Commentary: on the under-valuing of Australia’s expertise in drylands research and practice globally

Global drylands are a significant driver of earth system processes that affect the world’s common resources such as the climate. Their peoples are also among the first to be widely affected by global changes such as land degradation and climate change. Yet drylands are a source of many social and technical innovations, globally, as well as in Australia. As a major developed dryland nation, Australia has previously played a major role in extending these innovations to the rest of the world. The nation has reaped reputational and commercial benefits through major research and practice contributions to dryland agriculture, water management and governance, remote area services, indigenous partnerships, dryland monitoring systems, and ‘desert knowledge’ innovation. Australian researchers continue to contribute to various relevant international processes, yet recognition and support for this within Australia has dropped off markedly in recent years. We analyse the Australian government’s investment in research and in overseas aid for drylands over the last two decades, and explore trends in government’s active involvement in major international processes related to land. These trends are short-sighted, overlooking potential economic benefits for Australian enterprises, and undermining Australia’s stance and scientific leadership in dryland systems globally. In this commentary, we argue that it is time for the trends to be reversed, as this is an area of comparative advantage for Australian diplomacy with significant returns on investment for Australia, both direct and indirect, especially when most emerging economies contain substantial drylands. We identify four major pathways to obtaining benefits from science diplomacy, and four interrelated actions within Australia to enable these – to place a higher emphasis on science diplomacy, to re-forge a bipartisan recognition of Australian drylands expertise, to establish a dedicated Dryland Information Hub, and to create a network of relevant science and technology advisors.