Subjective risk assessment for planning conservation projects

Conservation projects occur under many types of uncertainty. Where this uncertainty can affect achievement of a project\u27s objectives, there is risk. Understanding risks to project success should influence a range of strategic and tactical decisions in conservation, and yet, formal risk assessment rarely features in the guidance or practice of conservation planning. We describe how subjective risk analysis tools can be framed to facilitate the rapid identification and assessment of risks to conservation projects, and how this information should influence conservation planning. Our approach is illustrated with an assessment of risks to conservation success as part of a conservation plan for the work of The Nature Conservancy in northern Australia. Risks can be both internal and external to a project, and occur across environmental, social, economic and political systems. Based on the relative importance of a risk and the level of certainty in its assessment we propose a series of appropriate, project level responses including research, monitoring, and active amelioration. Explicit identification, prioritization, and where possible, management of risks are important elements of using conservation resources in an informed and accountable manne

Stabilising Lyme Regis – a strategic approach

Coastal erosion and landslides have been a constant threat to Lyme Regis in West Dorset, UK for over 250 years. By the 1980s, the frequency and scale of coastal erosion and land instability had reached a point whereby the local council realised that a change from the previous ad hoc repair and protection approach was needed to secure the long-term future of the town. An environmental improvements initiative was developed from then onwards to provide a strategic and integrated programme of coast protection and cliff stabilisation measures designed to mitigate the increasing threat of climate change, coastal erosion and landslides, while respecting the site’s unique heritage and environmental interests. This paper outlines the background and principal phases of the project that have been successfully delivered over the period 1990–2015

Virtuous organizations: Desire, consumption and human flourishing in an era of climate change

The notion of virtuous organizations has an established place in the business ethics/organization studies literature. But this conceptualization drew principally on Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue. His more recent work Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity, with its focus on desire, consumption and human flourishing, demands a revisiting of the original concept. The first aim of this paper, therefore, is to provide an extended theory of the notion of the virtuous organization. An obvious application of this extended theory is to the issue of climate change. In exploring this, the paper has a further aim which is to respond to Banerjee et al.’s call for more theory building that articulates post-growth possibilities at the organization level in relation to the multiple challenges which society faces in response to the changing climate. The paper begins by summarizing the current conceptual framework of the virtuous organization while recognizing critiques of MacIntyre’s work and its organizational application. It then turns to the issues of desire and consumption highlighted in MacIntyre’s latest book, drawing also on an extended literature in these areas including insights from Girard’s work, and concluding with MacIntyre’s contentions in relation to human flourishing. This leads to the extended conceptual framework which is then applied to the issue of climate change. The particular theoretical contribution of the paper is to understand virtuous organizations as playing an important role in the redirection and re-education of desires, leading to the pursuit of goods that we have good reason to desire, and so to the good for individuals and communities, and ultimately to human flourishing within ecological limits. The similarities with and dierences fromthe degrowth/post- growth movement are explored to demonstrate the distinctive contribution a MacIntyrean approach makes. The practical implications of this theoretical contribution are then spelled out, including a consideration of the potential ubiquity or otherwise of this approach, before conclusions are drawn

A MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics Perspective on Humanizing Business

This chapter draws on the work of the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre to present a virtue ethics perspective on humanizing business. It begins by setting out the core elements of the relevant aspects of MacIntyre’s work as they apply firstly to human flourishing in general. It then considers the locations in which such flourishing might occur, in particular focusing on MacIntyre’s notions of ‘practices’, and the wider networks of giving and receiving which individuals as human beings are part of. The organizational implications of this approach, in which organizations are understood as practice-institution combinations, is then explored. Understanding organizations in this way helps to see why organizations in general, and business organizations in particular, may frustrate human flourishing through an overwhelming pursuit of what are called ‘external goods’. But it also helps in seeing how the pursuit of two other kinds of goods — ‘internal’ and ‘common’— together with the virtues required for their realization, can lead to human flourishing. A way of thinking of this in practical terms is through what is often referred to as ‘meaningful work’, and the chapter concludes by describing and considering the implications of such work for both individuals and business organizations

Soilguide (Soil guide) : a handbook for understanding and managing agricultural soils

This handbook integrates the current knowledge of soils in south-western Australia in a user-friendly form. It describes how to assess which soil properties influence production and land degradation in the agricultural area and summarises management options to remedy or minimise soil limitations. The potential for growing a large range of crops and pastures can be assessed. In particular, the links between soil morphology, soil properties, management and agronomy are emphasised. The manual is designed for use at the paddock scale or for site assessment, but it can also be used at a catchment or regional scale. It is specifically designed for rain fed agriculture in south-western Australia but many sections will be relevant elsewhere as the manual works from first principles and does not require prior knowledge of the nature and distribution of soils.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1001/thumbnail.jp

Characteristics of perrennial grasses [poster]

Growth Characteristics of perennial C3 grasses: this table presents information on a range of perennial grass species but it is not a recommendation for them. Consider species characteristics in relation to local conditions and then source specific variety information before making decisions. It is suggest you grow trial plots of grasses before planting large areas (see key below for rating system)

Identifying sub-tropical grass seedlings

There is considerable interest in growing sub-tropical (or warm season) perennial grasses for out-of-season green feed, especially on the south coast and in the northern agricultural region (NAR). They consist of two types: creeping grasses, which spread by either above ground runners (stolons) or below ground runners (rhizomes) and bunch grasses, which are tufted and do not spread by runners. The main species sown include Panic grass, Rhodes grass, Kikuyu, Setaria, Signal grass, Digit grass, and Bambatsi panic and are often sown as a mixture, comprising 2 or more species. This bulletin describes how to identify these grasses at the seedling stage.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/bulletins/1203/thumbnail.jp

Planning for horticultural expansion on the Swan Coastal Plain

Horticulture is an intensive, high value form of agriculture highly dependant on the availability of good water supplies for the year-round production of fresh produce. Production increase in Western Australia and the encouragement and development of export markets has caused rapid expansion if the industry in recent years. Expansion is expected to continue, placing severe pressure on available water supplies and suitable land close to markets. At present\u27 90 per cent of the Stase\u27s horticultural land is on the Swan Coastal Plain and minor selected hills areas around Perth

Land evaluation standards for land resource mapping : guidelines for assessing land qualities and determining land capability in south-west Western Australia

Updated by report 298, van Gool, D, Tille, P J, and Moore, G A. (2005)This report provides a standard method for attributing and evaluating digital land resource maps in Western Australia so that strategic decisions about the management, development and consevation of land resources can be based on the best information available. The standards update the generic methodology described by Wells and King (1989) which have been used routinely for the assessment of land resources in catchment and land use planning in Western Australia