Supporting the risk management process with land information: a case study of Australia

It is frequently argued that, at the parcel level, 1 stakeholders are capable of and well supported in managing their land‐related risks. Yet, evidence from the contemporary Australian context suggests otherwise: numerous large‐scale disaster events have revealed that citizens are ill‐prepared to respond and recover adequately. This paper begins with the premise that information, specifically land information, could better support parcel‐level risk preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery. State land administration organisations in Australia primarily maintain this information and make it accessible. Land information is used regularly across all levels of government to support risk management activities; however, such application has not always occurred at the parcel and citizen level. Via a case study approach, this paper initially explores the land information available in Australia to stakeholders interested in parcel‐level detail, and then goes on to propose how the utilisation of parcel‐level land information could serve to enhance risk management practices.     

Addressing challenges for future strategic‐level emergency management: reframing,networking, and capacity‐building

The mounting frequency and intensity of natural hazards, alongside growing interdependencies between social‐technical and ecological systems, are placing increased pressure on emergency management. This is particularly true at the strategic level of emergency management, which involves planning for and managing non‐routine, high‐consequence events. Drawing on the literature, a survey, and interviews and workshops with Australia's senior emergency managers, this paper presents an analysis of five core challenges that these pressures are creating for strategic‐level emergency management. It argues that emphasising ‘emergency management’ as a primary adaptation strategy is a retrograde step that ignores the importance of addressing socio‐political drivers of vulnerabilities. Three key suggestions are presented that could assist the country's strategic‐level emergency management in tackling these challenges: (i) reframe emergency management as a component of disaster risk reduction rather than them being one and the same; (ii) adopt a network governance approach; and (iii) further develop the capacities of strategic‐level emergency managers.     

Understanding farmers' strategic decision-making processes and the implications for biodiversity conservation policy

The conservation of biodiversity is an important issue world wide and in Australia the maintenance of native biodiversity on farms makes an important contribution to overall conservation objectives. This paper seeks to explain Australian farmers' rationale for maintaining biodiversity on their farms for personal as opposed to business reasons by developing a decision-systems theory from in-depth interviews. This difference has implications for policy development. The decision-systems theory is divided into two main sections. The first section contains five parts. (1) A hierarchy of motivation stories, (2) the concept of suitability and availability of opportunities, (3) a hierarchy of three decision-systems, (4) the concept of personal career paths, (5) the concept of Lenses. The second section contains one part, a policy classification system called 'boxes of influence' that suggests how policy developers can use the information in the first section to develop new biodiversity conservation policy. The paper suggests that decision-systems theory could be used to shed new light on current trends in agriculture and become an important investigative tool for policy development concerning the conservation of biodiversity on farms.     

Interspecific and Locational Differences in Heavy Metal Levels in Four Species of Birds Near Sydney, Australia

We examined the levels of cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, mercury, and selenium in four species of birds near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in January, 1996. Molted contour feathers were collected from silver gull, Larus novaehollandiae (Royal National Park and downtown Sydney), sulphur-crested cockatoo, Cacatua sulphurea (Blue Mountains, Royal National Park, and Sydney), Australian white ibis, Threskiornis molucca (Sydney), and rock dove Columba livia (Royal National Park and Sydney). We tested the null hypothesis that there were no species or locational differences in metal levels. There were significant species differences in all metals, with rock doves having the highest levels of cadmium, chromium, lead, and manganese, and silver gulls having the highest levels of mercury and selenium. Metal levels were generally low in cockatoos, and were lowest in those from the Royal National Park. For silver gulls, cadmium, lead, and chromium levels were highest at Sydney, and there were no locational differences in manganese, mercury, and selenium levels. For rock doves, cadmium, chromium and manganese were higher in Sydney, and there were no locational differences in lead, mercury, and selenium. Overall, cadmium and chromium levels were significantly higher in Sydney than in the Royal National Park for all species, and there were no locational differences in mercury levels. Although the levels of most metals in feathers from these Australian birds were within the ranges reported worldwide, lead levels in ibises and rock doves were among the highest reported worldwide, suggesting a cause for concern.     

