Australian Platform on Nature Valuation and Financing
About the Platform
Australia is one of the most diverse countries on the planet. It is home to more than one million species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Increasingly, the state/territory and national governments of Australia are acknowledging the need to fully incorporate all of the costs and benefits of development activity into decisions that impact on biodiversity and ecological health. Governments are also acknowledging the need to incorporate community opinion and preferences when making such decisions.
Nature valuation is often seen as a major tool in ensuring that the full impacts of development on the environment are incorporated into decisions, and that community preferences are taken into account.
More recently, the potential offered by market-based instruments as tools for incorporating the value of nature into day-to-day economic decisions in the private and public sectors has been supported by government through research funding in the form of the National Market-Based Instruments Pilots Program (see link below).
This Platform provides links to some information about organisations, case studies, and publications relevant to nature valuation and financing activity in Australia, and to a selection of relevant news, events and project opportunities. These links are by no means an exhaustive list; it is expected that the list will grow and change through time as visitors to this site provide further input.
Functionality of this platform
The website will provide a portal function to organizations working in this field, related links and relevant literature. The site is interactive, meaning it is possible for visitors to download and upload information reports and other documents, reply to discussions on the discussion forum and generally provide input relevant to the Australian National Platform
This National Platform is managed by Anna Straton, an economist who is exploring the definition and measurement of ‘value’ and how it impacts on environmental decision making. Dr Straton currently works with CSIRO Head Office on evaluating the impact of the full portfolio of CSIRO's research activities. Prior to this, Dr Straton spent 5 years as a research scientist with CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, in Darwin and Melbourne. Her research activities included: assessing the economic and other values of tropical river systems evaluating the impacts of water use scenarios for a river catchment in the Northern Territory analysing institutions that impact on the potential for Indigenous people to benefit from carbon trading.
Dr Straton’s background experience is in the theory and application of methods of economic valuation to environmental goods and services. Her PhD explored the development of an alternative theory of value and methods of valuation that are based on evolutionary economics and complex systems theory. Dr Straton’s interests are in the use of complex systems analysis (for example, through network and resilience theories and modelling) and institutional analysis to assess the sustainability and innovation potential of regions and cities, and to design policies and institutions to bring about desired outcomes. Dr Straton gained a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Queensland’s School of Economics working with Professor John Foster, Dr Richard Brown and Dr Jason Potts. Dr Straton joined CSIRO as a Post Doctoral Fellow in October 2004 and continued on as a Research Scientist from October 2006, and an Evaluation Analyst from January 2010. You can contact her at: anna.straton@csiro.au |
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