Recognising broader benefits of aquatic ecosystems in Australian water planning: an ecosystem services approach

摘要: Aquatic systems in Australia and worldwide provide many public benefits that need to be clearly and comprehensively identified and communicated so they are adequately recognised in water planning processes and misallocations of water avoided. The Australian National Water Initiative (NWI) calls for ‘planning processes in which there is adequate opportunity for productive, environmental and other public benefit considerations to be identified and considered in an open and transparent way’(NWI Clause 25iii). This paper presents findings from a project that was initiated and funded by the Australian National Water Commission. The project adopted an ecosystem services approach as a mechanism to better identify, describe, value, explain and communicate such public benefits throughout the water planning process. The project weaves ecosystem services thinking into current NWI Policy Guidelines for Water Planning and Management to provide Australian water planners with guidance on how the multiple benefits and values provided by aquatic and riparian systems could be more comprehensively considered in water planning processes. The project developed a Handbook and supporting fact sheets, offering information, case studies and worked water planning examples. Key audiences include water planners, water policy makers, Treasury officials, consultants assisting water planners, and community members providing input to water planning processes. The paper provides a brief background to current issues in Australian water planning, summarises the ecosystem services approach that was developed for the Handbook, and …