Natural Capital Production Landscapes in the Southern Rangelands Western Australia

This project will prepare Western Australia for the paradigm shift in natural resource management in agricultural systems by understanding the potential of “Natural Capital” production landscapes as an asset class.
Insights gained from this project will help industry to make informed decisions around Natural Capital. This will be achieved through the project’s education component, which will aim to summarise and disseminate key information available at the time of engagement. Greater information accessibility will allow stakeholders, including grower groups, communities, Aboriginal organisations, and investors, to participate in emerging opportunities leveraging ecosystem services within regional production landscapes.
The project will engage with key stakeholders to establish a baseline understanding of attitudes towards productive natural capital and nature as an asset. This will include the identification of knowledge gaps, perceptions of risk, perceptions towards nature repair, and probability of integrating natural capital into their farming businesses and collaboration as a group. This will indicate the potential of a Natural Asset equity structure within a production landscape.
By better understanding the complexities of Natural Capital production landscapes as a productive asset class, Western Australia can become a blueprint for productive futures for agricultural communities. This will include fostering sustainable practices, empowering stakeholders, and contributing to a resilient, inclusive model.
Expected outcomes
The project team expects to achieve the following outcomes:
Desktop reviews and primary data collection will identify the current state of knowledge, perceived benefits and barriers among farmers and other stakeholders regarding the use of Natural Capital production landscapes and natural asset companies to conserve environmental values, build resilience and potentially capitalise on the nature that they support through their enterprises.
Two project reports will be produced:
Natural Capital - Education. This report will summarise the current state of knowledge globally, in Australia and in WA regarding Natural Capital as an asset class. It will provide an overview of current and future policy instruments and market interest that are relevant for WA stakeholders.
Natural Capital - Future Policy, Markets, and Impact. This report will document what stakeholders consider to be the probability of integrating natural capital into their farming businesses and collaboration as a group, knowledge gaps, perceptions of risk and perceptions towards nature repair.
Findings from the project and reports will help policy-makers understand the expectations among stakeholders, which will inform the definition of more effective, user-focused strategies.
Presenter
• Thomas Picton-Warlow
Music
• Tim Monaghan
Special Thanks
• Margi Weir
• Alys McKeogh
• David Hammarquist
• Debbie & Ashley Dowden
• Will Baston
This project is supported by the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. ‪@growergroupalliance9742‬ ‪@edithcowanuniversity‬
Natural Capital Production, Landscapes
Natural Capital Accounting
Natural Asset Companies
Asset Class
Investment Vehicles
Natural Capital
Southern Rangelands Pastoral Alliance
Southern Rangelands
Ecosystem Services
Accounting for Nature
Collaboration
Regional Scale
Energy
Water
Primary Production
Carbon Credits
Biodiversity Credits
Soil
Cultural and Social
Native Vegetation
Diversified Returns
Tourism
Livestock
MobileGlobal
UWA
GGA
ECU
Biodiscovery
Valuation
• Australian Government - Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)
• Future Drought Fund
• Grower Group Alliance
• South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
• Southern Rangelands Pastoral Alliance
• The University of Western Australia (UWA)
• Edith Cowan University (ECU)
• MobileGlobal
The SW WA Hub, led by the Grower Group Alliance and funded by the Australian Government’s $5 billion Future Drought Fund program, aims to improve the drought resilience and preparedness of local farmers and their communities, and foster agricultural innovation.
Led by UWA Associate Professor Ram Pandit, the research team includes Dr Fiona Dempster from the UWA Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy, Edith Cowan University research fellow Dr Lizzy Lowe, Yaraguia Enterprises Director Oral McGuire, MobileGlobal Managing Director Tom Picton-Warlow, and external advisor Dr Ana Manero Ruiz.
The project aims to determine a baseline understanding of stakeholders’ attitudes towards considering nature and agriculture together as an asset.
Associate Professor Pandit said incorporating natural capital into economic and financial decisions needed to be urgently addressed by both public and private sectors to halt the degradation and loss of nature.