Land Stewardship
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The Land Stewardship project is a collaboration between DSE and the Victorian Catchment Management Council (VCMC). The project as been funded by the National Action Plan (NAP). Its aim is to explore policy concepts, which can move us toward supporting more sustainable management of private rural land in Victoria. A focus is on provision of public good ecosystem services from landscapes, and how landholders could be rewarded for providing these services.
The project began exploring a range of concepts in June 2002. The early consultation and development phase of the project operated closely with a Project Steering Committee and Contact Group. Included in these groups are representatives from the VCMC, Victorian Farmers Federation, the Environment Protection Authority, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Catchment Management Authorities, Landcare, DPI, DSE and community representatives.
The first product was a published Issues and Options Paper entitled: Ecosystem Services through Land Stewardship practices. The paper highlighted some of the options available to support positive land use change, and highlighted some areas where additional expertise and clarity was required. To date, five papers have been prepared to address some of the information gaps.
Land Stewardship – Market-like Policy Options
Environmental Management Systems – the Role of EMS in the emerging Land Stewardship Concept
Duty of Care: An instrument for increasing the effectiveness of Catchment Management
Private Investor needs for Land Stewardship Investment
Land Stewardship – Social Research (not yet available)
These information papers have formed the foundation for detailed discussions and the beginnings of policy formulation. A broad range of stakeholders are being engaged and their responses to the various elements of the Land Stewardship proposals are being sought.
The Issues and Options Paper, the information papers and feedback and discussion sessions have contributed to the next phase: developing the framework and the tools. This part of the work involves developing and testing the concepts with key stakeholders. There will be two major reports resulting from this process: one from VCMC to government, presenting a vision and a preferred approach, followed by a DSE report to government, which will explore some draft policy concepts.
For more information, please contact Alistair Phillips, Team Leader Landscape Change, on 9412 4677.
Publications
A number of publications have been prepared as part of the Land Stewardship project to date.
Eco System Services Through Land Stewardship Practices: Issues and Options (PDF - 1.1 Mb)
Environmental Management Systems - the role of EMS in the emerging land stewardship concept (PDF - 259 Kb)
Duty of Care: an instrument for increasing the effectiveness of catchment management (PDF - 412 Kb)
Private investor needs for land stewardship investment (PDF - 347 Kb)
Market-like Policy Option (PDF - 632 Kb)
Land Stewardship: What is this project (PDF - 494 Kb)
Stakeholder Updates
These are flyers which have been produced in the early stages of the Land Stewardship project to inform a range of interested stakeholders.
The Trial
A trial is planned as part of the Land Stewardship project. It is being coordinated by the VCMC and a Trial Working Group. It is anticipated that the trial will test mechanisms in a declared water supply catchment, with a focus on water supply and quality.
The access the attached documents you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. A free copy can be downloaded from the Adobe Acrobat Website.
Useful Links
NAP office: www.napswq.gov.au
VCMC website: www.vcmc.vic.gov.au
Ecosystem Services Project: www.ecosystemservicesproject.org
ThinkTank for Capacity Learnings
