Introduction
Nature and South Australians in the 21st century
South Australians value nature in their lives for its inherent beauty and inspiration, the opportunities it offers for fun, wonder and relaxation, and the livelihoods it supports. Collectively, we value nature in its many forms—as part of our heritage, as part of our culture, as part of us.
Ensuring the nature we all value persists is an increasing challenge. Not only does our modern way of life mean we have become more isolated from nature and its benefits, but the legacies of European colonisation such as vegetation clearance and species introductions, the growth and globalisation of the economy, and the impacts of climate change, mean our natural world is also changing rapidly.
It is important we recognise that some of these changes are largely unstoppable. This means in South Australia we can’t solely rely on a purely historical approach to restoration to sustain nature. We need to be more open to exploring new methods that will sustain nature into the future.
Building on
Deep foundations
We recognise that the work we do in the future builds on the legacy of those who have come before us. Aboriginal people have played a fundamental role in shaping and managing nature for millennia (see Shift #1). Their worldview and connection to country ensured that nature was not over exploited.
In recent times conservationists and land managers have worked tirelessly to conserve, manage and honour South Australia’s natural heritage within the western paradigm of nature conservation. In particular the protection of many areas within the National Parks and reserves system resulted from their tireless efforts. We are standing on the shoulders of these people, past and present, and South Australians are in their debt for the wealth of nature we enjoy today.
It is also critical to acknowledge that protecting and sustainably managing nature through traditional conservation practices such as native vegetation protection, revegetation, protected area management and landscape connectivity will be as crucial in the future as they ever have been.
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Our context
Case for change
Over the past 50 years we have experienced unprecedented changes in global environmental, social and economic systems such that the period has been referred to as ‘The Great Acceleration’. Many scientists and commentators believe we have entered a new geological era – termed the Anthropocene – in which human activity has become the dominant influence on the earth’s environment and systems such as climate.
Recent evidence strongly supports local, national and global climate projections that the planet is warming at an unprecedented rate as a result of human activity. The past three years have been three of the four warmest years on record, 2016 was the warmest year on record, and more than 260 heat and low rainfall records were broken in winter (2017), with average maximum temperatures reaching 1.9C above average. Changes to weather, storm and fire patterns are evident, locally and globally.
These changes will have uncertain but likely detrimental consequences for South Australia’s natural environment. While most of us have limited control over the global systems driving this change, we do have a choice about how we respond locally.
This scenario is both confronting and deeply distressing for many of us who recognise the intrinsic value of nature and the role it plays to sustain our lives as South Australians. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenges ahead and the loss we have already experienced.
Recognising some of the irreversible shifts, however, fosters potential to rethink nature, for example: how we view it, what we manage for, and how we can work differently with others to secure nature into the future. Concepts that seek to place nature at arms length from humans may need reshaping in a world where humans have become the dominant force.
It also prompts a recast of the role of First Nations perspectives of nature from template to guide, providing a historical context for future decision-making rather than a script.
While these concepts are challenging for many of us they also create new opportunities to respond and realise gains for nature conservation in a rapidly changing and uncertain context where perhaps the greatest risk of all is to bury one’s head in the sand.
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