Applying landscape-ecological principles to regional conservation: the WildCountry Project in Australia

Introduction One of the great challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century is the conservation and restoration of biodiversity (Convention on Biodiversity 1992). In this chapter we present the landscape-ecological underpinnings of a new nongovernment organization (NGO)-driven conservation initiative in Australia, namely the WildCountry Project. Global and national analyses highlight the extent of environmental degradation and the need for urgent protection and restoration of biodiversity (e.g., SEAC 1996, Environment Australia 2001, World Resources Institute 2001, NLWRA 2002). Such analyses also suggest that existing conservation strategies and plans are insufficient to prevent continuing losses. The primary question, at the most general level, is: how can a conservation system be designed and implemented for Australia that is likely to maintain biodiversity for centuries to millennia? Dedicated protected areas are a core component of a nation's biodiversity conservation system. By our calculations (Fig. 11.1) only about 6 percent of Australia is in a secure protected area. There is no theoretical or empirical basis to the proposition that this level of reservation, while necessary, is sufficient for securing the conservation of Australia's biodiversity. In any case, protected area networks are largely the result of various historical contingencies rather than the principles of modern reserve design (Margules and Pressey 2000). We suggest that the percentage of Australia reserved in protected areas is unlikely to ever exceed 10–15 percent.