Away from conflict — a new paradigm for industry, regional communities, environmental organisations and traditional owners to look after the Great Western Woodlands, Western Australia

Authors: Watson, AWT; Judd, S; Watson, JEM

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DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/908_Watson

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Watson, AWT, Judd, S & Watson, JEM 2009, 'Away from conflict — a new paradigm for industry, regional communities, environmental organisations and traditional owners to look after the Great Western Woodlands, Western Australia', in AB Fourie & M Tibbett (eds), Mine Closure 2009: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 25-31, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/908_Watson

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Abstract:
The Goldfields region of Western Australia is one of the most mineralised areas in the world, being particularly rich in gold, nickel and iron ore. It also contains the largest remaining temperate and semi-arid woodland on earth. In this paper, the authors outline some of the outstanding natural values of the Great Western Woodlands (GWW). The authors then show why contemporary conservation methods, which aim to capture specific target levels of biodiversity in a ‘reserve system’, will not guarantee protection of biodiversity across this landscape. Instead, the continuing evolution of the region’s biodiversity can only be ensured by appropriately managing key ecological processes, e.g. fire, eco-hydrology, gross primary productivity and trophically important species, over the entire landscape. The authors show why this can only be achieved by targeted research, and by working together with major stakeholders including traditional owners, state and federal governments, local communities, and resource-based industry groups which are increasingly utilising the region.

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