Engaging stakeholders

Participation was invited from five major stakeholder sectors: Aboriginal peoples, agro-pastoral leaseholders, conservation representatives and the minerals and tourism industries. These people brought broad values and knowledge to the project, many of them representing community or business organisations. Organisations included leaseholder associations, catchment committees, Aboriginal elders, land councils, tourism development organisations, shire councils, conservation groups, minerals industry groups, and state agencies. The project provided the opportunity for these people to champion and guide the planning process. 

For many participants, working together on this project was their first exposure to the values of others and their first chance to share values directly with them. Early workshops allowed people to interact, build networks, communicate ideas, and teach our researchers about regional land use and society. Plenary sessions, feedback discussions, shared meals and shared accommodation all helped communication along. 

In this atmosphere, land uses of importance to each group were identified. Conflict between the community sectors was anticipated, and land use conflicts were identified. Through discussion better mutual understanding of these conflicts was reached.

Generating land use value maps

Participants developed guidelines for mapping each land use against a set of attributes of the land. They brought deep understanding and extensive knowledge to this process. The maps for each sector group expressed land use in different terms: for example the suitability or profitability for agro-pastoral and tourism enterprises; the probability of the presence of sites of importance to Aboriginal people; the suitability for different types of conservation management; and the probability of minerals exploration or mining activity in the future. 

The groups developed a wide range of guidelines focussing on a similarly wide range of land attributes, such as: soil texture; erosion risk; distance to services; presence of animal or plant species; topography; past land use; and cultural heritage. The guidelines were designed so that sustainable land use was emphasised. For example soils with low erosion risk were given higher value for cropping land uses and land with attributes that increased the viability of native species was allocated to conservation uses.

Identifying opportunities for multiple land use

Participants were able to identify significant opportunities for multiple use of the land by recording a matrix of compatibilities between land uses. They were asked “Which pairs of land uses could co-exist in the same space, at the same time or sequentially, without impacting on their values and performance?”. They listed levels of compatibility: fully compatible land uses from the same sector; fully compatible land uses from different sectors; compatible with negotiated conditions; incompatible; or agreement not reached on compatibility. Eighty percent of land uses were considered compatible — a strong indication that multiple land use is desired by stakeholders.

Informing regional planning policy

The land use value maps resulting from the project are an important tool for participatory land use planning. They present a vision of how each land use might be dispersed over the Western Division in the future and how different interest groups might value that land use pattern. Both the maps and guidelines inform regional policy makers and assist in allocating sustainable land uses based on the suitability of land for those uses. Complex scenarios for land use may be explored. For example, land uses reliant on plant growth (e.g. cropping) may be modelled in response to shifts in rainfall, temperature and carbon dioxide under future climate scenarios. In conjunction with the matrix of compatibilities, the land use value maps can be used to identify areas where greatest conflict is likely because highly valued and incompatible land uses are co-located. 

The maps and guidelines need to be updated periodically. Since they were prepared at regional scale they must also be amended to account for local variations if applied to smaller areas.

>>> See the Stakeholders' land use value maps