Mission

To enhance the adaptive capacity of Australia’s marine biodiversity and resources to climate change risks through the effective integration of our knowledge of conditions, responses and interactions involving marine biodiversity, living marine resources, socioeconomic issues, policy, management and governance.

The degree of adaptive capacity present in social or ecological systems is central to their resilience. Resilience means having the ability to bounce back from disturbance, to reorganize and regenerate systems and structures in order to adapt to new situations, and the capacity to transform them if necessary. A central concern for resilient systems is the quality of the connections and the information flowing between different components and subsystems. Many environmental and resource management issues arise from various failures of connection, coordination and communication, whether between levels of government or among individual agencies, at the science/policy interface, or between the physical and social sciences. Good environmental governance, policy and management results from inclusion of all relevant stakeholders’ contributions, combining knowledge from different sources, and when feedback signals are routinely incorporated into planning and action. 

The role of the Integration theme is to facilitate communication, collaboration and cooperation among the Network’s diverse paradigms of biophysical, social, economic, and policy knowledge and practice; to facilitate stakeholder input into adaptation strategy development for the marine system through national workshops; and to facilitate the communication of learnings to the policy sphere and their incorporation into adaptation policy and planning. 

In the first of three phases of activity, the Integration group will lead an initiative to determine the current resilience status of the marine social-ecological system. In the second activity phase, the Integration theme will be concerned to chart the potential for abrupt change in the marine social-ecological system and particularly identifying the conditions under which resilience may be lost. In the third phase, the focus is on enhancing the resilience of the marine system through building adaptive capacity and identifying pathways to adaptation implementation.

Meet the Integration Team

Mission

The overarching aim of the Biodiversity and Resources theme within the broader network is to better understand the adaptive capacity of marine biodiversity at genetic, species and ecosystem levels in the overall context of vulnerability to climate change risks. This information is vital to enable us to usefully inform policy and management decision-making for the long-term conservation of Australia’s marine assets and to enhance the adaptive capacity of Australia’s marine based industries. There is also a clear need to develop adaptation strategies for industry stakeholders that optimise the socio-economic goods and services provided by Australia’s marine resources.

Australia’s ocean territory covers 14.7 million square kilometres and includes some 36,000 kilometres of coastline extending from the tropical north to the cool temperate south. Australia’s isolation as an island nation has resulted in a diverse and highly endemic marine fauna and flora and the biodiversity of Australia’s vast marine jurisdiction has been recognised as being globally significant. The total annual value of the goods and services of Australia’s marine areas has been estimated at $1,359.3 billion, with around two-thirds of this derived from our diverse coastal (mangroves, coral reefs, estuaries, seagrass beds and beaches) and shelf areas. Our marine fisheries and aquaculture industries are worth around $2.18 billion annually (ABARE 2008). Australia has developed as a coastal population which has resulted in a large affinity with our coastal assets. We have a very high participation in recreational fishing and our iconic marine areas support extensive tourism and other recreational activities. Australians are increasingly valuing the environmental, economic and social benefits of marine biodiversity and the ecosystem services that a healthy marine environment provides.

There is growing awareness of climate change, and Government at all levels now has a strong focus on adaptation. However, our understanding of the current and potential impacts of climate change, particularly in the marine context, has not moved at the same rapid pace as increasing public awareness and acceptance of climate change as a major issue. With this in mind there will be an ongoing need to establish clear baselines, and to improve our understanding of impacts in our marine systems. This must be tackled with a view to developing the necessary understanding on which to base adaptation strategies and management plans, and on assessing the success of implemented management strategies. Investigating the causes for species or ecosystem shifts away from baselines will be important for improving the understanding needed to underpin adaptation strategies, and in turn evaluate the effectiveness of those strategies. For many of us this requires a shift in the perspective from which we conduct our research (see Figure 1); one of the goals of the Biodiversity and Resources theme of the marine adaptation network is to support this transition. 

The potential climate change impacts, degree of resilience and adaptive capacity of the vast majority of our marine species and ecosystems are still largely unknown. The Biodiversity and Resources theme aims to provide a central national location whereby researchers, governments and industry can enhance their knowledge of the latest scientific information that can inform adaptation options. To engage with the Biodiversity and Resources theme, please forward your contact details to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Meet the Biodiversity & Resources Team

Mission
To better understand and address the barriers and opportunities to adapting to climate change among marine conservationists, resource users and industries.