Australian approaches to coastal vulnerability assessment

The Australian coastline is one of the longest and most diverse of any in the world, and Australian researchers have developed preliminary models of the behaviour of major coastal systems such as beaches and reefs. The Australian population is particularly focused along the coastline, especially in metropolitan centres; however, the population of regional centres along the coast is increasing steadily in response to a phenomenon termed seachange. Coastal systems are increasingly threatened by potential impacts as a result of climate change, as indicated by the successive assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Although Australia played a central role in applying a common methodology (CM), developed from IPCC guidelines in the 1990s, and in devising alternative approaches, which were initially trialled at nine sites on the Australian coast, there has not been a nationally co-ordinated approach to assessing the coastal vulnerability of Australia, and such an approach is only emerging now. Instead, there have been a series of different approaches adopted to look at the different parts of the Australian coast, including wetland mapping in northern Australia; geomorphic unit mapping in South Australia; storm surge vulnerability modelling in Queensland; probabilistic approaches to beach erosion in New South Wales; indicative mapping of potential coastal retreat in Tasmania. Additionally, there have been methods proposed by insurers and coastal engineers to meet their requirements. Since 2005, the Australian government has once again seen the need for a national coastal vulnerability assessment, and a series of studies are planned or under way to achieve the aims of a National Climate Change Adaptation Framework.     

A guide for compiling inventories in hybrid life-cycle assessments: some Australian results

Hybrid life-cycle assessment employing input–output analysis has advantages over conventional methods. In the inventory phase of a hybrid assessment, the data collection and the boundary selection can be tailored by using structural path analysis. This technique was applied to recent Australian data in order to determine environmentally important input paths in terms of energy consumption, land disturbance, water use, and emissions of greenhouse gases, NO_x, and SO₂, for all Australian industry sectors. Due to the complexity of inter-industrial transactions, up to third-order paths can be top-ranking. The identification of such paths is considerably more labour-intensive in conventional life-cycle assessments.     

Risk assessment for atmospheric environmental management: a case study in the Hunter Region of New South Wales,Australia

The theoretical framework of a risk assessment scheme is applied to air quality assessment in a developing region in Australia, the Hunter Valley in the state of New South Wales. It is found that the application of such a scheme high-lights a number of inadequacies in the air quality management. New modeling methodologies are found to be necessary to assess some air quality impacts, as existing knowledge is inadequate. The importance of extensive data bases is underlined as is the need for social surveys to supplement air pollution monitoring when gauging aesthetic effects of air pollutants.A visiting fellow on leave from the School of Australian Environmental Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.     

Probationary and non-probationary drivers' nighttime crashes in Western Australia, 1996-2000

INTRODUCTION: This study was designed to explore the temporal aspects of crashes for probationary and non-probationary drivers. METHODS: Data from the West Australian Road Injury Database from 1996-2000 were used to calculate age-sex-specific crash rates per 100,000 person-days and to plot proportions of fatal and hospital crashes by time for probationary and non-probationary drivers. The population attributable risk was used to estimate the potential number of lives saved by nighttime driving restriction in the probationary period. RESULTS: Probationary drivers were seven times more likely to crash than non-probationary drivers. While the highest number of crashes was in the daytime, probationary drivers had a higher proportion of fatal or hospitalization crashes at night than non-probationary drivers. CONCLUSION: Restrictions on driving at night could form part of graduated driver training. Even if some probationary drivers disobeyed the restriction, a substantial reduction in car occupant fatalities and hospitalizations could result.     

Effects of molluscicide baits on field populations of house mice

Two trials were carried out to test the effects of field applications of snail baits on populations of house mice (Mus domesticus) inhabiting cereal-cropping fields during a mouse plague in South Australia. In the first trial, grain based pellets containing 2% w/w active ingredient methiocarb, were laid in trails across fields before crops were sown. The second tested the effect of whole wheat grains treated with 1% w/w methiocarb when broadcast across maturing barley crops. Treatment effects were estimated by comparison with untreated control plots. In the methiocarb-treated wheat trial, comparison was also made with 0.3% w/w strychnine-treated wheat treatments. Methiocarb baiting reduced estimated mouse numbers by 0–46%. Surviving mice did not accept the excess bait material available. In contrast, strychnine-treated wheat reduced estimated mouse numbers by 86–94%. These trials indicate that methiocarb is not likely to be a useful field rodenticide. Furthermore, the consumption of bait by mice is not likely to jeopardise snail control operations. However, methiocarb baits could cause sufficient mortality to pose a threat to rare or endangered granivorous rodents inhabiting agricultural fields.