Table of Contents
Concern for the sustainability of our interdependent social and natural systems is growing exponentially in policy and science arenas, both nationally and internationally, as exemplified by recent policy statements and debates on major environmental issues such as global climate change (e.g. Stern 2006; Cosier 2006; Environment Business Australia 2004), water use and management in Australia (e.g. The Wentworth Group 2003, 2006; NWC 2006) and the health of our natural ecosystems (e.g. Australian SOE Committee 2006; Morton et al 2003; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Human induced changes are having significant impacts on our natural resources with major implications for issues such as social and economic development, sustainable livelihoods and environmental management. Peri-urbanisation, the growth of urban populations and the increase in rural non-farm economic activities are all part of a global transition that is rapidly reshaping not only our social systems but the pattern of land use and related pressures on our natural resources[1]. Diamond (2005) frames the problem in a recent book through a rhetorical question:
Australia illustrates in extreme form the exponentially accelerating horse race in which the world now finds itself … On the one hand, the development of environmental problems in Australia, as in the whole world, is accelerating exponentially. On the other hand, the development of public environmental concern, and of private and public countermeasures, is also accelerating exponentially. Which horse will win the race? (p. 415-416)
This paper explores the complexity of natural resource governance within the framework of sustainable development and identifies challenges to an effective, legitimate and adaptive approach in practice. It considers prospects for more adaptive regional governance frameworks within the Australian federal system to address the accelerating and long-term challenges of the sustainability of our interconnected social and natural systems.