Australian Land Use Policy and Planning: The Challenges

Abstract

Key Points • Land use decisions made during the early years of European settlement are evident in today's broad land use patterns; the location of major population centres; issues of land degradation; patterns of remnant vegetation; and responses to vulnerable, threatened and rare species. This creates issues and challenges that require national coordination and the development of land use strategies. • In areas that have been cleared for agriculture (primarily cereal cropping) and grazing on improved pastures, remnant areas of native vegetation provide a much-reduced, but vitally important, reservoir for biodiversity. • In cleared landscapes, issues of soil salinity and acidification create ongoing challenges for governments and industry bodies faced with developing agricultural land use policies and sustainable management systems. • To avoid perverse planning and land use outcomes, policymakers and land planners need access to nationally consistent, high-quality and up-to-date scientific information and scenario tools.