have a minimal impact on tourism and benefit the community. A review of published evidence suggests there will be considerable costs to communities and tourism. These issues are discussed in the context of tourism development and its contribution to the region.

This paper presents a case for human access to protected natural areas based on demonstrating the subsequent economic benefits. Alpizar (2005), Athanas et al (2001), Eagles (2003), Krug et al (2002) and Font et al (2004) all observed that government managed protected natural areas around the globe are inadequately resourced. This is generally attributed to the low priority governments place on the seemingly more esoteric issue of biodiversity conservation relative to perceived more important concerns such as public health, education and security (Athanas et al. 2001; Krug et al. 2002; Font et al. 2004; Alpizar 2005). Consequently, the limited resources of government tend to be focused away from protected areas.

Protected natural areas are now primarily managed to conserve cultural and biodiversity values (Australian Government 2007). From this perspective, public access is commonly treated as a threat to biodiversity conservation (Hockings and Twyford 1997; Newsome et al. 2002; Moore and Polley 2007). However, it has been shown that human use of protected natural areas can serve two positive purposes. Firstly, such areas can be used as resources to educate visitors about the importance of biodiversity conservation and thus raise community support to this end (Edwards 1969; Field and Wagar 1973; Hammit 1981; Bramwell and
Lane 1993; Ballantyne 1998; Field and Gough 1998; Howard 1998; Hughes 2004; Hughes and Morrison-Saunders 2005). Secondly, sustainably managed public access to protected natural areas can generate economic benefits for the immediate region where it is located and more broadly (Dwyer et al. 2004; Hughes and Carlsen 2008). The latter point is the focus of
this paper where by the economic benefits derived from use and access to protected areas can function to generate resources for continued conservation.

This paper presents two examples from Australia where economic contributions from human use of protected natural areas have been quantified and a clear argument for increased investment in management resources generated.

This paper presents an international review of policy and management regarding public recreational access to land of varying tenure and how it relates to Western Australia. This is an increasingly important issue in Australia with a growing population and associated pressure on natural resources to provide a range of services and needs. Government has identified a need to clearly define ‘access’ and better understand the complex legislative and non-legislative determinants governing access to land in Australia. The project defined responsible outdoor recreation access as individual or group walking based activities centred on responsible interaction within natural environments. Policy, legislation and management of recreational walking access to land, referred to as the right to roam, in the UK and New Zealand were reviewed. A comparative review of policy, legislation and management of land in WA was then conducted with regard to how this influences public access to land for walking based recreation. A significant portion of land in the UK and NZ is privately owned freehold that functioned to restrict public access to natural areas for recreation. It was found that establishment of a right to roam in the UK and NZ was based on several key elements: a clear justification for the right to roam, strong and broad community support, protection of landholder’s rights, and a consistent approach to implementation and management of the right to roam. In contrast, land in WA is primarily publically owned (93%). Public recreational access is determined more by the sometimes multiple management overlays that exist in any given area. As a consequence, the status of land accessibility in WA can be fluid and complex owing to the multiple management regimes and policies that can apply to any given area and adjustments in policy and management that can occur over time. This creates uncertainty with regard to rights of recreational access in WA. Understanding policy and management in regions where the right to roam has been established and how this relates to WA can inform a more strategic approach to public access to land in Australia.

Increase attention has been focussed on tourism and recreation access to public lands reserved for specific purposes, such as water catchments. Land based activities such as hiking, horse riding, motor and mountain biking, abseiling and off-road driving as well as water based activities (canoeing, fishing, swimming) have all been deemed by water managers as a risk to drinking water quality. Increasing demand has increased pressure for tourism and recreation access to these areas. The question then becomes, what level of risk to drinking water quality is posed by these activities? Also, what is the most appropriate management regime for tourism and recreation in water catchments? This paper is based on a review of the legislative, historical and current framework for managing public water catchment areas and drinking water sources in South Western Australia. The review includes an assessment of catchment management regimes in other states of Australia as well as in the United Kingdom and Canada. Management regimes range from total exclusion (as practiced in Western Australia) to managed tourism and recreation use of water catchments (as in Queensland and Victoria). Management of water catchments requires high levels of co-operation between government agencies responsible for land management, water quality and tourism and recreation and the adoption of integrated catchment management strategies is essential.

National Parks and other protected natural areas are a significant point of focus for tourism activity globally. Consequently it is important to understand the values of parks for tourism to assist with effective policy, planning and management of protected areas as conservation reserves and as tourism and recreation resources. The gathering of knowledge to better inform understanding of tourism has been described as the Knowledge Platform. The ideal being that gathering of knowledge about tourism will provide a broader understanding of the parks tourism system as a whole and better inform decision making. This paper reviews a series of 24 parks valuations for tourism between 1991 and 2007, focusing on economic valuations as an example. The intent was to explore whether these valuations had contributed to a greater understanding of parks values in the spirit of the tourism knowledge platform. The parks valuations for tourism seem to have occurred in an ad hoc manner using a wide variety of techniques and expression of value of varying complexity. This has produced a disjointed and occasionally contradictory body of knowledge around economic values of parks for tourism. A coordinated approach to parks valuations for tourism using a single accepted method would greatly improve understanding and assist with parks policy, planning and management.

This paper presents results from research into the spectrum of protected area user pays systems in Australia based on a review of the literature and interviews with protected area managers. The project aimed to identify examples of good practice across a diversity of systems in order to provide guidelines for an effective approach to user pays management. It was found user pays systems are unique to each State and significantly shaped by state based political and historical influences. A one size fits all model for Australia is not practical though some key good practice elements were identified for future improvement of user pays systems.

The twin goals of the Ningaloo Destination and Data Modelling (NDDM) project are: to develop a dynamic model of Ningaloo incorporating socio-economic, and load implications of tourism that can be integrated with an ecological model of the region; and to effectively engage with stakeholders to build both trust in the model and group learning between researchers and stakeholders with respect to regional tourism planning and governance. Drawing its methodology from mediated modelling, which developed within learning organisations theory, and sustainable tourism planning, the NDDM project is engaging with stakeholders through public workshops, meetings and disseminating information through newsletters and the regional media. The finished model will be used by regional managers (in particular DEC, DPI and the Shires) to input into land and resource use decisions and by all stakeholders including community groups, the shires and the tourism industry, to collaboratively assess and discuss tourism planning in the region. The NDDM project is gathering primary data through surveys of visitors, residents and accommodation providers, and is engaging with other research projects, industries, and public agencies to gather and share secondary data. To date, the three most significant research outcomes are: four collated tourism scenarios for the region; the results of initial visitors surveys; and an early prototype of the Ningaloo Destination Model, that assesses the effects of changing the visitor mix on activities and accommodation demand in different subregions.