Strengths
� Reward those at the top end as a form of social recognition
� Could engage landholders who have been difficult to engage with before
� Can use the grazing BMPs as a stepping off point
Challenges
� Requires third party verification to hold any weight. This is likely to be complicated and costly
C. 2
C. 2.1
Financial
Grants and subsidies
Grants and subsidies provide a sum of money given to contribute to the financial cost of conducting on-ground work. A grant is a direct and one-off financial payment whilst a subsidy is an indirect payment on an input to production( diesel subsidy, fencing subsidy and discounted training fee). The benefits of subsidies and grants are that they are popular and well understood. They may be flexible and can be used by large or small groups addressing problems at a variety of scales. Grants and subsidies are usually given on the understanding that the recipient contributes resources and / or time in-kind to the project. It is thought that they should be aimed at:
1) Projects that would not otherwise be undertaken due to a lack of resources; 2) To projects that will have clear anticipated outcomes; and
3) To projects that offer clear and positive public benefits( Comerford & Binney, 2004; Pannell, 2008).
It should be possible to estimate the private-public benefit split and provide guidance on the input required from the landholder. Grants and subsidies may be particularly useful in situations where a“ trigger” is needed to help landholders overcome initial barriers to change, such as a new type of equipment or infrastructure( Comerford & Binney, 2004; Pannell, 2008). Grants and subsidies are usually one-off payments and as such may not be suitable for encouraging ongoing land management change. This is seen as a challenge for this approach, but this could be overcome by withholding a portion of the money to be used as maintenance payments for ongoing compliance( such as the maintenance of fences). Another limitation is that grants and subsidies often address only one action rather than the many changes that might be needed on a property.
Grants and subsidies are not without their criticisms. The main disadvantage of this approach is that due to asymmetric information it may be difficult for regional NRM bodies to choose the projects that will generate the greatest environmental outcomes for the investment( bang for buck). This might be seen as an inefficient use of public funds. Grants and subsidies can also be administratively complex for applicants, contributing to high administration costs and low take-up of the incentive.
82 | Landholders driving change: Exploring new incentives