Sixty high-achieving young physical, natural and social scientists from around Australia have put their heads together to come up with ideas to manage some of Australia’s most stressed ecosystems.
The Theo Murphy High Flyers Think Tank, held by the Australian Academy of Science in Brisbane, examined the Ningaloo Marine Park in Western Australia, the Murray-Darling River Basin, native grasslands on the outskirts of Melbourne, and Queensland’s Surat and Bowen Basins, which have been the subject of recent controversy over the extraction of coal seam gas.
The health of the artesian water in Queensland’s Bowen and Surat Basins must be urgently monitored, the scientists said. The water quality, the ecosystems it affects, and the health of the people who live in the area should not be allowed to worsen because of the mining.
“Very little data was collected before mining began so we have a limited baseline against which to compare the current state of the ecosystem. The horse has bolted,” the scientists said.
“The lack of freely available and well-communicated data for Australia’s ecosystems is a problem that impedes all aspects of natural resource management in Australia.”
Scientists should integrate environmental and social factors into a single model to create the most holistic picture of the impact of mining in the Bowen and Surat region, they said.
“Landholders and industry should participate in data collection and forecasting alternative futures,” they said.
“In addition, the regulatory frameworks for environmental protection and mining industry regulation must be kept completely separate to ensure the best possible outcome for all.”
Strategically placed cameras, online interactive models and smartphone applications could be used to encourage people who live in the Murray-Darling River Basin to work with scientists to monitor the health of the ecologically and politically sensitive ecosystem and plan for its management, the scientists said.
“There are a lot of opportunities for adaptive learning that includes scientists and the community,” the researchers said.
The Think Tank also examined ways to juggle the competing commercial fishing, tourism and ecological pressures of the Ningaloo Marine Park in Western Australia, and ways to protect the nationally threatened species being consumed by encroaching urban sprawl in Melbourne’s peri-urban grasslands.
Plans to model for and manage the four ecosystems – and stressed Australian ecosystems more generally – will be drawn up as a result of the Think Tank.
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
