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Sustained ocean monitoring
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Outlook Great Barrier Reef Responding to a changing and increasingly modified environment, especially one where directing or modifying the trajectory of change is...
Sustainability and sector management
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Effectiveness of management Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Managing for externalities Climate variability and longer-term change Australia is a...
Box BLT13 Can greenfield developments be sustainable? Case study: West Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory
2016 Case StudyThe West Belconnen proposal is for the expansion of the urban area of Belconnen to encompass land that is currently assigned to broadacre and non-urban uses. It is a greenfield site and consequently is part of the ‘greenfields’ half of the Australian Capital Territory Government...
Box HER38 Sustainable innovative urban design and Aboriginal heritage, East Leppington
2016 Case StudySydney’s recent greenfield land releases have seen former agricultural land released for housing development. The innovative approach taken for the East Leppington precinct (also known as Willowdale) involved Aboriginal cultural heritage management undertaken in line with...
Some historical pressures on the marine environment are decreasing because of the implementation of sustainable management measures and new regulatory schemes
2016 Key Finding2016 Management measures aimed at the sustainable development of commercial fisheries implemented during the past decade have decreased the number of fish stocks classified as overfished. Of 53 countries (making up 95 per cent of global commercial fisheries catches) assessed on the basis...
Providing for a sustainable environment both now and in the future is a national issue requiring leadership and action across all levels of government, business and the community...
2016 Key Finding2016Providing for a sustainable environment both now and in the future is a national issue requiring leadership and action across all levels of government, business and the community. The first step is recognising the importance and value of ecosystem services to our economy and society.
Introduction
2016 At a glanceA healthy environment sustains our economy and wellbeing The environment provides significant intrinsic values to society, and many consider that the natural world has innate worth regardless of whether or not it has values that benefit humans. At a more practical level, the...
Decoupling population change and economic activity from environmental harm
2016 Report Content2016 Introduction If managed well, drivers such as population change and economic activity can benefit sustainable development, particularly through technological and institutional innovation, and changes in human behaviour. Successive SoE reports...
Increasing population
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Globally, just over 50 per cent of the world’s population lives in cities; in Australia, it is 90 per...
Economic growth
2016 Report Content2016 Heritage Pressures Murray Darling Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Heritage places are susceptible to loss of values through inappropriate...
Outlook for the marine environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceThe contribution of the marine environment to the economy is projected to continue to grow 3 times faster than Australia’s gross domestic product in the next decade. It is in Australia’s interest that our ocean ecosystems continue to bring economic, cultural and social benefits...
Responsibility for the National Water Initiative has been disaggregated, and reform impetus has decreased
2016 Key Finding2016 The National Water Initiative is Australia’s national blueprint for water reform. It is a national agreement that represents a shared appreciation of the need to implement a strategic framework to achieve an efficient and sustainable water industry. During the past 5 years, impetus...
Policies, tools and approaches that are potentially changing the outlook
2016 Report Content2016 Outlook The outlook described above has both positive and negative components, although the negative tends to dominate. This balance can potentially shift, by using a variety of policies, tools, approaches and resources that are being developed...
Box HER24 The Great Barrier Reef-World Heritage in focus
2016 Case StudyHeritage issues have been prominent in the media and community debate in recent years. In particular, the consideration by the World Heritage Committee of potential inclusion of the Great Barrier Reef on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2015, and the subsequent major coral...
Box HER41 The ACT state of the environment report—heritage
2016 Case StudyEvery 4 years, an independent state of the environment (SoE) report is prepared for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in accordance with the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Act 1993, by the Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the...
Conclusion
2016 Report ContentOverview of resilience of inland water
2016 Report Content2016 Inland water Resilience Murray Darling Since 2011, environmental flows (managed freshwater flows in natural water systems, designed to maintain aquatic ecosystems) have contributed to the...
Box WAT5 Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority wins the 2015 Australian Riverprize for Murray River basin management
2016 Case StudyBox MAR11 National Marine Science Plan
2016 Case StudyThe National Marine Science Plan is a decadal plan that is designed to focus investment on the biggest development and sustainability challenges facing Australia’s marine estate, and the highest priority science needed to tackle these challenges to fulfil the potential of the...
Traditional use of marine resources
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Pressures Marine North Traditional use of marine resources is defined here as activities (fishing, collecting, hunting and gathering) by the 2 Indigenous or traditional...
State and trends of soil erosion by water and wind
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryLand State and trends Soil: Formation and erosion Year...
Built environment: 2011–16 in context
2016 Report Content2016 Built environment Introduction Greater Melbourne Greater Perth Greater Sydney Australia’s growing population—particularly in our major...
Management context
2016 Report Content2016 Land Effectiveness of management Murray Darling Tasmania Legislative arrangements for the management of public lands continue to be relatively stable, despite flux...
Executive summary - Drivers
2016 Executive Summary2016Globally, the human-caused drivers of change to the environment are demographic, economic, socio-political, scientific, technological, cultural and religious. In Australia, the key drivers of environmental change are population and economic activity. The extent to which these drivers...
Overview of effectiveness of management of inland water
2016 Report Content2016 Inland water Effectiveness of management Murray Darling The Murray–Darling Basin Plan, which came into effect in late 2012, guides governments, regional authorities and communities about...
Improving management effectiveness
2016 Report Content2016 Effectiveness of management Managing the environment increasingly requires an understanding of how different pressures interact, and how management frameworks interact across different jurisdictions and sectors. It also requires sufficient...
Heritage: 2011–16 in context
2016 Report Content2016 Heritage Introduction Tasmania Timor Sea Great Barrier Reef Lake Eyre The SoE 2011 'Heritage' chapter concluded that...
Assessment of effectiveness of heritage management
2016 Report ContentIntroduction 2016
2016 At a glanceAt 13.86 million square kilometres, Australia’s marine environment is the third largest marine jurisdiction in the world (Symonds et al. 2009). It is home to a diverse array of marine species, including marine mammals and reptiles; more than 4000 species of fish; and tens of thousands of...