Climate and Natural Resources

Most people working in NRM will agree that the institutional landscape in rural environments is overwhelmingly complex (see Figure 1). Academics regard such institutional complexity as intractable or ‘wicked’. Increasing concern about institutional complexity in rural areas, combined with the need to manage ecosystems at a bioregional scale, ....

The theoretical discourse in development studies has struggled with how to integrate cultural practices into development programs in a prominent way. This thesis offers a rearticulation of culture as "cultural institutions" in order to apply conceptual renderings of culture to the more formalized literature concerning institutional deve ....

The African Risk Capacity (ARC) pool is a proposed pan-Africa drought risk pool that would insure against drought risk in Africa south of the Sahara. Donors and, to at least a notional extent, member countries would pay annual premiums. In return, if, for instance, satellite weather indexes call for a response to a severe drought, the pool would ....

The Australian Government is meeting the challenge of water scarcity and climate change through significant on-farm infrastructure investment to increase water use efficiency and productivity, and secure longer term water supplies. However, it is likely that on-farm infrastructure investment will alter energy consumption and therefore generate co ....

Collection of Irrigation Australia's 2013 Regional Conference papers fron Griffith NSW on the 28-30 May. Report LocationClick here to access the full report ....

As part of the Federal Government's national review of drought policy, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry appointed an expert panel to examine the social impacts of drought on farm families and rural communities. The Panel's report was released in September 2008, and includes independent research as well as the pe ....

Land capability and resources for various regions. Report Locationhttp://archive.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_93282.html ....

The research activity described in this report is a comprehensive regional assessment of the impacts of climate change on water resources and options for adaptation in the Okanagan Basin. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop integrated climate change and water resource scenarios to stimulate a multistakeholder discussion on th ....

This study investigated the role of ecosystem services in the well-being of Aboriginal Australians, in the tropical savanna region of northern Australia. There is significant literature available to suggest that Aboriginal communities depend upon the natural system (Williams 1986 and 1998; Altman 1987 and 2004; Edwards 1988; Gray 2 ....

This paper reviews adaptation actions in climate change strategies by four urban Queensland coastal councils (e.g. Cairns, Gold Coast, Redland, and Sunshine Coast), and two community-based climate action plans for Bribie Island, and the Noosa Biosphere. The actions in these six plans are analysed for their adaptive response categories: Emphasisin ....

The development of a surface-groundwater interaction model for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) is described. The model uses MODFLOW coupled with the MT3D solute transport simulator under a PMWIN environment. Several customised programs were written to manipulate datasets on aquifer lithology, piezometric levels, groundwater ....

This thesis will argue that the mere removal of drought from the Natural Disaster Relief Arrangements and directing the management of drought onto the individual farmer in the National Drought Policy (NDP), failed to 'normalise' drought as regular feature of Australia's variable climate for the rural community. The NDP was ineffective partly beca ....

The controversial Murray-Darling Basin Plan is now law. To open this series on water in our special 'Sustainability and Environment' edition of Today we invited the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to report progress. Report Locationhttp://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=642225176371255;res=IELBUS ....