Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Participatory approaches to address climate change: perceived issues affecting the ability of South East Queensland graziers to adapt to future climates

  • Published:
Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We used a participatory approach and a rural livelihoods framework to explore the knowledge and capacity of southeast Queensland graziers to adapt to climate change. After being presented with information on climate change projections, participants identified biophysical and socio-economic opportunities and challenges to adaptation. Graziers identified key opportunities as components of resilience (incremental change), and in many cases were options that they had some knowledge of either from their own region or elsewhere in the grazing industry. The major constraint to adaptation was the lack of financial capital: with low profitability of the industry and high land costs restricting their capacity to diversify and exploit economies of scale. These constraints were exacerbated by the pressure many graziers experienced from the demand for land as a result of urban expansion. While the focus of the workshop was on the impact of climate change and capacity to adapt, many of the issues raised by graziers were pressures not solely related to climate change. Adaptation needs to be considered in light of the appropriate level (resilience–transition–transformation) and spatial scale (field to region) required to tackle the issues identified. Policy needs to support good natural resource management, rural amenity, and food and fibre production close to urban population and markets in the face of urban encroachment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. General circulation models (GCMs) represent physical processes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and land surface to simulate the response of the global climate.

  2. Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) are sets of scenarios used by the IPCC to explore future developments in the global environment. See http://www.ipcc.ch/ for more details.

  3. A1B is a specific emissions scenario characterising alternative developments of energy technologies considering a balance across energy sources (described as “business as usual”). See http://www.ipcc.ch/ for more details.

  4. See http://www.csiro.au/ozclim/home.do.

  5. A1FI considers alternative developments of energy technologies considering fossil intensive sources (described as “worst case scenario”), using one of 23 specific models (GFDL-CM2.1 model). See http://www.ipcc.ch/ for more details.

  6. Data were extracted from http://www.apsim.info/VulnerabilityAssessmentAustralia/VA15.htm.

  7. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), an industry research and development corporation which delivers marketing and research and development services for Australia's cattle, sheep and goat producers.

Abbreviations

CBNRM:

Community based natural resource management

CMA:

Catchments management authority

IPCC:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

MLA:

Meat and livestock Australia

SEQ:

South East Queensland

THI:

Thermal heat index

References

  • Abrams, J., and J.C. Bliss. 2013. Amenity landownership, land use change, and the re-creation of “working landscapes”. Society & Natural Resources 26(7): 845–859. doi:10.1080/08941920.2012.719587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W.N., and K. Vincent. 2005. Uncertainty in adaptive capacity. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 337: 399–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger, W.N., S. Dessai, M. Goulden, M. Hulme, I. Lorenzoni, D.R. Nelson, L.O. Naess, J. Wolf, and A. Wreford. 2009. Are there social limits to adaptation to climate change? Climatic Change 93(3–4): 335–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP). 2010. Land use in Australia. Canberra, Australia: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. http://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/aclump/Documents/Land_use_in_Australia_at_a_glance_2006.pdf. Accessed 19 Nov 2010.

  • Berkes, F., and D. Jolly. 2001. Adapting to climate change: social-ecological resilience in a Canadian Western Arctic community. Conservation Ecology 5:18. http://www.consecol.org/vol5/iss2/art18. Accessed 1 June 2014.

  • Brown, P.R., R. Nelson, B. Jacobs, P. Kokic, J. Tracey, M. Ahmed, and P. DeVoil. 2010. Enabling natural resource managers to self-assess their adaptive capacity. Agricultural Systems 103: 562–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, P.R., P. Leith, and B. Jacobs. 2012. Participatory monitoring and evaluation to aid investment in natural resource manager capacity at a range of scales. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 184: 7207–7220. doi:10.1007/s10661-011-2491-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobon, D.H., G.S. Stone, J.O. Carter, J.C. Scanlan, N.R. Tooms, X. Zhang, J. Willcocks, and G.M. McKeon. 2009. The climate change risk management matrix for the grazing industry in northern Australia. The Rangeland Journal 31: 31–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane, T.A., C. Roncoli, and G. Hoogenboom. 2011. Adaptation to climate change and climate variability: The importance of understanding agriculture as performance. NJAS—Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 57(3–4): 179–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crimp, S.J., C.J. Stokes, S.M. Howden, A.D. Moore, B. Jacobs, P.R. Brown, A.J. Ash, P. Kokic, and P. Leith. 2010. Managing Murray-Darling Basin livestock production systems in a variable and changing climate: Challenges and opportunities. The Rangeland Journal 32: 293–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, C.L. 2003. Rising consumption of meat and milk in developing countries has created a new food revolution. The Journal of Nutrition 133: 3907S–3910S.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duru, M., B. Felten, J.P. Theau, and G. Martin. 2012. A modelling and participatory approach for enhancing learning about adaptation of grassland-based livestock systems to climate change. Regional Environmental Change 12: 739–750. doi:10.1007/s10113-012-0288-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterling, W.E., P.K. Aggarwal, P. Batima, K.M. Brander, L. Erda, S.M. Howden, A. Kirilenko et al. 2007. Food, fibre and forest products. In Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report Of The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, ed. M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden, and C.E. Hanson, 273–313. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Ellis, F. 2000. Rural livelihoods and diversity in developing countries. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2006. World agriculture towards 2030–2050. Global Perspective Studies Unit.

