Environment Information for
Improved Natural Resource
Management
NatStats08
Malcolm Thompson
First Assistant Secretary
Policy Coordination Division
Key questions
• What is the current situation & what is the
history?
• What might the future look like?
• How effective have we been in the past?
All this informs how we can best secure a
desirable future
Australia – some facts
Australia
• 7.5 million square km
• 60,000 km coast
• Driest inhabited
continent
• Variable climate
• 1 million species
• 20 million people
Data availability for Australian State of the Environment Report 2006
Full data
No data
Partial data
100
Percentage of indicators
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Atmosphere
Antarctica
Biodiversity
Coasts
& Oceans
Human
Settlements
Inland
Waters
Themes for indicators
Land
Natural &
Cultural
Heritage
All 296
indicators
Elements of a sound
information base
Policy authority
Investment
Institutional responsibility
Shared understanding of what is needed – and
why
National Environmental
Information System
• What is the current situation & what is the history?
Environmental accounts
• What might the future look like? Outlook products
• How effective have we been in the past? Evaluation
products
Environment information for improved natural
resource management