Role of ecosystem services from tropical savannas in the well-being of Aboriginal people in north Queensland

Geographical coverage

Geographical scale of the assessment Sub-regional
Country or countries covered Australia
Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name

Conceptual framework, methodology and scope

Assessment objectives

  1. To assess the role of ecosystem services in the well-being of Aboriginal people living in the savanna country
  2. To understand the links between ecosystem services and well-being of people
  3. To develop an integrated framework to assess well-being of Aboriginal people

Mandate for the assessment

Conceptual framework and/or methodology used for the assessment

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)

URL or copy of conceptual framework developed or adapted

1. Kamaljit Kaur (2006). The role of ecosystem services from tropical savannas in well-being of Aboriginal people: A scoping study. A report for the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, Darwin, NT. 2. Kamaljit Kaur (2007). Linking ecosystem services to well-being: A case study of Aboriginal communities in north Australia. Australian Aboriginal Studies, Issue 2 (2007): 145-147. and other relevant to this research are: 3. Kamaljit Kaur Sangha, James Burtler, Aurelie Delisle and Owen Stanley (2011). Identifying links between ecosystem services and Aboriginal well-being and livelihoods in north Australia: applying the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework. Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering (issue 5, 2011), pp. 381-387.

System(s) assessed

  • Forest and woodland
  • Grassland
  • Dryland

Species groups assessed

Ecosystem services/functions assessed

Provisioning

  • Food
  • Water
  • Timber/fibres
  • Medicinal resources
  • Ornamental resources

Regulating

Supporting Services/Functions

Cultural Services

  • Recreation and tourism

Scope of assessment includes

Drivers of change in systems and services

No

Impacts of change in services on human well-being

No

Options for responding/interventions to the trends observed

No

Explicit consideration of the role of biodiversity in the systems and services covered by the assessment

Yes

Timing of the assessment

Year assessment started

2004

Year assessment finished

2006

If ongoing, year assessment is anticipated to finish

Periodicity of assessment

One off

Assessment outputs

Website(s)

Report(s)

Kaur, K. (2006) The role of ecosystem services from tropical savannas in the well-being of Aboriginal people: A scoping study. A report for the Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre, Darwin, NT.
Ecosystem_services_from_tropical_savannas_K_Kaur.pdf

Communication materials (e.g. brochure, presentations, posters, audio-visual media)

Journal publications


Aus_Ab_Studies.pdf


JESE_2011.pdf

Training materials

Other documents/outputs

Tools and processes

Tools and approaches used in the assessment

  • Social (non-monetary) valuation

Process used for stakeholder engagement in the assessment process and which component

Key stakeholder groups engaged

Aboriginal communities in the later research.

The number of people directly involved in the assessment process

Incorporation of scientific and other types of knowledge

  • Scientific information only
  • Traditional/local knowledge

Supporting documentation for specific approaches, methodology or criteria developed and/or used to integrate knowledge systems into the assessment

Assessment reports peer reviewed

Yes

Data

Accessibility of data used in assessment

Policy impact

Impacts the assessment has had on policy and/or decision making, as evidenced through policy references and actions

not known!

Independent or other review on policy impact of the assessment

No

Lessons learnt for future assessments from these reviews

Capacity building

Capacity building needs identified during the assessment

Actions taken by the assessment to build capacity

Network and sharing experiences, Communication and awareness raising

How have gaps in capacity been communicated to the different stakeholders

Knowledge generation

Gaps in knowledge identified from the assessment

How gaps in knowledge have been communicated to the different stakeholders

Additional relevant information