Unlocking a billion dollar puzzle

UQ environmental planning experts are working to find the best solution to a $2.2 billion question – how best to manage and preserve Australia’s biodiversity.

The figure represents the Australian government funding promised last year to tackle the issue, with a further $138 million allocated to gather data on the impact of climatic changes.

Dr Eve McDonald-Madden and Professor Hugh Possingham from UQ’s Ecology Centre are playing their part to unravel the equation as they evaluate the increasingly popular concept of adaptive management.

“Adaptive management is synonymous with the policy of most environmental agencies, especially in addressing climate change impacts, though there has been very little success in developing the best ways to implement it,” Dr McDonald-Madden said.

“Despite the well-intended funding, the key questions of how to best allocate this money between the many threatened species and regions of Australia, and how to adapt this allocation in light of climatic changes, remain unanswered.”

The Ecology Centre is developing practical frameworks which will allow users to efficiently evaluate the costs and benefits of learning and acting simultaneously. It will be a significant step forward in managing the biodiversity that underpins our way of life.

The frameworks will also evaluate the use of adaptive management for preserving our environment given current limitations in knowledge and future uncertainties of climate change impacts.

“Conservation agencies worldwide see adaptive management as the way forward in managing biodiversity under climate change, so our project will both aid evaluation of its utility for these organisations and look at how this can be achieved given resources available for biodiversity management,” Dr McDonald-Madden said.

Media: Tracey Franchi, Communications Manager School of Biological Sciences (07 3365 4831, t.franchi@uq.edu.au)