Despite many well intentioned policies and changes to management practices, the world's natural resources continue to decline. The roles and interplay between science and policy in the regional broadacre agriculture landscape are examined here, offering readers a thorough understanding of the complex interactions that occur across spatial scales to produce the regional-scale impacts. The fundamental causes of resource degradation, social decline and environmental pollution are addressed, examining the cross-scale drivers from the individual farm level to the global level of commodity systems. Broadacre agriculture is a common land use throughout all continents of the world and is driven by the same type of dynamics, and this case study of the Western Australia agricultural region can be used to clearly demonstrate the principles for other agricultural systems. Aimed at academics, ranging from researchers through to policy analysts, this book will inspire innovation and action in sustainable natural resource management.
Author(s): Helen E. Allison, Richard J. Hobbs
Edition: 1
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 266
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Illustrations......Page 12
Tables......Page 14
Foreword......Page 17
Preface......Page 21
Acknowledgements......Page 23
Abbreviations......Page 26
1.1 Introduction and motivation......Page 27
1.2 Structure of this book......Page 34
2.1 Introduction......Page 38
2.2 Historical periods......Page 40
2.2.1 The First Sixty Years (1829–89) and The Move Forward (1889–1929)......Page 41
2.2.2 Depression and the War (1929–45)......Page 45
2.2.3 Recovery (1945–9) and The Rural Boom (1949–69)......Page 46
2.2.4 A Troubled Decade (1969–79)......Page 48
2.2.5 Environmental Awareness (1980–90)......Page 50
2.2.6 The Decade of Landcare (1990–2000)......Page 51
Integrated natural resource management......Page 54
Statutory policy......Page 58
Strategic regional approaches......Page 59
2.3 Drivers of change......Page 62
2.4 Concluding remarks......Page 63
3.1 Introduction......Page 66
3.2 Natural resource degradation......Page 67
3.2.1 Costs of land degradation......Page 69
3.3 Resistant problems......Page 73
3.4 Concluding remarks......Page 76
4.1 Introduction......Page 77
4.2 The conflict between the perception and the reality of nature......Page 79
4.3 Paradigms......Page 80
4.3.1 Ontology, epistemology, human nature and methodology......Page 81
4.3.2 Normal science paradigm......Page 82
4.4 Organisational analysis......Page 84
4.4.1 The framework of Burrell and Morgan for sociological paradigms of organisation......Page 85
The subjective–objective axis......Page 86
The regulation–radical change axis......Page 87
4.4.2 Quinn and Rohrbaugh’s competing values approach for organisational analysis......Page 88
4.4.3 Blann and Light’s ‘root metaphor’ framework......Page 90
4.5 Underlying paradigm of command and control policy......Page 93
4.5.2 Normal science methodology in relation to command and control policy......Page 94
4.6 Underlying paradigm for integrated natural resources management......Page 95
4.6.1 Adaptive management......Page 97
4.6.2 Integrated catchment management......Page 99
4.7.1 Command and control policy......Page 100
4.7.2 Integrated natural resource management......Page 104
4.8 Concluding remarks......Page 106
5.1 Introduction......Page 109
5.2 A framework for understanding problem-solving processes......Page 110
5.2.1 Element 1: problem situation (methodological context)......Page 113
5.2.2 Element 2: intended problem solver (methodological user)......Page 114
5.3 Messy problems in natural resource management......Page 115
5.4 Complexity......Page 116
5.5 Post-normal science paradigm......Page 118
5.6 Systems approach......Page 122
5.6.1 General systems theory......Page 123
5.6.2 Ecology theory......Page 124
5.6.3 Resilience theory......Page 127
5.6.4 The adaptive cycle......Page 130
5.6.5 Synthesis of organisational analysis and the adaptive cycle metaphor......Page 135
5.6.6 System dynamics......Page 136
Model boundaries and boundary diagrams......Page 139
Feedback and causal loop diagrams......Page 141
Qualitative vs. quantitative system dynamics modelling......Page 143
5.7 The social-ecological system perspective......Page 144
5.8 A framework for a new approach......Page 145
6.1 Introduction......Page 147
6.2 Integration of resilience analysis and system dynamics......Page 148
6.3.1 Understanding the situation of concern......Page 150
6.3.2 Ecological reference modes of system behaviour: the dynamics of land use......Page 151
6.3.3 Socio-economic reference modes of system behaviour......Page 153
Farmer terms of trade......Page 154
Farmer median age......Page 156
First adaptive cycle......Page 157
Second adaptive cycle......Page 159
6.4.2 Long-wave economic Kondratiev Cycles......Page 160
6.4.3 Pathological states......Page 163
6.5 Organisation and change......Page 167
6.5.1 Cross-scale dynamics......Page 168
6.5.2 Thresholds, stability and resilience......Page 169
6.5.3 Policy responses......Page 171
6.6 Concluding remarks......Page 172
7.1 Introduction......Page 175
7.2 Behaviour of commodity systems......Page 177
7.2.1 Commodity growth drivers......Page 179
Capital Growth Loop......Page 180
Efficiency Boosting Loop......Page 181
Balancing feedback loops......Page 182
7.3 The qualitative system dynamics model of the WA agricultural region......Page 184
7.3.1 System dynamics model......Page 186
7.3.2 Ecosystem Loop......Page 189
7.3.3 Social Capacity Loop......Page 192
7.4 Integration of resilience analysis and system dynamics analysis......Page 197
7.4.1 Panarchy and delays......Page 198
Proximal indicators and distal events......Page 199
7.5.2 Examples of natural resource economies that incorporate social and environmental goals......Page 200
7.6 Concluding remarks......Page 201
8 Synthesis......Page 203
8.2 Post-normal science paradigm......Page 204
8.3 The WA agricultural region......Page 206
8.3.1 The WA agricultural region: management implications......Page 211
Dystopia scenario......Page 213
Conventional and Policy Reform scenarios......Page 215
8.3.3 The Sustainability Paradox of the behaviour of complex social-ecological systems......Page 216
8.3.4 Surprisingly unsurprising or is the surprise still to come?......Page 217
8.4 Governance, institutions and resilience: policy change, real world constraints and possibilities......Page 218
8.4.1 The enigma of cross-scale interactions, self-organisation and the capacity for change......Page 219
8.4.3 Is it physically possible to change the ecological systems?......Page 220
8.4.4 Are we willing to make the necessary changes?......Page 221
8.5 Implications for other broadacre agricultural regions......Page 222
8.6 Further research......Page 223
8.7 Education: integration of the natural and the social sciences......Page 225
8.8 Concluding remarks......Page 226
Epilogue......Page 228
Glossary......Page 229
References......Page 238
Index......Page 263
