Hobart

Seminar abstract

Wednesday 19 September 2007, 11.30 am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Alan Andersen
Chief Research Scientist
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Darwin

Sustainable ecosystems in Australia’s tropical savannas

The Federal Government’s taskforce on northern development and its intervention in Aboriginal affairs in the NT have put northern Australia in the national spotlight. This presentation provides an overview of how CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems in Darwin is meeting the challenges of northern development, with an emphasis on our work with Aboriginal communities. It focuses on fire, which is a dominant land management issue across the north and is an integral part of traditional Aboriginal society. We recently completed one of the world’s largest replicated fire experiments, at Kapalga in Kakadu National Park, and are currently leading the Bushfire CRC’s prescribed burning research in northern Australia. Our work on fire and vegetation dynamics is underpinning an emerging greenhouse abatement economy that is potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year, providing welcome economic opportunities for remote Aboriginal communities. We are also working with a family of Aboriginal traditional owners to use fire to manage the iconic wetlands of Kakadu National Park. Fire dramatically enhances wetland biodiversity, as well as the cultural values of these wetlands for local Aboriginal people. These two case studies illustrate emerging Indigenous livelihood opportunities based on payment for ecosystem services.

Biography
Alan leads CSE’s Tropical Savannas Group in Darwin, a team of 30 ecologists, social scientists and support staff researching sustainable land management and regional development in northern Australia. He has been with CSIRO in Darwin for 21 years. His particular research interests are ant biogeography and ecology, and fire ecology and management.

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Karen Wild-Allen, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5010
Thomas Kunz, (Biological seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
(03) 6232 5076
Jillian Enraght-Moony (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5456
Sandra Zicus, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 7888
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 21/12/07