Seminar: Measuring the benefits of ecosystem Management: better policy and better decisions

Dr Neville Crossman, from the School of Biological Sciences and for the Department of Ecology & Environmental Science Seminar Series, will be presenting examples of his work integrating science and expertise from the biophysical and socio-economic sciences to quantify and value the benefits from conservation and restoration of land and water resources.

Title: Measuring the benefits of ecosystem Management: better policy and better decisions
When: Friday 12th May 2017
Time: 12:10pm
Where: Horace Lamb Lecture Theatre 1022
Cost: Free

Too often policy and planning decisions give insufficient consideration to the value of protecting and restoring ecosystems. In the worst case zero value is ascribed to ecosystems and the biological diversity they contain. Yet we know that natural systems provide society with many benefits. The benefits can be elicited through multi-disciplinary frameworks such as the ecosystem services approach.

Neville will present examples of his work integrating science and expertise from the biophysical and socio-economic sciences to quantify and value the benefits from conservation and restoration of land and water resources. He will discuss his recent and current projects where the benefits he calculated directly informed government policy at state, national and international levels, specifically the return of freshwater to the environment in the Murray Darling Basin, the sustainable development of water resources in north Queensland, and the restoration of ecosystems in areas impacted by land degradation and desertification in Africa and globally.