Integrating kangaroo (Macropus sp.) and other wildlife with agriculture in Australia.

Many past agricultural practices have caused significant damage to Australia’s natural landscapes, wildlife and biodiversity. If Australian agriculture is to achieve sustainable use of natural resources and abate current land degradation and declining agricultural viability, a dramatic shift in perceptions and use of natural resources is required. In addition, Australia does not currently have effective long-term conservation areas for wildlife, and there is an urgent need to increase the area devoted to biodiversity conservation to complement the National Park network. Incentives and market-led inducements are needed to encourage biodiversity conservation and to promote sustainable production on private lands. Wildlife-based tourism and commercial use of native plants and animals (such as kangaroos, Macropus sp., and emus, Dromaius novaehollandiae) can bring in extra income, be an incentive for landscape rehabilitation, and give landholders a reason to manage threatened landscapes such as rangelands and wetlands for the long term. Detailed planning is now underway for a series of trials to test the proposition that provides landholders with greater responsibility for wildlife, within strict rules and guidelines, can increase farm incomes and long-term productivity. Trials of Sustainable Wildlife Enterprises (SWE) initiated by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) are being supported by the Australian Government National Landcare Program and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The trials do not seek to purchase properties or ask landholders to forego their existing agricultural enterprises, but they are designed to assist landholders to create new enterprises and diversify income streams through the adoption of production systems that may or may not include conventional agricultural activities. 0199_inter_onc_tome2_part8 19/10/05 20:26 Page 843