Investing in our landscape: an assessment of the benefits of land and water research in Australia

Since its inception in 1990, Land and Water Australia (LWA) (formally Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation (LWRRDC)) has been guided by a vision that investments in research and development will help Australians respect and understand Australia's unique and diverse landscapes and foster a sustainable future. Although LWA has evaluated the impact of its research since the early 1990s, it has recently adopted a more accountable way of measuring return on investment of public funds in land and water research. The new benefit cost analysis approach seeks to define the economic returns against the cost of conducting the research and to identify wider benefits to the environment, and the local, regional and national communities. Snapshot case studies evaluate LWA contributions to healthier rivers, climate forecasting, controlled traffic farming systems, controlling pesticide leakage from cotton farming systems, bush regeneration, salinity control, riparian land management, and water use efficiency in irrigated farming.