  • Groenewald, S.F., and E. Bulte. 2013. Trust and livelihood adaptation: evidence from rural Mexico. Agriculture and Human Values 30: 41–55. doi:10.1007/s10460-012-9383-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennessy, K.J., P.H. Whetton, and B. Preston. 2010. Climate projections. In Adapting agriculture to climate change: Preparing Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the future, ed. C.J. Stokes, and S.M. Howden, 13–20. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochman, Z., P.S. Carberry, M.J. Robertson, D.S. Gaydon, L.W. Bell, and P.C. McIntosh. 2013. Prospects for ecological intensification of Australian agriculture. European Journal of Agronomy 44: 109–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann, V., K. Probst, and A. Christinck. 2007. Farmers and researchers: How can collaborative advantages be created in participatory research and technology development? Agriculture and Human Values 24(3): 355–368. doi:10.1007/s10460-007-9072-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howden, S.M., and C.J. Stokes. 2010. Introduction. In Adapting agriculture to climate change: Preparing Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the future, ed. C.J. Stokes, and S.M. Howden. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howden, S.M., J.F. Soussana, F.N. Tubiello, N. Chhetri, M. Dunlop, and H. Meinke. 2007. Adapting agriculture to climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104(50): 19691–19696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, B.C., and P.R. Brown. 2014. Drivers of change in landholder capacity to manage natural resources. Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 6: 1–26. doi:10.1080/19390459.2013.869032.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keating, B.A., P.S. Carberry, P.S. Bindraban, S. Asseng, H. Meinke, and J. Dixon. 2010. Eco-efficient agriculture: concepts, challenges, and opportunities. Crop Science 50(2): S109–S119. doi:10.2135/cropsci2009.10.0594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keys, N., M. Bussey, D.C. Thomsen, T. Lynam, and T.F. Smith. 2014. Building adaptive capacity in South East Queensland, Australia. Regional Environmental Change 14: 501–512. doi:10.1007/s10113-012-0394-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leith, P., B. Jacobs, P.R. Brown, and R. Nelson. 2012. A participatory assessment of NRM capacity to inform policy and practice. Cross-scale evaluation of enabling and constraining factors. Society and Natural Resources 25: 775–793. doi:10.1080/08941920.2011.637548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Low Choy, D., C. Sutherland, S. Scott, K. Rolley, B. Gleeson, J. Dodson, and N. Sipe. 2007. Change and continuity in peri-urban Australia: Peri-urban case study: South-East Queensland. Urban Research Program, Monograph 3. Brisbane: Griffith University.

