

Contemporary land-use pressures on the land environment
Contemporary land-use pressures on the land environment
The size of the conservation estate and the area of land managed by Indigenous organisations continue to increase, although there are still concerns about the adequacy of representation of ecosystem types
The extent of these areas is increasing, but active management of various forms is needed to protect or maintain their environmental values
Grazing is still a significant major land use, with a range of potential impacts. Slight declines in grazing (mostly intensive, rather than extensive, grazing)
Grazing impacts on environmental values are decreasing in some regions but increasing in others
Agriculture continues to disrupt environmental services and threaten integrity of some land types, although improvements in land management continue. Modelling suggests that these management changes will reduce impacts on agricultural systems and downstream environments
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Local and landscape-scale impacts in agricultural regions may be high, and appear to be diminishing for some factors but increasing for others
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Challenges in achieving agreed management targets could impact biodiversity values, although most environmental service values will still be met
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The extent and scale of commercial wood harvesting from public native forests have diminished substantially, and harvesting and other activities are strongly regulated
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A net decrease in the size of the plantation estate (because of declining investment) will have major impacts on the industry, but, because of its small footprint, a relatively minor impact at the national scale
The expansion of plantation forests was significant in some regions, but impacts on environmental values were generally limited, unless the site was converted directly from native vegetation. The area of plantation forests remained small as a proportion of land area, and plantation forestry became more strongly regulated
Ongoing conflict among land-use options, with urban and residential use alienating high-value agricultural land, are likely to continue as population pressures increase around major cities
The impacts of urban and rural residential development are substantial in the areas in which they are concentrated (i.e. around major cities and along parts of the coastline), and are increasing. The scale of development is increasing in these areas
Although mining developments have contracted, there are still significant new mine site developments in areas of potential high impact and conflict with other land uses. The legacy of past mining is still large. There is considerable public concern about unconventional gas developments
The scale of mining is increasing rapidly, and the potential impact on environmental values from new forms of mining is substantial in those regions where it is occurring
Waste management is mostly well regulated. Increasing re-use is encouraging, but per-person waste production is growing
The impacts of waste disposal are generally low because of management systems and the small relative area affected. However, the volume of waste is increasing, and impacts are concentrated around major settlements or industrial centres
Assessment Summary Key
Grades
Very low impact
There are few or negligible impacts on land environmental values
Low impact
Current and expected impacts are not widespread, and may affect only a small number of land environmental values
High impact
Current and expected impacts are widespread, and may irreversibly affect land environmental values
Very high impact
Current and expected impacts are widespread, and will irreversibly affect land environmental values
Recent Trends
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Improving
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Stable
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Deteriorating
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Unclear
Confidence
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Adequate: Adequate high-quality evidence and high level of consensus
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Somewhat adequate: Adequate high-quality evidence or high level of consensus
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Limited: Limited evidence or limited consensus
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Very limited: Limited evidence and limited consensus
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Low: Evidence and consensus too low to make an assessment
Comparability
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Comparable: Grade and trend are comparable to the previous assessment
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Somewhat comparable: Grade and trend are somewhat comparable to the previous assessment
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Not comparable: Grade and trend are not comparable to the previous assessment
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Not previously assessed
Comments
This assessment is based on recent publications and expert opinion, and does not reflect the assessment approach taken in SoE 2011.