Project Description

Innovation in Conservation Symposium – May 10, 2024 – Ryde TAFE

Regen2.0 – the future of bush regeneration to give a future to the Bush AABR Keynote
-Peter Dixon-

Symposium Theme: Innovation in Restoration

The Symposium title about Innovation in Restoration is apt because we have to constantly improve our impact and effectiveness and efficiency in restoring ecosystems.

Peter’s Perspective: Innovation in Governance

Peter’s talk covers the innovation that we need which is around the governance of our ecosystems rather than the practical application. Describing his career starting as a bush regenerator and moving into a range of other jobs within government, and always considered himself a bush regenerator. This helped influenced decision-making and his philosophy of work. Work plus activism provided lived experience to understand that it is possible to actually restore urban ecosystems.

Current Challenges in Environmental Management

Negative things occurring in environmental management, (described more fully in the video):

  • The need for best practice, environmental management and restoration is greater now than it’s ever been.
  • The State of Environment Report 2021 for Australia has shown that we are in the midst of an accelerating biodiversity crisis.
  • The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report describes environmental degradation as an existential threat to humanity.
  • Many trends we see in Australia for biodiversity are consistent with those highlighted globally. Australia continues to have one of the highest rates of species decline amongst countries in the OECD.
  • The NSW Biodiversity Outlook Report 2024 showed there are some positives happening but still overwhelmingly every indicator is going in the wrong direction.

Urban Pressures on Biodiversity

In Sydney, there is continued habitat loss with development and the increasing population plus degradation due to population activities. We have a situation where many of the positive policies, programs and projects around maintaining and restoring habitat values have been dropped or are being ignored. Sadly, many of our volunteer bush regeneration programs have been dumbed down to some extent.

There is a number of people who are responsible for bushland management who don’t understand restoration. They might be good ecologists, but good ecologists don’t necessarily make good restoration ecologists.

Systemic Limitations: Funding and Strategy

As always, there is never enough money, never enough resources, and never enough attention to a strategic approach. Too often ecological values are compromised for recreation and human access—conflict between people needing to be in nature, and nature needing nature.

Key Issues for the Future of Bush Regeneration

Peter raises three interrelated issues:
• What is a bush regenerator, and what do they do?
• What should career mobility look like?
• How do we reach a point where the value of our urban ecosystems is accepted enough to be resourced adequately and accordingly?

Expanding the Definition of “Bush Regenerator”

What does it mean to be a bush regenerator?
To succeed in maintaining our ecosystems, who should we consider to be a bush regenerator? Bush regenerators and bush regeneration practitioners are usually called on when the bushland is in such a parlous state it needs rescuing—after the problem and disaster has occurred.

Expenditure happens after the disaster, rather than preventing the disasters in the first place. We don’t put enough effort into preventing bushland from degrading. Disaster management recognises that it is better to invest in preventing the disasters rather than picking up the pieces afterwards.

This recognition is needed for bushland management by the decision makers, ensuring they have an understanding that all bush regenerators have, so that they can make decisions accordingly.

We need to increase the range of those who consider themselves bush regenerators—not just the practitioners.

We accept the people who practice assisted natural regeneration and facilitated natural generation are regenerators. Other students would benefit greatly from having bush regeneration knowledge in their work.

What about non-practitioners?
People who aren’t necessarily out in the field—decision makers, influencers, owners, funders, and advocates—could be brought into the fold of being a bush regenerator.

Including people who plan which land to buy for conservation purposes would really alter the decisions that are made.

Strategic Improvements Across the Sector

  • Many bush regeneration contractors are frustrated by the quality of contracts they are given, and the fact that there are better things they could be doing in those bushland reserves.
  • Landscape architects and horticulturalists could stop weeds from being planted.
  • Coordinators of volunteer programs could identify the many examples of sophisticated bush care groups where volunteers are doing work that is second to none and are supported by councils. That should be the benchmark.
  • We need grant makers to understand resilience and that it takes time to actually regenerate the bush.

Career Pathways and Education Reform

To achieve this, we need career paths in environmental and bushland management.

Career mobility in environmental and bushland management for bush regenerators is only possible for those with both bush regeneration and tertiary qualifications.

Perhaps we need to have a more meaningful and flexible training and education system so that people can move from practitioner to bushland manager, to decision maker, and back to the field.

Valuing Ecosystems and Funding Regeneration

The last issue that I want to raise specifically is the need for recognition of the worth of our ecosystems, and the real cost of maintaining and restoring them and funding accordingly.

Bush regeneration that does not work creates a risk for bush regeneration because decision makers might think it doesn’t work. We need the successes!

The main issue affecting the success of regeneration comes down to funding.

Areas of bushland at any scale and trajectory of recovery mean that the interventions year by year have to show a trend of recovery. If you are not seeing that, we are not investing enough. This might result in degradation of that bushland.

It’s a false economy to start regenerating a site when insufficient resources can be applied. We need to be more strategic in how we do regeneration and apply funds so we have the successes—one by one.

Governments can find money for priorities and emergencies. Money is there. It’s just that bushland is undervalued.

Closing Vision: Clawing Back the Bush

I believe that if we get these things right, we can reverse the indicators.
We can actually claw back the bush.
We can maintain and improve ecosystems in urban areas.

Biography

Peter is the President of AABR  and has 35 year’s experience in urban ecological management, bush regeneration, community engagement, education and training, catchment management, program design and grant program management.

Peter is a man on a mission and an inspirational speaker with professional expertise ranging from facilitating the Mighty Duck River Restoration Collective since 1997, and setting up the Wootton Food Swap to the being the Director, Grants for the Environmental Trust, Deputy General Manager for the Sydney Catchment CMA, all founded on a dedicated practice of assisted natural regeneration as a practicing bush regenerator.

Peter’s experiences in delivering environmental restoration programs at all levels provides unique insights into the multitude of professional pathways that a thorough understanding of on-ground restoration practices can provide. He’s always enlightening, challenging and thought provoking, often entertaining and he plays the ukulele.