Changing values, goals, needs and expectations of rangeland users

Holmes, J.H. . Dept. of Geographical Sciences and Planning

Changing values, goals, needs and expectations of rangeland users

1994

Holmes, J.H. (Queensland Univ., Brisbane (Australia). Dept. of Geographical Sciences and Planning)

Rangelands were once simply defined as semi-natural ecosystems in which productive output is sought by simply adding domestic stock to a natural landscape. More recent definitions are less focussed on the pastoral issue, tending to be holistic, multiple-use, and multiple-value; indeed, are trending towards including all those lands (four-fifths of Australia) that for reasons of climate or terrain, cannot support sustainable crop or timber production. This decline in emphasis on single-issue commodity production allows for a more socio-economic approach to rangelands management and research, including considerations of land rights, protection of biodiversity and landscapes, sustainable management, tourism and recreation. Most of these new resource values are either not market-based, or at any rate only loosely attachable to broad-acre private landholdings. This special issue of the Journal sets out to explore these themes from a number of divergent points of view.

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