In
2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, we
call on the Australian Government to: Restore
and increase the capacity for publicly funded biodiversity
research, auditing, monitoring, accounting and communication,
including through an expanded independent Land, Water
and Biodiversity authority.
The abolition of Land and Water Australia,
from June 2009, left a large hole in Australia’s capacity
for research to underpin sustainable land and water management. This
loss compounds the research and auditing deficits identified
in the preparation of the 2006 State of the Environment
Report, including the lack of nationally available trend
data for biodiversity or marine and freshwater biota.
Australia urgently needs to establish
a long-term monitoring and auditing framework for biodiversity
based on a range of sites across the continent to assess
the impacts of climate change and other drivers of terrestrial,
freshwater and marine biodiversity loss. Australia needs
to support the sustainable management and use of our
natural resources through investment in scientific research,
Indigenous knowledge and education.
An expanded Land, Water and Biodiversity
authority should be based on the model pioneered by Land
and Water Australia, a core agency investing in and brokering
research. Partnerships and formal alliances with
research organisations in universities, national scientific
organisations such as CSIRO, and others with capacity
to undertake and implement research.should underpin the
work of such an authority.
