Experimental Ecosystem Accounts for the Central Highlands of Victoria: Full Report (MEDIUM RES - 9.5MB)

Date: 06, Jul, 2017
Author(s):   Heather Keith, Michael Vardon, John Stein, Janet Stein, David Lindenmayer
Publisher: TSR Hub

Public controversy arising from conflicting land use activities in the Central Highlands region is long standing. Managing the various land use activities within the region is complex and requires evaluation of trade-offs between different land uses. Land use activities include native forest and plantation timber production, agricultural production, water supply, carbon sequestration, recreation, and biodiversity conservation. These activities are dependent on ecosystem services, and their use can be either conflicting or complementary. In particular, native timber harvesting is potentially in conflict with other land uses, such as tourism, water supply, carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. Ecosystem accounting provides a means of quantitatively comparing various land use activities and trade-offs between different activities. The Regional Forest Agreement, which is a 20-year plan for allocation of natural resource use within the forests, is due for re-negotiation by 2018. Proponents within the native timber industry have called for an expansion of wood supply allocated for native timber harvesting. By contrast, stakeholders within the environmental and tourism sectors have proposed additions to the national park network as the Great Forest Reserve System.