  • Marshall, N.A., C.J. Stokes, S.M. Howden, and R.N. Nelson. 2010. Enhancing adaptive capacity. In Adapting agriculture to climate change: Preparing Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the future, ed. C.J. Stokes, and S.M. Howden, 245–256. Collinwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAllister, R.R.J., T.F. Smith, C.E. Lovelock, D. Low Choy, A.J. Ash, and J. McDonald. 2014. Adapting to climate change in South East Queensland, Australia. Regional Environmental Change 14: 429–433. doi:10.1007/s10113-013-0505-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKeon, G.M., G.S. Stone, J.I. Syktus, J.O. Carter, N.R. Flood, D.G. Ahrens, D.N. Bruget, et al. 2009. Climate change impacts on northern Australian rangeland livestock carrying capacity: A review of issues. The Rangeland Journal 31: 1–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meinke, H., and R. Stone. 2005. Seasonal and inter-annual climate forecasting: the new tool for increasing preparedness to climate variability and change in agricultural planning and operations. Climatic Change 70(1): 221–253. doi:10.1007/s10584-005-5948-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendham, E., A. Curtis, and J. Millar. 2012. The natural resource management implications of rural property turnover. Ecology and Society. doi:10.5751/es-05071-170405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakicenovic, N., and R. Swart. 2000. Special report on emission scenarios: A Special Report of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, D.R., W.N. Adger, and K. Brown. 2007. Adaptation to environmental change: Contributions of a resilience framework. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 32: 395–419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, R., P. Kokic, S. Crimp, H. Meinke, and S.M. Howden. 2010a. The vulnerability of Australian rural communities to climate variability and change: Part I-Conceptualising and measuring vulnerability. Environmental Science & Policy 13(1): 8–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, R., P. Kokic, S. Crimp, P. Martin, H. Meinke, S.M. Howden, P. de Voil, and U. Nidumolu. 2010b. The vulnerability of Australian rural communities to climate variability and change: Part II—Integrating impacts with adaptive capacity. Environmental Science & Policy 13(1): 18–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, K.C., R.F. Brummel, N. Jordan, and S. Manson. 2014. Social networks in complex human and natural systems: The case of rotational grazing, weak ties, and eastern US dairy landscapes. Agriculture and Human Values 31: 245–259. doi:10.1007/s10460-013-9462-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, N., and A. Kariko. 1993. East Australian rainfall events: Interannual variations, trends, and relationships with the Southern Oscillation. Journal of Climate 6: 1141–1152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelling, M. 2011. Adaptation to climate change: From resilience to transformation. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queensland Treasury and Trade 2012. Population and Dwelling Profile, Lockyer Valley Regional Council. Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Queensland Treasury and Trade. http://www.oesr.qld.gov.au/products/profiles/pop-housing-profiles-lga/pop-housing-profile-lockyer-valley.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2013.

  • Race, D., G.W. Luck, and R. Black. 2011. Patterns, drivers and implications of demographic change in rural landscape. In Demographic change in Australia’s rural landscapes: Implications for society and the environment, ed. G.W. Luck, D. Race, and R. Black, 1–22. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J., and M. Mangan. 2007. South East Queensland rural economic analysis. Brisbane, Australia: Office of Urban Management.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones, I. 1998. Sustainable rural livelihoods: A framework for analysis. London: Institute of Development Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoones, I. 2009. Livelihood perspectives and rural development. The Journal of Peasant Studies 36: 171–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair, K., A. Curtis, E. Mendham, and M. Mitchell. 2014. Can resilience thinking provide useful insights for those examining efforts to transform contemporary agriculture? Agriculture and Human Values 31: 371–384. doi:10.1007/s10460-014-9488-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steffen, W., J. Sims, J. Walcott, and G. Laughlin. 2011. Australian agriculture: Coping with dangerous climate change. Regional Environmental Change 11: S205–S214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes, C.J., S.J. Crimp, R. Gifford, A.J. Ash, and S.M. Howden. 2010. Broadacre grazing. In Adapting agriculture to climate change: Preparing Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the future, ed. C.J. Stokes, and S.M. Howden, 153–170. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thom, E.C. 1959. The discomfort index. Weatherwise 12: 57–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanclay, F.M., P.B. Leith, and A.J. Fleming. 2009. Understanding farming community concerns about adapting to a changed climate. In Interdisciplinary aspects of climate change, ed. P. Lang, W.L. Filho, and F. Mannke, 229–244. Germany: Frankfurt.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the contribution of SEQ Catchments and AgForce to this study. We particularly thank Bruce Lord, Ross Bigwood, Kit Crowsey, Jean Grey, and Susie Chapman of SEQ Catchments; Graeme Bell of AgForce; and the graziers and community members who participated in the workshop. We also acknowledge the case study farmers who remain anonymous. We obtained approval through the CSIRO Social Science Human Research Ethics Committee Application #: 045/10. This project is part of the South East Queensland Climate Adaptation Research Initiative, a partnership between the Queensland and Australian Governments, the CSIRO Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast and University of Queensland. The Initiative aims to provide scientific knowledge to enable the region to adapt and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Peter R. Brown

  2. CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, Ecosciences Precinct, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    Zvi Hochman

  3. Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, The University of Tasmania, Private Bag 98, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Kerry L. Bridle

  4. CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, 203 Tor Street, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia

    Neil I. Huth

Authors
  1. Peter R. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zvi Hochman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kerry L. Bridle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Neil I. Huth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter R. Brown.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Summary of indicators selected, scores given by participants, importance of indicators and justification of the scores
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Brown, P.R., Hochman, Z., Bridle, K.L. et al. Participatory approaches to address climate change: perceived issues affecting the ability of South East Queensland graziers to adapt to future climates. Agric Hum Values 32, 689–703 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-015-9584-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-015-9584-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation