Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
Final Report for CERF Significant Project
Organisation
The University of Western Australia
The full Activity title
INFFER: Investment Framework for Environmental Resources
The amount of Funds and the total cost/value of the Activity
$1,430,928
Start and finish date for the project
3 December 2007 to 31 January 2011
Final Report
Achievements in relation to objectives
1. To develop and integrate an investment framework for water quality, biodiversity,
and pest plants and animals
The project has developed an innovative new investment framework for environmental
decision making. INFFER has a joint emphasis on rigorous analysis and practical usability. It
is designed to be flexible in its application, being applicable to assessment of various
different types of environmental assets (e.g. wetlands, rivers, native vegetation, threatened
species, etc.), to large or small projects, and to short-term or long-term projects.
The framework that the team developed is a seven-step process beginning with the
identification of assets, then working through project filtering, individual project
development, project assessment and selection and finally monitoring, evaluation and
adaptive management of implemented projects.
Key phases of the project were as follows. In 2008 the initial versions of the INFFER system
were developed and tested with a variety of users, mainly regional natural resource
management bodies. In 2009 a major upgrade of INFFER was completed incorporating many
improvements based on feedback from the initial users. This update was completed in July
2009 and published on the project web site, www.inffer.org. The INFFER Project
Assessment Form (the PAF), a web-based interface, was completed in 2010. This important
new feature of the process enables users to capture information about the asset, the threats it
faces, the goals that the project will achieve and the actions needed to achieve these goals. In
2010 a nationally accredited training system for users of INFFER was also finalised.
INFFER has been developed in close collaboration with users, and in fact was initiated in
response to demand from users. As a result, it is a highly user-friendly and highly relevant
framework. It has a strong emphasis on training and support. The philosophy behind INFFER
training and support is to empower users to complete INFFER analyses themselves. To this
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end the project team includes 1.4 full time equivalent staff responsible for training and
supporting users of INFFER (with additional input from the project leaders). Their activities
include running training workshops with potential users, existing users and decision makers
within their organizations, providing feedback on draft Project Assessment Forms and
providing a telephone help-desk service to users.
In order to guide investments being assessed by INFFER, bio-economic modelling work has
been undertaken in parallel to the design and integration of the framework. Key management
insights have been gained in the areas of invasive pests, management of water quality and
spatial prioritisation of land use to maximise the benefits for biodiversity.
The project team comprised members from differing disciplines, organisations and sectors,
funded from a range of sources:
Winthrop Professor David Pannell - Centre Director, UWA
Dr Anna Roberts, (formerly Ridley) - Co-researcher, Department of Primary Industries,
Victoria
Jennifer Alexander - Co-researcher and trainer, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
April Curatolo - Co-researcher and trainer, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
Geoff Park - Co-researcher and trainer, North Central CMA
Assistant Professor Sally Marsh - Research/Assistant Professor
Associate Professor Graeme Doole – Research Fellow, UWA
Assistant Professor Morteza Chalak - Research Fellow, UWA
Assistant Professor Maksym Polyakov - Research Fellow, UWA
Caroline Mitchell - Research Officer, UWA
Alexei Rowles - Researcher, Biodiversity, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
Olga Vigiak - Researcher, Water quality, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
Bronwyn Crowe - PhD student, UWA
Eloise Seymour – PhD student, Charles Sturt University
Jan Taylor - Financial management and administration, UWA
2. To accelerate the uptake of more sophisticated approaches to regional
environmental planning by regional NRM bodies
The INFFER team has worked towards having INFFER adopted as the standard tool for use
by regional environmental management bodies. The rate of adoption achieved by the project
has been exceptionally fast, and has involved a remarkably high number of users given that
we started from scratch at the start of this three-year project. From 2008 to 2010 INFFER has
been trialled with Catchment Management Organisations (CMOs) throughout Australia. By
the end of 2010, 20 of Australia’s 56 regional CMOs (including six in Victoria, six in
Western Australia, six in New South Wales, and one each in Queensland and the Australian
Capital Territory) had used or trialled the use of INFFER. As at September 2010, eight
Australian CMOs (three in Victoria, one in WA, two in NSW, one each in Queensland and
the ACT) continue to use INFFER for environmental asset identification and prioritisation,
project development and/or development of regional catchment strategies. Other CMOs that
have trialled INFFER have elected not to continue to use it for various reasons, mainly
because it is not an imperative for them to use it, since use of rigorous tools is not required of
them by either Federal or State governments. Nevertheless, most bodies that have trialled
INFFER speak positively about their experience.
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Users’ experiences with INFFER have been monitored closely. Three main methods have
been used to obtain feedback from organisations implementing INFFER: a formal
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) strategy; benchmark and evaluation questions at 2-day
training sessions, and an on-line survey. The purpose in obtaining this information is to gain
insights on issues associated with implementation, and to further develop the Framework in
the light of user comments and experiences.
The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) data from tracking the use of and support for INFFER
by regional organisations and state/federal agencies over time is kept in Microsoft Access.
Some assessment data (e.g. levels of organisational support and understanding of INFFER)
are entered by members of the INFFER team in the database for each six month period. The
M&E strategy also collates informal feedback (e.g. correspondence and discussions at
workshops, briefings and training sessions) from both the INFFER team and staff of regional
and state/federal organisations. These data are entered on a continual basis. Informal
feedback about issues and problems with implementation has been important in contributing
to the development of the support that is now available on the INFFER website such as
Frequently Asked Questions, Instruction Manuals, project documents, etc. (see
www.inffer.org). Additionally, the team has often responded to issues immediately after
engagement with organisations in a pro-active way.
Before commencing to use INFFER, CMO staff are generally quite confident about the
current decision-making processes for environmental investment already used within their
organisation. In some cases, this initial perception means that they do not see a need for
INFFER. After using INFFER, a common experience of users is to realise that their previous
processes were actually rather weak. The CEO of one Victorian CMA commented that using
INFFER was “like switching the lights on”.
Because it is rather different to current, relatively simple, decision processes, a number of
challenges arise in user acceptance of INFFER. Key issues that arise include concerns about
changing the direction of CMO investment, concerns about compatibility with funder
requirements, and various issues associated with specific aspects of the Framework. Existing
institutional arrangements and the legacy of past institutional arrangements remain serious
barriers to the adoption of methods to improve environmental outcomes from NRM
investment. Despite these difficulties INFFER is being enthusiastically used by a number of
CMOs. However, it is likely that widespread adoption of INFFER, or indeed any other
transparent and robust process, will only occur with greater requirement from government
for better environmental outcomes from investment by regional NRM bodies.
An example in Victoria of where the INFFER framework has been successfully applied is in
its utilisation by the Gippsland Lakes Taskforce. The Gippsland Lakes were identified in the
“Caring for our Country” business plan as a key target for investment. The Taskforce and
their stakeholders used INFFER to look at a range of possible targets for the Lakes, identify
the most cost-effective actions and works to achieve those targets and to calculate the total
cost of achieving targets.
A further example in Victoria of the success of INFFER is its use by North Central CMA to
assess pest management issues in relation to the Kerang Ramsar Wetlands site and the
Gunbower Forest Ramsar site. Both of these sites are endangered by a multitude of complex
environmental threats. The application of the INFFER process and resulting assessments
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have been fed into the development of a new Regional Pest Plan that is currently being
developed by the CMA.
3. To inform governments about approaches to policy design and implementation that
are consistent with current research knowledge, both bio-physical and socioeconomic.
The Team has had extensive and constructive engagement with various government agencies,
including the NRM Joint Team responsible for Caring for our Country, and state government
agencies in WA, Victoria, NSW and SA. In addition, the Team has interacted with NRM
professionals and government officers from many other organisations, including private
consultants, media, agricultural input suppliers, universities and CSIRO.
Professor David Pannell was a member of the 2009 Scientific Advisory Panel for Caring for
our Country, and he has maintained contact with members of the Joint Team delivering the
program since then. He was been asked to provide advice about aspects of the project
assessment process used by the program.
In 2009, the Department of Sustainability and Environment made a decision to require all
Victorian CMAs to use INFFER. The following are quotes from the State’s White Paper on
biodiversity, published in December 2009 “INFFER will be utilised for the next five years or
until an alternative is developed”, “Utilise INFFER and further develop other decision
support tools for applying asset-based approaches to planning and investment”, “Provide
training and support in the application of INFFER and other decision support tools by 2011”.
The INFFER team has been working closely with DSE since then to assist them with the
implementation of these policies.
Interest in INFFER by the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water has
continued to increase. The Department of Industry and Investment in NSW is conducting its
own independent study of INFFER’s use by Central West Catchment Management Authority
as part of the process of testing INFFER’s potential role in updating regional plans across the
whole of New South Wales.
There has been considerable interest internationally in the use of INFFER. It has been used
by an Italian university to evaluate two environmental projects in Italy. The Public: Private
Benefits Framework (a core component of INFFER) has been applied in the Netherlands to
evaluate projects to reduce environmental problems related to dairy farming. In Canada,
three provincial governments and the federal government has decided to undergo the
INFFER training program and to apply INFFER in a pilot in 2011.
Key policy implications and opportunities for the Australian Government
arising from the project
Key implications and opportunities from the project include the following.
Different environmental projects vary widely in their cost-effectiveness at achieving
environmental outcomes, highlighting the importance of using a sound analytical process to
prioritise investments. A small minority of projects have a highly favourable combination of
characteristics (feasibility, adoption, value, cost, etc.) such that they have exceptionally high
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cost-effectiveness compared with other projects. These are the projects that should be
targeted for investment.
There is a major opportunity to improve the outcomes achieved from Australia’s public
investment in the environment. Environmental decision making processes currently used by
most relevant organisations in Australia are not sufficiently comprehensive or rigorous to
correctly identify highly cost-effective projects. Most environmental decision processes fail
to include all of the essential information. For example, they rarely include explicit
information about the link between actions and outcomes, or the changes in landholder
behaviour that will result from a project intervention. Including these factors makes a huge
difference to the quality of decision making. Our modelling indicates that a sound decision
process would increase the value of environmental outcomes from public investment by more
than 100%. In addition, very few processes use a theoretically sound metric to rank projects.
This too makes a major difference to the quality of decisions and the achievement of valuable
environmental outcomes.
Many funded projects rely on inappropriate policy mechanisms and fail to deliver worthwhile
environmental outcomes for that reason. In particular, there is excessive reliance on extension
(education, training, awareness raising, etc.) and small temporary grants (“incentive
payments”). To be effective, these mechanisms have to be carefully targeted to projects
where they will work, but usually this does not occur.
Many environmental projects are funded despite the fact that they are internally inconsistent.
A goal is defined, and a set of works/actions is defined, but the works/actions would not
achieve the goal even if they were fully implemented. A set of delivery mechanisms (policy
mechanisms) is defined, but it would not result in adoption of the specified works/actions. If
there is no requirement for internal consistency in project definition, there is a high risk that
the projects that get funded are those that have been exaggerated the most. Processes in
existing programs pay no attention to the issue of internal consistency.
INFFER works. It provides a much improved decision framework for environmental
investors in a package that is user friendly and well supported. It overcomes all three of the
above critical problems with current decision processes: sound prioritisation, sound choice of
policy mechanisms, and internal consistency of project definition.
Most people involved in environmental management decision making are not aware of the
crucial importance of sound decision making about investment priorities, project design and
policy mechanism choice. Changing this will be a long slow process and will require a proactive approach by government. In particular, it is essential that the government becomes a
more discerning purchaser of environmental projects. Government should require project
proponents to develop and evaluate their proposed project in a way that supports sound
prioritisation, choice of policy mechanism and internal consistency. A requirement for project
proponents to use INFFER would help greatly in delivering on these improvements.
Given the weakness of existing processes, provision of training and support will be crucial in
order for project proponents and environmental funders to lift their performance. Our
experience working closely with a variety of users shows that without training and support,
the prospects for a successful transition to an improved process are very low.
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When an improved process is used, it usually reveals that a number of existing investments
are not sound. This can result in resistance to the process (shooting the messenger) and
sometimes concerns about the political palatability of the new information. This should be
seen as something to be managed, rather than a show stopper, if substantial improvements in
environmental outcomes are to be achieved.
Although Australia invests heavily in environmental research, it falls far short of potential in
using that research to support decision making about environmental investments. Commonly,
research related to the severity of environmental threats is considered, but not other research
that is just as important: research on the effects of management options on environmental
outcomes, research on the effects of policy mechanisms on the behaviour of resource
managers, and research on the economics of management options. INFFER provides a
vehicle to embed research much more strongly in the decision process and ensure that
decisions are much more “evidence-based”.
Overall, the INFFER project has highlighted that there are very serious problems with
current processes for allocating public funds to environmental projects, has provided a
framework to address those problems, has demonstrated that the framework works
effectively with real users, and has supported rapid adoption of the framework among
potential users. The Australian Government has an opportunity to dramatically
improve the achievement of real environmental outcomes from its investments through
use of INFFER to improve rigour, transparency and cost-effectiveness.
Prizes awarded to the project
The quality of the project has been recognised through the award of a number of prizes,
including a Eureka Prize, Australia’s most prestigious science award.
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The 2009 ARC Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research
2009 Future Farming Systems Research Science Award of the Department of Primary
Industries, Victoria, to Anna Roberts, Jenny Alexander and April Curatolo
2009 AARES award for "Quality of Research Discovery" to Dave Pannell for Public:
Private Benefits Framework, a component of INFFER
Victorian Landcare Award to Geoff Park, for various contributions, including his role in
INFFER
Loddon Medal, awarded by local Landcare community to Geoff Park,
Agricultural Economics Society (UK) prize essay competition awarded in 2010 to
Graeme Doole for analysis of water quality policy issues.
Publications and reports
Journal articles
Pannell, D.J. (2009). Technology change as a policy response to promote changes in land
management for environmental benefits, Agricultural Economics 40(1), 95-102.
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Roberts, A. and Pannell, D. (2009) Piloting a systematic framework for public investment in
regional natural resource management: dryland salinity in Australia, Land Use Policy
26(4): 1001-1010.
Pannell, D.J. and Roberts, A.M. (2009). Conducting and delivering integrated research to
influence land-use policy: salinity policy in Australia, Environmental Science and Policy
12(8): 1088-1099.
Pannell, D.J. and Wilkinson, R. (2009). Policy mechanism choice for environmental
management by non-commercial “lifestyle” rural landholders, Ecological Economics 68:
2679-2687.
Pannell, D.J. (2008). Public benefits, private benefits, and policy intervention for land-use
change for environmental benefits, Land Economics 84(2): 225-240.
Seymour, E., Pannell, D., Ridley, A., Marsh, S. and Wilkinson, R. (2008) Decision making
by catchment management organisations in Australia: current processes and capacity gaps,
Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 15, 15-25.
Journal articles under review
Pannell, D.J., Roberts, A.M., Park, G., Alexander, J., Marsh, S. and Curatolo, A., (2010).
Integrated assessment of public investment in land-use change to protect environmental
assets in Australia, Land Use Policy (submitted 11 Jan 2011).
Roberts, A.M. Pannell, D.J. Doole, G. and Vigiak, O. (2010). Agricultural land management
strategies to reduce phosphorus loads in the Gippsland Lakes, Australia, Agricultural
Systems (submitted 28/07/2010).
INFFER Working Papers
Strang, M., Pannell, D., Roberts, A., Park, G., Alexander, J., and Marsh, S. (2010).
Introduction to INFFER, INFFER Working Paper 1004, University of Western Australia,
Perth.
Roberts, A., Pannell, D., Cottingham, P., Doole, G. and Vigiak, O. (2010). Report on the
Gippsland Lakes INFFER Analysis, INFFER Working Paper 1003, University of Western
Australia.
Pannell, D.J. (2010). Broad participation versus targeted investment in environmental
programs, INFFER Working Paper 1002, University of Western Australia
Pannell, D.J., Roberts, A.M., Park, G., Curatolo, A. and Marsh, S. (2010). INFFER
(Investment Framework For Environmental Resources): Practical and Theoretical
Underpinnings, INFFER Working Paper 1001, University of Western Australia.
Pannell, D.J., Roberts, A.M., Park, G., Curatolo, A., Marsh, S. and Alexander, J. (2009).
INFFER (Investment Framework For Environmental Resources), INFFER Working Paper
0901, University of Western Australia, Perth
Park, G., Pannell, D., Curatolo, A., Roberts, A., Spry, S. and Marsh, S. (2009). Summary of
INFFER steps, Working Paper 0902, University of Western Australia, Perth.
Pannell, D.J. (2009). The cost of errors in prioritising projects, INFFER Working Paper 0903,
University of Western Australia.
Pannell, D.J. (2008). Public benefits, private benefits and policy mechanism choice for landuse change: technology change, INFFER Working Paper 0801, University of Western
Australia.
Pannell, D.J. and Roberts, A.M. (2008). INFFER: Investment Framework For Environmental
Resources, version 1, INFFER Working Paper 0802, University of Western Australia.
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Pannell, D.J. and Roberts, A.M. (2008). Conducting and delivering integrated research to
influence land-use policy: an Australian case study, INFFER Working Paper 0803,
University of Western Australia.
Pannell, D.J. (2008). Environmental policy for environmental outcomes, INFFER Working
Paper 0804, University of Western Australia, Perth.
Pannell, D.J. (2008). Public: private benefits framework version 3, INFFER Working Paper
0805, University of Western Australia
Pannell, D.J. (2008). Experiences with alternative land, water and biodiversity policy
approaches in Australia, INFFER Working Paper 0806, University of Western Australia.
Published as: Pannell, D.J. (2008). Experiences with alternative land, water and biodiversity
policy approaches in Australia, In: Breath of Fresh Air, The Fraser Institute.
Pannell, D.J. and Wilkinson, R. (2008). Policy mechanism choice for environmental
management by non-commercial “lifestyle” rural landholders, INFFER Working Paper
0807, University of Western Australia.
Roberts, A.M. and Pannell, D.J. (2008). Piloting a systematic framework for public
investment in regional natural resource management: dryland salinity in Australia,
INFFER Working Paper 0808, University of Western Australia, Perth. (submitted to Land
Use Policy)
Conference papers related to INFFER
Polyakov, M., Pannell, D. Rowles, A., Park, G. and Roberts, A. (2010). Prioritising
investment to enhance biodiversity in an agricultural landscape, Paper presented at the 54th
Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society,
Adelaide, 10-12 February 2010.
Pannell, D.J., Roberts, A.M., Park, G., Curatolo, A. and Marsh, S. (2010). Practical and
Theoretical Underpinnings of INFFER (Investment Framework For Environmental
Resources), Paper presented at the 54th Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural
and Resource Economics Society, Adelaide, 10-12 February 2010.
Marsh, S.P., Curatolo, A., Pannell, D.J., Park, G., and Roberts, A.M. (2010). Lessons from
implementing INFFER with regional catchment management organisations, Paper
presented at the 54th Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource
Economics Society, Adelaide, 10-12 Feb 2010.
Pannell, D.J. (2009). Making the most of 'Caring for our Country', Outlook 2009 conference,
Canberra 3-4 March 2009
Pannell, D.J. and Ridley, A.M. (2008). Lessons from dryland salinity policy experience in
Australia, Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society –
Global Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
Ridley, A. and Pannell, D. (2008) Piloting a systematic framework (SIF3) for public
investment in regional natural resource management in dryland salinity in Australia,
Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society – Global
Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
Alexander, J., Ridley, A. and Pannell, D. (2008). Victorian Catchment Management
approaches to salinity investment, Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity,
Water and Society – Global Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
Park, G., Alexander, J., Ridley, A. and Pannell, D. (2008). Transforming Planning and
Practice for Regional Natural Resource Management: Lessons from SIF3 in North Central
Victoria, Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society –
Global Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
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Marsh, S., Seymour, E., Pannell, D., Ridley, A. and Wilkinson (2008) Capacity needs for
effective NRM at the regional level: a case study of two catchment organizations,
Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society – Global
Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
Seymour, E., Pannell, D., Ridley, A., Marsh, S. and Wilkinson, R. (2008). Understanding the
capacity of catchment organisations to make decisions about natural resource management
in Australia, Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society –
Global Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
Beverly, C., Ridley, A., Hocking, M. and Pannell, D. (2008). Protecting high-value assets
from salinity in the Avon Richardson catchment, Australia, Proceedings, 2nd International
Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society – Global Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3
April 2008, Adelaide
Wilkinson, R. (2008). Tailoring salinity investment to the social needs of lifestyle
landholders, Proceedings, 2nd International Salinity Forum: Salinity, Water and Society –
Global Issues, Local Action, 31 March – 3 April 2008, Adelaide
Web site
A dedicated, comprehensive website for the INFFER project is located at www.inffer.org.
This website has been actively maintained and updated during the life of the project.
Designed as a ‘one stop shop’ for anyone interested in the INFFER process, the website
caters for all levels of enquiry. It provides an overview of the framework and answers to
frequently asked questions for those seeking a general understanding of framework together
with materials, manuals and documents for active users of the tool. Users can be confident
that all the materials and training are up date and freely accessible. The site also has areas
for INFFER related news and publications.
An integral part of the implementation process is the web-based interface for the INFFER
Project Assessment Form (the PAF). Feedback from users indicates a high level of
satisfaction for both its ease of use and its information processing capabilities. The following
is a brief overview of how the PAF performs:
 The electronic PAF streamlines and automates all process and calculations involved in
INFFER.
 The PAF proceeds through a structured series of questions that users must complete.
 Context-sensitive help is provided for each question in four formats:
Details. This provides additional explanation of the question.
Example answer. One or more example answers to the question.
Relevance. Why this information is needed and where it gets used within the
INFFER system.
FAQs. Frequently asked questions that are relevant to this PAF question.
As previously noted the INFFER website is a vital source of information, training and
support for active users of the framework. Work continues to maximise its potential. There
have been discussions with the Victorian DSE regarding the linkage of the web-based PAF
on the INFFER site to DSE’s PIRS system which all Victorian CMAs currently use. This
would have several major benefits if it occurred - single data entry for asset-based projects, it
would highlight which parts of PIRS could be improved to help make high public benefit
investment decisions and it would enable transparent comments and quality assurance of
INFFER project assessments. The INFFER team is keen to discuss alignment of the ePAF
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with PIRS but understand there will be a number of constraints to overcome within DSE to
enable this to occur.
Over the life of the main INFFER website (April 2008 to January 2011) there have been over
34,000 hits. Of these 15,000 have been viewings of INFFER home page, and 19,000 have
been hits to pages that link from it. This reflects the very high level of interest in the project.
The site both supports existing users and informs potential new users.
Other communication
For a full list of INFFER communication and engagement activities over the life of the
project, see Appendix A.
Research Students
There were two PhD thesis associated with the project. Ms Bronwyn Crowe from UWA has
completed her thesis on contract design and enforcement. The following is a brief abstract:
“The research provided insights into the design of conservation contracts, using a
combination of theoretical models and a case study for a region in the wheatbelt of Western
Australia. A survey of landholders explores their costs, motivations and participation in
conservation programs. Analysis using partially observable Markov decision processes shows
that, for the base case, remote assessment is preferred over field-based assessment for the
purposes of identifying agricultural land for conservation. Analysis using a principal-agent
model shows that, as long as the landholder's labour effort can be observed, payment for
actions and payment for outcomes are effectively equivalent”.
Ms Eloise Seymour from Charles Sturt University has recently submitted her thesis
examining differences in valuation of environmental assets by different groups. She looked
at five different ‘community-types’ including ‘place-based’ communities (urban and rural
residents), ‘practice-based’ communities (NRM professionals and farmers) and ‘interestbased’ communities (members of environmental groups). They were asked about their
valuation of three different natural assets in the North Central region of Victoria, Australia:
the Moolort wetlands, box-ironbark forests and the upper Loddon River. It was a richly
detailed study with many different insights. An important insight was NRM professionals and
members of environmental groups tend to think about the values of natural assets much
differently to other groups. These environmental specialists emphasise environmental
benefits but give much less weight to social or economic benefits. This has implications for
the ability of agency staff to relate to the values and preferences of others in the community.
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Financial Statements
The attached document “Peoplesoft Summary 1.11.07 – 31.1.11” provides a statement of
income and expenditure for the period 1 November 2007 to 31 January 2011 taken from the
University financial system. You will note that the income figure on line 2 under ‘Other
Research Grants and Contracts’ is $1,148,255. This figure represents the total income
received ($1,295,513) less the amount paid to the DPI Victoria in 2010 ($147,258) ie the
amount has been recorded as a ‘negative income’ rather than an expense. There was a
change in the way the university accounts for transfers to allied institutions this year which
resulted in this alteration to our financial reporting. If you require further clarification please
contact us.
Also attached is a spreadsheet “CERF project budget Nov07–Jan11“ for the period 1
November 2007 to 31 January 2011. This spreadsheet has been used to monitor the budget
internally within the School. Please note that the ‘Actual Received’ figure is $5,331 less
than the budgeted figure for income. This represents the final payment we are awaiting on
acceptance of this report.
As can be seen from both the attached reports we are on track for a slight overspend of
approximately $6,000 on the project. We confirm that this will be cleared from funds within
the Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy.
An audited Financial Report will be forward to you from UWA Research Services by 31
March 2011.
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Appendix A
2010
Meetings, Workshops and Training with Australian Environmental Management Bodies
9-10 November - Central West PAF workshop (Geoff, Anna)
1-5 November - Burnett Mary Regional Group expert workshop and PAFs (Geoff)
29 October - Port Phillip and Westernport CMA to discuss PAF options (Geoff)
26 October - DPI Rutherglen, Victoria. Meeting with April Curatolo and Dom Uljanic of NCCMA for using catchment
modelling (CatchMODS) to underpin a INFFER PAF for reach 7 of Avoca river (Olga, Anna)
26 October - Meet with David Lucas, Alanna Maguire (DSE NR) to finalise workplan
25 October - Corangamite CMA – meeting to discuss PAF options with Gareth Smith, Leigh Dennis (Geoff)
12 October - NC CMA INFFER review (Geoff, April)
28 September - Glenelg Hopkins CMA expert asset ID workshop No 2 (Geoff)
27 September - Central West CMA Implementation meeting (Geoff)
15 September - DSE River Health meeting (Geoff, Anna)
9-10 September - ACT NRM Council training (Geoff, Mal Brown)
7 September - NC CMA Board update (Anna, Geoff)
2-3 September - Burnett Mary Regional Group training (Geoff, Anna)
30-31 August - Murray CMA training (Geoff, Eloise, Les)
20 August - Murray CMA – Implementation Plan meeting (Geoff)
19 August - Corangamite CMA Lake Connewarre workshop (Geoff, Anna)
18 August - Glenelg Hopkins CMA first community workshop (Geoff)
17 August - Meeting with Sharon Lewis DSE (Geoff, Anna)
12 August - Hawkesbury Nepean CMA Briefing (Geoff, Les)
9 August - Glenelg Hopkins CMA - expert workshop for asset ID (Geoff)
28-29 July - Corangamite INFFER training (Geoff, Les)
27 July - Burnett Mary Regional Group phone meeting (Geoff, Anna, Dave)
23 July - DSE meetings – NR and River Health (Anna, Geoff)
22 July - Qld regional groups collective phone hookup (Anna, Dave, Geoff)
19 July - Central West CMA Resilience workshop (Geoff)
15 June - Murray CMA community asset workshop (Anna)
10-11 June - DSE meetings with River Heath, EnSym and Biodiversity and Ecosystem services (Geoff, Anna, Dave)
28 May - Corangamite CMA Lake Connewarre technical meeting (Anna, Geoff)
13 May - Corangamite CMA Lake Connewarre inception meeting (Anna, Geoff)
5 May - INFFER briefing to Mallee CMA in Mildura (Geoff and April)
3-4 May - Training of Glenelg Hopkins CMA staff and partners (Geoff, April)
2 May -Electronic version of Project Assessment Form available in production environment
30 April - ACT NRM initial briefing to Sarah Ryan and Jo Harding (Anna)
28-29 April - Asset filtering workshop for North Central CMA (Jenny, Geoff, April)
14 April - Meeting with Corangamite CMA re Lake Connewarre project (Geoff and Anna)
13 April - Ensym Training at the Department of Sustainability and Environment (April)
12 April - DECCW phone meeting (Geoff, Anna, April)
18 March - INFFER phone link with Northern Rivers NSW CMA re use of INFFER in Graham Marshall's CERF project
4-5 March -Training for Regional Liaison Officers of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (Geoff, April and
Les)
4 March - Meeting with Mark Stanley, Deputy Manager of the Eyre Peninsula NRM board (Dave)
1 March - Phone meeting with DECCW to discuss INFFER progress in NSW
11 February - Briefing to staff and board of Murray CMA (Geoff)
24 February - Briefing to Senior management team of Glenelg Hopkins CMA (Geoff and April)
16-17 February - Central West CMA (Dubbo) asset filtering workshop (Geoff and April)
27 January - Asset identification workshop with regional partners North Central CMA (Geoff and April)
14 January - Meeting with Dave Duncan at Arthur Rylah Institute (DSE) to discuss available landscape data for the leastcost land use change project (Geoff, Alexei)
INFFER Team Meetings
20 October - INFFER and consultants meeting (Mel, Jenny, Anna, Geoff, RMCG)
18 October - INFFER marketing discussions (Mel, Geoff, Jenny, Anna)
15-16 February - Graeme Doole trip to Victoria for INFFER water quality work with Olga and Anna
8-9 February - Annual meeting/workshop of the INFFER project team in Adelaide
Presentations and Dissemination of Information regarding INFFER
17 November - Meeting with WA Minister for Water, Graham Jacobs (Dave)
21 October - Briefing to Victorian Waterway Managers network on NC application of INFFER (Geoff, Rohan Hogan)
19 October - Italy and Europe INFFER discussions (Mel, Anna, Geoff, Olga)
14 October - University of Technology Sydney, Qiang Yu to discuss potential for China project (Anna)
11 October - Presentation at National Groundwater School (Dave)
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Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
2010
11 October - Natureprint (DSE BES) meeting with David Parkes and Natasha MacLean (Geoff)
27-28 September - University of Alberta meeting with Allen Good (Anna)
22 September - Victorian Biodiversity Network briefing (Geoff)
16 September - La Trobe University Wodonga Dean’s lecture (Dave)
14 September - Briefing to senior FFSR executives (Anna)
26 August - Presentation to Bushfire CRC about INFFER (Dave)
26 August - Presentation at Society for Ecological Restoration Conference, Avignon, France (Mel)
26 August - Briefing to Queensland Regional Groups collective (Geoff, Anna)
18 August - Presentation to Teagasc representatives, Wexford, Ireland (Mel)
17 August - Presentation and briefing to Teagasc representatives, Dublin, Ireland (Mel)
16 Aug - 8 Sept - Lectures and practical classes on INFFER for class on Environmental Policy and Law at UWA (Dave)
30 July - University of Alberta meeting with Vic Adamovic and Peter Boxall (Anna)
20-22 July Lucciola Bella Nature Reserve, Siena, PAF development (Mel)
20 July - FFI CRC Board presentation (Dave, Anna)
19 July - Presentation to Siena Province (Italy) (Mel)
6 July - Burnett Mary Natural Resource Management Group (Geoff, Dave)
5-6 July - Burnett Mary Regional Group – initial briefing to staff and board members (Geoff, Dave)
4 June - Discussion panel to discuss draft report "Evaluation of the Catchment Demonstration Initiative (CDI)" prepared for
DAFWA by URS (Sally)
1 June - ACT NRM Council INFFER briefing (Anna, Geoff)
4 May - Presentation on INFFER to workshop for salinity policy review (Dave)
29 April - Meeting with DairyNZ to discuss catchment modelling research (Graeme Doole)
22 April - INFFER Presentation at National NRM Conference Darwin (Geoff)
6 April - Meeting with Paul Ryan to discuss INFFER and Resilience Thinking paper (Geoff)
April - Gippsland Lakes Taskforce publishes INFFER report on their web site
http://www.gippslandlakestaskforce.vic.gov.au/
26 March - Seminar on Targeting versus Broad Participation in Environmental Investment, UWA (Dave)
23 March - Lecture on Public: Private Benefits Framework to UWA science students (Dave)
23 March - INFFER briefing to Tim Allen (Australian Government Facilitator) re Gippsland Lakes work (Geoff)
19 March - INFFER briefing to Corangamite CMA Board (Geoff) - led to fully endorsed adoption
19 March - University of Alberta INFFER seminar (Anna)
18 March - Alberta Provincial Government INFFER workshop, Edmonton Canada (Anna)
16 March - Federal Government, Agriculture Canada INFFER workshop, Regina Canada (Anna)
15 March - Saskatchewan Provincial Government INFFER workshop, Regina Canada (Anna)
12 March - University of Manitoba Canada, INFFER seminar (Anna)
11 March - Manitoba Provincial Government, Winnipeg Canada INFFER workshop (Anna)
10 March - INFFER briefing to DSE regarding Gippsland Lakes project (Geoff, April and Chris Barry)
10 March - Seminar on connecting science to policy, to Centre for Water Research, UWA (Dave)
5 March - INFFER seminar, University of Maryland, Annapolis, USA (Anna)
5 March - Graeme Doole awarded the Waikato University Management School Dean’s Award for Outstanding Emerging
Scholar
2-3 March - Sally Marsh was an invited speaker at Outlook 2010 conference: "Adopting innovations in agricultural
industries"
2 March - Agricultural Economics Society (UK) prize essay competition 2010 to Graeme Doole for analysis of water quality
policy issues.
March - Loddon Medal, awarded by local Landcare community to Geoff Park, March 2010. Photo
11 February - Presentation at Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society on water
quality modelling (Graeme Doole)
11 February - Presentation at Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society:
"Economics of controlling an environmental weed" (Morteza Chalak)
11 February - Presentation at Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society:
"Prioritising investment to enhance biodiversity in an agricultural landscape" (Maksym Polyakov)
10 February - Symposium on INFFER at Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics
Society (Anna, Dave, Sally Marsh and Graham Marshall)
9 February - Workshop with ~20 policy officers from Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, Adelaide
(Dave, Anna)
3 February - Meeting with team reviewing salinity policy in Western Australia (Dave)
2009
Meetings, Workshops and Training with Australian Environmental Management Bodies
18 December - Teleconference with DECCW NSW (Anna, Geoff)
16-17 December - INFFER training for Port Phillip and Westernport CMA (Geoff and April)
4 December - CWCMA agency asset id session, Dubbo, (April, CMA staff, DII staff, Office of water, DECCW, Department
of Lands)
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Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
2009
2 December - Meeting with Neil Barr to discuss new land retirement project in social landscape context, (Anna, Alexei,
April, Kerry Stott)
28 November - Meeting with Environment Waikato (Hamilton, NZ) to discuss catchment modelling research (Graeme
Doole)
25 November - Meeting with DSE and Vic CfOC (Anna and April)
24 November - Meeting with Melbourne Water to brief them about INFFER (Anna)
24 November - Landcare Networks and INFFER third workshop, Stawell, (April)
18 November - Anna, Olga, and Alexei met with Ken Wallace FFI CRC Program Leader
18 November - Anna and Geoff met with North East CMA
16-17 November - DSE INFFER staff and training, Williamstown, (April, Geoff, Anna, DSE staff)
12 November - Meeting with Gippsland Lakes Review team (Anna)
11 November - NCCMA asset identification meeting with community in Bendigo, April, Anna, CMA staff, community
5-6 November - NCCMA INFFER staff and stakeholder training Bendigo, (April, Geoff, CMA, DSE, TFN, CFoC, staff)
4 November - Phone meeting to discuss asset identification process with DECCW, (Geoff, April, Dave, Anna, Jacquie, Les)
4 November - NCCMA asset identification meeting with community in Charlton, (Geoff, CMA staff, community)
2 November - GHCMA INFFER presentation to management team, (Geoff, April, GHCMA management team)
28 October - CWCMA meeting with DII staff for asset digitisation Dubbo
27 October - CWCMA asset identification meeting with community in Coonable, (Geoff, April, CMA staff, community)
27 October - CWCMA asset identification meeting with community in Nyngan, (Geoff, April, CMA staff, community)
26 October - NCCMA asset identification meeting with community in Daylesford, (Geoff, April, CMA staff, community)
23 October - Phone meeting to discuss PAF in production with PPWCMA and DPI, (Anna, April) 23 October - Meeting
with DPI FSV to discuss INFFER and PPBF for pest work (Anna)
22 October - Phone meeting to discuss PAF in production with Northern Rivers CMA(NSW), (Geoff, April)
21 October - NCCMA asset identification meeting with community in Maryborough (Geoff, April, CMA staff, community)
20 October - NCCMA meeting to discuss asset filtering (April, Anna)
19 October - NCCMA asset identification meeting with community in Heathcote, (Geoff, April, CMA staff, community)
12 October - Meetings at Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria (Anna, Dave, Geoff)
24 September - Meeting with Glenelg Hopkins CMA (Geoff)
11 September - Meeting with Corangamite CMA (Geoff)
8 September - Briefing of Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria (Geoff, Anna)
3-4 September - Two-day INFFER training, North Central CMA (Geoff, April)
31 August - Debrief with Gippsland Lakes Taskforce with Barry Hart and Chris Barry (Anna)
27 August - Briefing of INFFER progress with Gippsland Lakes Taskforce (Peter Cottingham)
26 August - Phone meeting with Graham Marshall and Northern Rivers CMA (Geoff, April, Anna)
25 August - Asset identification workshop with Port Phillip and Westerport CMA (April and Geoff)
19 August - Meeting with Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, Sydney (Anna and April)
18 August - Meeting with Department of Industry and Investment (Primary Industries), Orange, NSW (Anna and Geoff)
10-11 August - Northern NSW CMAs (Northern Rivers, Gwydir Border Rivers, Namoi) INFFER training in association
with Graham Marshall (UNE) (Geoff and April)
7 August - Phone meeting with Zoe Bainbridge and Jon Brodie to discuss INFFER and its potential contribution to the Great
Barrier Reef
7 August - Phone hookup with policy staff of the Department of Environment and Climate Change, NSW
6 August - INFFER training for North Central Natural Resources Management Committee (April and Geoff)
6 August - Phone meeting with Paul Downey (Dept Environment and Climate Change, NSW) to discuss INFFER for weedrelated issues (Dave)
5 August - Briefing the new board of North Central Catchment Management Authority (Anna and Geoff)
3 August - Phone meeting with Graham Marshall about INFFER in northern NSW (Geoff, April, Anna)
29 July - INFFER and Victorian Landcare networks trial (second in a series of three workshops) held in Stawell (Geoff and
April)
27-28 July - INFFER training for Central West CMA in Wellington, also involved key DECC and DPI staff (Geoff, April
and Steph)
14 July - Initial meeting with Northern Rivers CMA (NSW) to discuss INFFER (Graham Marshall)
8 July - Gippsland Lakes socio-economic feasibility workshop (Geoff, Anna, Steph)
8 July - Initial meeting with Namoi CMA (NSW) to discuss INFFER (Graham Marshall)
6 July - Initial meeting with Border Rivers-Gwyder CMA (NSW) to discuss INFFER (Graham Marshall)
22 June - Training of staff in the Department of Sustainability and Environment (Geoff, April, Stepj)
18 June - North Central CMA INFFER Review (April, Geoff)
12 June - Central West CMA initial briefing (Geoff and Anna)
10 June - Gippsland Lakes technical feasibility workshop (Geoff, Anna, Steph)
26 May - Meeting to brief CEOs of all Victorian CMAs on INFFER (Geoff and Anna)
13 May - Goulburn Broken CMA INFFER meeting to work on assets (Geoff)
6 May - Seminar at ABARE/BRS on INFFER and connecting research to policy (Dave)
6 May - Attend orientation meeting of Caring for our Country Scientific Advisory Committee (Dave)
6 May - Meeting with River Health DSE to discuss possible application of INFFER in River Health Programs (Geoff, Steph,
Jane Whitford)
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Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
2009
5 May - Project Assessment workshop with Corangamite CMA for Bellarine Landscape zone
30 April - 1 May Project Assessment workshop for Strezlecki catchment ecosystem with West Gippsland CMA (Geoff and
Steph)
27 April - INFFER Training with Natural Resources Division of DSE (Geoff, Steph, April)
21 April - Phone meeting with consultant to discuss Central West CMA (NSW) use of INFFER (Anna, Geoff)
21 April - Inception meeting with Port Phillp CMA, DPI, DSE and Bass Coast Landcare Network for application of INFFER
to Westernport Bay and catchment (Geoff and Stephanie)
8 April - Meeting with DPI NSW Evertrain team to discuss development of training materials (Geoff, Jen and Stephanie)
6 April - INFFER Inception workshop with Goulburn Broken CMA (Geoff, Stephanie, Alexei and Jen)
2 April - Inception meeting in Sale with Gippsland Lakes Taskforce on application of INFFER to Gippsland Lakes (Anna,
Geoff and Stephanie)
2 April - Meeting with Inter-Agency NRM Working Group (Dave)
1 April - Training workshop for 8 staff from RM Consulting Group in the application of INFFER (Anna, Geoff and
Stephanie)
24 March - Meeting/discussion with directors of Department of Environment and Climate Change (Anna and Dave)
24 March - Workshop with Natural Resource Commission to discuss INFFER results and lessons for NSW (Anna and Dave)
13 March – Briefing of the board of Lachlan CMA about the results of applying INFFER in their region (Anna and Geoff)
9-12 February - Training in Landscape Function Analysis with creator David Tongway (CSIR0) in Avon-Richardson
catchment (Olga and Alexei)
5 February - Briefing of representatives from several Victorian CMAs (Geoff and Jenny)
5 February - Meeting with DSE policy people to discuss their handling of duty of care issues (Dave and Anna)
5 February - Meeting with DPI Victoria policy branch (Dave and Geoff)
4 February – Meeting with Barry Hart, Gippsland Lakes Taskforce to discuss INFFER work (Anna, Geoff, Steph)
29 January - Meeting with North East CMA (Geoff, Anna and Alexei)
23 January -Workshop about INFFER with officers from six state government agencies in WA (David and Geoff)
23 January - Meeting with two Executive Directors in the Department of Sustainability and Environment Victoria (Anna and
Jen)
22 January - Meeting with officials from WA Department of Treasury and Finance (David and Anna)
13 January – Meeting with Brendan Wintle (U Melb) to discuss expansion of biodiversity tools review (Alexei)
8 January - Meeting with Gippsland Lakes Taskforce, West Gippsland CMA and East Gippsland CMA to discuss
application of INFFER to the Gippsland Lakes (Anna, Geoff)
INFFER Team Meetings
14-16 April INFFER bioeconomic modelling field trip to Muckleford and Avon Richardson case study areas in the North
Central CMA (Anna, Geoff, Alexei, Maksym, Morteza and Stephanie)
15-18 - March Graeme Doole visits Rutherglen to discuss water quality bioeconomic modelling with Anna and Olga
21-22 January - Meeting of almost the full INFFER team in Perth
Presentations and Dissemination of Information regarding INFFER
8 December - Attended Bird Linkage project update symposium. ARC funded project (Monash U, DSE) building on Jim
Radford's work (Alexei)
7 December - Department of Sustainability and Environment in Victoria releases state biodiversity policy (White Paper)
which includes: "INFFER will be utilised for the next five years or until an alternative is developed". "Utilise INFFER and
further develop other decision support tools for applying asset-based approaches to planning and investment". "Provide
training and support in the application of INFFER and other decision support tools by 2011".
26 November - Presentation of INFFER report to Gippsland lakes taskforce, Traralgon, (Anna, April, Peter Cottingham,
GLTF members)
22 October - University of Western Australia, School of Environmental Systems Engineering, "Research to support and
influence environmental managers and policy makers" (Dave)
13 October - INFFER team wins the Science Prize of the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria (Anna, April, Jenny)
12 October - University of Melbourne, School of Land and Environment, Dean's Lecture, "Linking Science to Policy"
(Dave)
12 October - University of Melbourne, Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis, "Environmental Decision Making:
Development and Delivery of Tools to Assist Managers and Policy Makers" (Dave)
7 October - Keynote presentation: University of Western Australia, "Doing research to make a difference", Student Research
Conference (Dave)
2 October - Seminar: University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, "The environmental
cost of poor prioritisation of environmental projects" (Dave)
16 September - Presentation at CERF conference, Canberra (Anna)
8 September - Victorian Landcare Awards: Geoff Park, winner of the Sidney Plowman Travel and Study Award. More info
- Photo
19 August - Seminar: "Jack Makeham Memorial Lecture", University of New England: 'Environmental Policy and Farm
Management' (Dave)
18 August - The INFFER project wins the Eureka Prize for Research by an Interdisciplinary Team. See here.
16-21 August - Alexei presented poster: "Throwing money at the problem more efficiently: bio-economic modelling to
prioritize investment in biodiversity" INTECOL 10, Brisbane
12 August - Meeting with Department of Treasury and Finance, Perth (Dave)
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Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
2009
29 July - Meeting with Australian Government about 'Caring for our Country' program (Dave)
20-22 July -Visit to Zhejiang University and Hohai University in China for presentations and meetings on water quality
(Dave)
8 July - Symposium "Understanding Practice Change by Rural Landholders" conducted at University of WA, with 150
delegates (Dave, Sally)
8 July - Official launch of Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy at University of WA (Dave)
17 April - Invited seminar on INFFER to University of Melbourne School of Forestry and Ecosystem Science (Geoff)
3 April - Seminar at University of Western Australia on INFFER progress report (Dave)
1 April - Seminar at University of Waikato, on "Formulating robust management strategies under parametric uncertainty in
bioeconomic models" (Graeme Doole)
31 March - Presentation on INFFER to Dairy Australia Catchment Researchers workshop (Geoff)
31 March - Presentation on INFFER to Victorian DSE/DPI Market Based Intruments Learning Network (Jen and Geoff)
27 March - Seminar at University of Western Australia by, on optimal management of pests when the control method has
spillover impacts on the natural environment (Morteza Chalak)
20 March - Seminar at University of Western Australia by, on modelling land use change (Maksym Polyakov)
10-12 March - Presentation at Fenner conference, Canberra, on INFFER (Anna)
10-12 March - Presentation at AgSAP conference, The Netherlands, on "Systems analysis informing policy" (Dave)
4 March - Presentation at Outlook 2009 conference, Canberra, on "Making the most of 'Caring for our Country'" (Dave)
12 February - Presentation on Australian NRM policy at Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society annual
conference in Cairns (Dave)
11 February - Dave Pannell received the annual award for "Quality of Research Discovery" from the Australian Agricultural
and Resource Economics Society for Public: Private Benefits Framework
INFFER team member Graeme Doole received the annual award for best article in the Australian Journal of Agricultural and
Resource Economics from the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society
5 February - Seminar to Victorian branch of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (Dave and Anna)
5 February - Meeting with and presentation to Executive Directors of Department of Sustainability and Environment,
Victoria (Anna, Dave, Geoff and Jen)
2008
Meetings, Workshops and Training with Australian Environmental Management Bodies
22 December - Meeting with DSE to discuss biodiversity white paper (Anna)
18 December - Briefing North East CMA Board about INFFER progress and how to progress with Caring for our Country
(Anna)
18 December - Meeting with Peter Regan (DPI NSW) and Greg Summerell (DECC) to discuss INFFER in NSW (Anna)
17-18 December - North Central CMA workshops to initiate investment planning for 2009-10 (Jen and Geoff)
12 December - North Central CMA meeting to train staff on in the application of INFFER (Geoff and Jen)
10 December - Meeting with managers in Natural Resources Division of DSE, Victoria (Anna, Dave, Geoff)
10 December - Meeting with Deborah Peterson and Gavan Dwyer, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria (Dave, Geoff)
10 December -Meeting with John Burley, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria (Geoff, Dave)
10 December - Meeting with Sustainable Irrigation Program of DSE in Melbourne. (Anna, Dave, Geoff)
9 December - North Central CMA meeting to plan the investment process and staff training requirements (Geoff and Jen)
1 December - Phone meeting with policy officers in the Department of Primary Industries, NSW, to discuss INFFER. (Anna,
Dave, Geoff)
27-28 November - Meetings and field tour with Environment Waikato, NZ (Anna, Graeme, Jen, Alexei, Olga)
25 November - INFFER briefing to Corangamite CMA Regional Investment Committee and subsequent approval for
regional application (Geoff)
19 November - Meeting with DSE, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (Geoff, Jen, Alexei)
19 November - DSE meeting for Regional Catchment Strategy Guidelines (Geoff, Jen)
18 November - West Gippsland CMA meeting to brief staff on the implementation of INFFER and which scale INFFER will
be trialled at (Jenny and Geoff)
17 November - Workshop with the six NRM regional bodies in Western Australia to provide next phase of training in
INFFER. (Dave and Geoff)
13 November - North Central CMA irrigation meeting (Geoff, Anna, Jen, Alexei)
11 November - Lachlan CMA teleconference to discuss implementation of INFFER (Geoff, Jen, Anna, Dave)
10 November - Briefing Corangamite CMA senior staff on INFFER and its trial application (Geoff and Jenny)
7 November - Lachlan CMA teleconference to discuss implementation of INFFER (Jen)
27-28 October - Meeting with Kangaroo Island NRM group to discuss use of INFFER (Anna, Geoff and Jen)
22 October - Victorian Catchment Management Council –overview of INFFER (Anna)
21-22 October - Bio-risk workshop with North Central CMA (Jen and Alexei)
20 October - Meeting with Corangamite CMA, Castlemaine, to discuss the use of INFFER (Geoff and Jen)
16 October - INFFER Review workshop with North Central CMA involving CMA staff and key DSE policy directors (Anna
and Geoff)
15 October - DPI meeting with Geoff Kaine, Fiona Johnston, Ian Dreher, Angela Avery and Anna to discuss INFFER and
DPI’s Policy Choice Framework
16
Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
2008
15 October - WA regions phone conference to discuss progress with implementation of INFFER assets and progress with
planning (Geoff and Jen)
10 October - Field trip to St. Arnaud with Lindsay Ezard (DPI North Central) and April Curatolo (North Central CMA) to
see the results of actions taken to restore biodiversity assets on agricultural land in the Avon-Richardson catchment (Geoff &
Alexei).
9 October - Meeting with North East CMA, Wodonga, to assets and progress with planning (Anna, Geoff, Jen and Alexei)
Teleconference with Lachlan CMA to assess progress with implementation of INFFER and provide assistance and advice
(Geoff and Jen)
8 October - Meeting with Goulburn Broken CMA, Shepparton, to discuss using INFFER (Anna, Geoff and Alexei)
2 October - Teleconference with Lachlan CMA to assess progress with implementation of INFFER and provide assistance
and advice (Geoff and Jen)
1 October - Meeting with DPI Invasive species branch, Melbourne, to discuss INFFER (Geoff and Jen)
WA regions phone conference to discuss progress with implementation of INFFER assets and progress with planning (Geoff
and Jen)
26 September - Community workshop for Lachlan CMA, Grenfell, on selecting high priority assets (Geoff and Jen)
25 September - Meeting with Swan Catchment Council, Perth, to discuss INFFER (Dave)
25 September- Training day for Lachlan CMA staff, Forbes, on INFFER (Geoff and Jen)
24 September - Meeting with WA Rangelands NRM group, Bendigo, to discuss implementation of INFFER (Geoff and Jen)
23 September - Briefing to West Gippsland CMA Board on INFFER, Sale. Board recommend the CMA implement
INFFER. (Geoff and Jen)
19 September - North East CMA meeting, Wodonga, to assist biodiversity group to develop asset project information
(Geoff, Jen and Alexei)
19 September - Teleconference with Lachlan CMA to assess progress with implementation of INFFER and provide
assistance and advice (Geoff and Jen)
17 September - Meeting with Swan Catchment Council, Perth, to discuss INFFER (Dave)
12 September - Teleconference with Lachlan CMA to assess progress with implementation of INFFER and provide
assistance and advice (Geoff and Jen)
10 September - Training day on INFFER for regional NRM bodies in WA (Dave, Geoff and Jenny)
5 September - Teleconference with Lachlan CMA to assess progress with implementation of INFFER and provide assistance
and advice (Geoff and Jen)
3 September -Teleconference with Lachlan CMA to discuss options for implementation of INFFER (Anna, Geoff and Jen)
28 August - Meeting with North Central CMA staff, Bendigo, to discuss application of INFFER in irrigation reconfiguration
(Geoff and Jen)
26 August - Phone conference with DSE staff to discuss review of Landcare (Anna, Geoff and Jen)
22 August - Meeting with three Tasmanian NRM regions to discuss overview and interest in INFFER (Geoff, Anna)
21 August - Meeting with regional NRM CEOs in WA to discuss INFFER. Agree to support them using INFFER in a rapid
process this year, and to provide a training day (Dave)
21 August - Meeting with North Central CMA, Bendigo, to review assets and progress with planning (Anna, Geoff and Jen)
19 August - Seminar and meetings at DSE Victoria (Dave, Anna, Geoff and Jenny)
11 August - Meeting with North East CMA land asset project assessment group in Wangaratta (Anna)
5-7 August -Tour of Lachlan region in NSW, to meet with stakeholders and learn about local environmental assets (Anna,
Jenny, Geoff and Dave)
30 July - North East CMA ‘top 20’ asset shortlist workshop (Geoff, Anna, Jen)
1 July – Meeting with Andrew Hodges Investment Manager, Invasive Plants and Animals Branch to discuss INFFER (Jen)
24 July -Meeting with policy makers and with irrigation and river staff within DSE Victoria (Dave, Anna, Geoff and Jen)
25 June - Meeting at DAFF to discuss Caring for our Country (Anna, Dave and Geoff)
25 June - Meeting at DEWHA with CERF program managers (Anna and Dave)
17 June - SWCC salinity reference group meeting to determine ‘top 20’ asset shortlist (Geoff, Dave, Fay)
10-11 June -North East CMA INFFER training and field trip to Lower Ovens Catchment (Geoff, Anna)
4-5 June - SWCC community workshops to determine priority assets (Geoff and Jen)
27 May - Training of INFFER project officer and field trip/project planning Lachlan CMA (Geoff and Jen)
21-22 May - Biodiversity expert workshop – Melbourne (Geoff, Jen, Dave, Anna)
15 May - Meeting with North East CMA to plan field trip and training (Anna, Geoff and Jen)
7 May - Meeting with North Central CMA staff to plan next steps for INFFER (Anna, Geoff, Jen)
1 May - Meeting with DEWHA, DAFF, BRS and ABARE in Canberra – briefings on INFFER and discussions about Caring
for our Country program (Dave and Anna)
28 March - Training for Lachlan CMA staff in INFFER (Geoff and Jen)
25 March - Presentation to West Gippsland CMA, CEO and senior management team (Geoff and Jen)
18 March - Meeting with Geoff Robinson, North East CMA (Anna)
10-11 March - Meetings with South West Catchment Council to discuss implementation of SIF3. Tour of region to view
some salt-affected assets.
14-15 February - Workshop with NSW DPI training staff to commence development of training materials
13 February - Meeting with Lachlan CMA in NSW to discuss their application of INFFER
5 February - Meetings with Deborah Peterson (DPI), Kimberley Dripps (DSE) and a group at DSE to discuss the project
results and future directions
24 January - Workshop with the Natural Resource Management Committee of the North Central CMA, to select priorities
17
Submitted to SEWPaC 1 February 2011.
2008
for their new investment plan
10-11 January - Workshop with Managers of North Central Catchment Management Authority to develop management
actions and assess feasibility of protecting assets
INFFER Team Meetings
12-14 August – Meeting to discuss water quality aspects of INFFER. Commence developing an “assets-threats-management
options” (Anna, Jenny, Olga and Graeme Doole)
Presentations and Dissemination of Information regarding INFFER
15 December - Meeting to finalise Biodiversity Tools review with Brendan Wintle, University of Melbourne (Geoff)
4 December - Meeting with Murray Darling Basin Commission, with Simon Russell (MDBC) and Murray Chapman
(consultant) (Anna)
2 December – Meeting with Ken Wallace, Department of Environment and Conservation, WA, to discuss biodiversity.
(Dave, Maksym)
1-5 December - Ecological Society of Australia conference (Geoff, Alexei). Geoff presented a paper titled "Investing in
biodiversity: a CMA perspective."
26 November - Phone meeting with the INCREMENT project team to discuss the relationship between the two projects.
(Dave)
24 November - Presented to Senior Officers Group (from each of the relevant state government departments) regarding
INFFER and its use in Western Australia.
14 November - Ran national symposium on "Understanding Practice Change by Farmers" at University of Melbourne. See
www.ruralpracticechange.org. (Dave and Fay)
7 November - Presentation at DSE Research-Policy conference (Anna)
4 November - Dave interviewed on ABC Radio National's "Australia Talks" program, on environmental triage
24-25 October - Presentation at Canadian Agricultural Economics Society workshop “What makes agricultural economics
research relevant for policy advice?”, Ottawa, Canada (Dave)
23 October - Two presentations for Policy Research Initiative, Ottawa, Canada, on "Australian Environmental Policy" and
"Policy Mechanism Choice" (Dave)
22 October - Seminar, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, “Connecting research to policy: Why is it so hard? What can
you do?” (Dave)
20 October - Presentation at Symposium: “Role of Economics in Public Policy”, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (Dave)
10 October - Dave presents evidence to the Senate Inquiry into Natural Resource Management hearings in Perth.
9 October - Seminar for Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, "National Natural Resource Policy Past, Present and Future", Perth, (Dave)
7 October - Invited by Australian Govt to meeting in Canberra to review Outcome Statements and draft business plan for
"Caring for our Country" program (Dave)
26 September - Seminar at UWA about linking research to policy (Dave)
26 September - Meeting with Prof Concetta Vazzana, Dr Cesari Pacini, University of Florence for INFFER overview and to
assess interest in applying (Anna, Olga)
16 September - CERF Conference (DEWHA), Canberra. Presentation on INFFER and panel discussion on Caring for our
Country (Dave)
1 September – Presentation on INFFER and Public: Private Benefits Framework to WWF (WA) (Dave)
29 August - Presentation on the link between science and policy to School of Animal Biology at UWA (Dave)
28 August - Outline INFFER to Conservation Biology staff and students at UWA (Dave)
20 August - Presentation at Productivity Commission "Roundtable" on improving the cost-effectiveness of public investment
in the environment (Dave)
7 August - Presentation at ABARE workshop on planning and prioritising environmental projects (Dave)
24 July - Meeting with advisors to Australian Government ministers for environment, agriculture and water (Dave and
Anna)
25 June - Meeting in Canberra on Bayesian Decision Networks with members of Landscape Logic project (Anna, Dave and
Geoff)
20 May - Meeting in Canberra with joint team/DAFF regarding Caring for our Country outcomes, Great Barrier Reef and
Sustainable Farm Practices
31 March -3 April - The team presented seven papers at the Second International Salinity Forum, Adelaide
13 March - Presentation at Integrated Landscape Science meeting in Adelaide (Dave)
7 March - Seminar 'Environmental policy for “lifestyle” rural landholders', School of Agricultural and Resource Economics,
University of Western Australia (Dave)
5 March - Presentation on UWA economic research, including INFFER, at Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Forestry, Canberra.
19 February - SIF3 discussed during Senate Estimate hearing for Standing Committee on Environment, Communications
and the Arts.
8 February - Presentation of two papers at the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society annual conference in
Canberra. One paper on focus group results and the other on the public: private framework (Dave)
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