6.3 Estimated costs of management practices
As described by Star et al . ( 2015 ), sediment and nutrient run-off that result from poor land management practices create a negative externality for the GBR ( off-site costs ) over time . In the case of grazing management , sediment run-off is produced by management practices on public land leased to landholders , which has a negative impact on the health of the GBR and thus can produce a significant social cost . Private landholders do not bear the costs of their land management practices on ecosystems and in some cases there are minimal private benefits ; however , run-off impacts on the health of the receiving environments , and market mechanisms that may provide an incentive for reduction in sediment and nutrient rich run-off do not exist . Therefore , there is a role for the government to intervene where there are no private benefits ? in land management practices in the GBR catchments and encourage a change in the private land management practices of graziers .
There are three cost aspects to consider : the initial capital cost of implementing change ( e . g . fencing and earthworks ), the opportunity cost for the landholder to not graze or allow stock access to particular areas , and the cost to maintain the infrastructure and ensure that over time an outcome is achieved . Previous work in land regeneration under the Paddock to Reef and Reef Rescue programs ( e . g . Star et al . 2013 ; Hall et al . 2014 ;) highlighted that the costs associated with grazing land management are highly variable depending on landscape characteristics , particularly land type and its productivity . A critical conclusion on cost considerations from this previous work is that opportunity costs are cheaper than infrastructure costs depending on the land type ( Star et al . 2015 ).
The costs of soil management can be high , and given the limited private benefits ( McCosker 2009 ) and current constraints to government funding , the most cost effective actions should be promoted . In addition , longer time frames may be required before graziers begin to realise economic returns from improved management such as lower stocking rates or stock exclusion on areas vulnerable to soil erosion . Despite this , economic analysis of grazing operations has shown that there are private benefits generated from shifting to B level management practices ( Ash et al ., 1995 ; McIvor and Monypenny 1995 ; O ’ Reagain et al . 2011 ; Star et al . 2013 ) particularly in the long-term , as major land degradation events tend to occur during drought periods and there are economic benefits of maintaining lower stocking rates or reductions in utilisation rates ( Landsberg et al . 1998 ; O ’ Reagain et al . 2011 ). Clearly social factors then come into play that will influence the most effective policy to achieve sustainable grazing systems .
Pannell et al . ( 2006 ) provides a list of factors that affect the adoption of conservation practices by landholders , which include , for example , awareness of the problem , perception of risk , demographics , costs and impacts of profits and links between landholders . This highlights that policies to improve soil management have social components that need to be dealt with appropriately and cost effectively . Therefore , a range of delivery mechanisms is required for improving soil management including financial incentives , extension and in some cases , regulatory options . However , predicting the consequences of management changes at the enterprise level is difficult , and typically requires detailed knowledge of both enterprise social and biophysical characteristics ( Pannell and Roberts , 2010 ).
Hillslope erosion management Several studies are directly relevant to estimating the costs and benefits of management of hillslope erosion in grazing lands in the Burdekin region . Star et al . ( 2013b ) established a bioeconomic model methodology to understand the biophysical and economic trade-offs for twelve land types in the GBR catchments including the Burdekin Basin . Bioeconomic modelling takes into account biophysical aspects of grazing production systems such as pasture growth , pasture species composition , sediment exported , and subsequent animal growth and combines these variables with economic framework which allows enterprise , sales , variable costs and subsequent profit to be estimated . The model allows for climate variability by including 20 random start years followed by 20 consecutive years , capturing the profits and resulting sediment losses .
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