Adaptation of marine-dependent industries and communities to climate change occurs through social processes (e.g. the most efficient adaptation strategy may be ineffective if there are counter values and cultural norms that preclude its implementation). Similarly, assessing the vulnerability of marine-dependent industries and communities to climate change requires understanding of both the sensitivity of those industries and communities to climatic changes, as well as their capacity to respond to those changes (adaptive capacity). Thus, the aim of the Communities Theme is to better understand and address the barriers and opportunities to adapting to climate change among conservationists, marine resource users and the industries which depend on them.

Apart from dissemination of information, the Communities Theme is actively working on several major initiatives to help build the capacity of marine researchers, communities, decision makers, and industries to respond to climate change. Some of these initiatives include:
• Development of an on-line social and cultural meta-database of relevant climate change adaptation research nationally and internationally;
• A toolkit for participatory marine research projects – including protocols for participatory research; case studies; and other examples of “how to” undertake participatory research with marine resource users; and
• A searchable calendar of events (e.g., workshops, conferences, and forums) relevant to Network stakeholders.

While many studies have focused on the adoption of new technologies and practices of marine industries, few studies have focused on the ability of marine-dependent industries and communities to adapt to climate change.

The Communities Theme provides a mechanism for marine researchers, communities, decision makers, and industries to access the tools and information needed to better respond to climate change.

To engage with the Communities theme, please forward your contact details to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Meet the Communities Team

Mission

To enhance the adaptive capacity of Australia’s marine biodiversity and resources to climate change risks through the development of flexible climate change adaptation policy, management and governance strategies.Adaptation to projected and unexpected changes in marine systems requires science, policy and practice to be well understood and connected.  Connecting these domains means much more than ensuring policy-makers and practitioners have access to scientific information about potential direct and indirect impacts of climate change. It implies that the lines of communication between policy, practice and science are open, respectful and inclusive.  These qualities form the foundations of the methodology currently being developed within the Policy Theme, to contribute to adaptation.

As with other themes of the Adaptation Network for Marine Biodiversity and Resources, the Policy Theme is oriented to outcomes and action. We are undertaking sectoral case studies in collaboration with industry members, policy analysts, biophysical and social scientists. The first stage of this process involves ‘mapping’ the contemporary science-policy environment of a particular case study sector across relevant jurisdictions. This policy analysis will allow us to engage with the industry about the state of play for a case study sector with respect to, for instance, how the regulatory and management environment constrains and/or enables adaptation among industry and policy practitioners. The second stage of the process will involve stakeholder surveys in parallel with workshops. These processes are targeted towards developing a better understanding of critical knowledge and policy gaps and opportunities, as well as vulnerabilities, sources of resilience and adaptive capacity within the sector at different geographical locations and scales. Finally, drawing the earlier strands together, the Policy Theme will be able to furnish our collaborators—policy-makers and practitioners, scientists and industry members – with workable approaches to adaptation, relevant research questions and potentially useful information to feed into the policy process at different jurisdictional scales. 

The planned case studies are as follows:
• The edible oyster industry (pilot study: 2009-2011)
• Regional Marine Protected Areas (2010-2012)
• The Commonwealth Trawl Fishery (2011-2012)

The pilot research with the oyster industry will allow our team to hone this novel collaborative methodology to ensure it is efficient, rigorous and appropriately inclusive. This case is now developing rapidly. Watch this space for more information.

To get involved, please forward your contact details to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) marked “Attention Policy Theme”

Meet the Policy Team

Mission

To develop economic tools to assess the adaptive capacity and potential impacts of climate change risks and their roles in the overall vulnerability of marine resource harvesting so that appropriate management strategies can be developed to ensure economically resilient and sustainable fishing practices.

The Markets Theme role within the ARN-MBR (Marine Adaptation Network) is twofold:

1)  To facilitate the development of economic tools and methods to (i) predict and estimate the likelihood and effect of adaptation as part of climate change impact assessment, and (ii) to evaluate planned adaptation options as part of the policy development process in the marine sector so that appropriate management strategies can be developed to ensure economically resilient and sustainable fishing practices for traditional, commercial and recreational sectors.

2)  To facilitate development of market-based instruments that can be used to address climate-induced conservation and resources impacts as part of planned strategies in the marine sector.

Members of the Market Theme will work closely with other themes within the ARN-MBR and with other Networks in order to facilitate the development of integrated, interdisciplinary economic assessment tools and cost-effective market-based adaptation options for the marine sector.

Meet the Markets Team

Markets Toolkit

Markets Toolkit Information Sheet