Organisations

Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)

Government

About

The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) has the dual roles of providing customer services to the agricultural, food, fisheries and forest industries, and addressing the challenges of natural resource management. It also helps build and promote the whole food and fibre chain from paddock to plate for domestic and international markets.

DAFF provides leadership, coordination and management of catalytic funding for the sustainable use, management and conservation of, and security of access to, Australia's land and water resources, fisheries and forests by:

• developing new national policies for natural resource management;
• advancing national water reform;
• advancing the Australian Governement’s role in the Murray Darling Basin Initiative;
• developing policies on a range of natural resource management issues including sustainable agriculture, landcare and groundwater (including the Great Artesian Basin);
• seeking to develop and sustain Australian domestic and international fisheries through sound social, economic and environmental practice;
• positioning portfolio industries to meet greenhouse commitments and pursuing Australia's international greenhouse position to accommodate portfolio industry interests.

Vegetation is an integral element of sustainable agricultural production systems. Through quality management of vegetation, agricultural producers obtain advances in sustainability and productivity and achieve positive greenhouse gas impacts. DAFF contributes to policy development and program management activities on a wide range of vegetation and vegetation related issues.

Programs

Market-Based Instruments (MBIs) are a promising new addition to the existing suite of natural resource management tools. They use trading mechanisms, auctions and price signals to change behaviour.

Rather than prescribing behaviour or technology use, MBIs give more flexibility in the sustainable use and management of our natural resources. However, like other countries, Australia is still in the early stages of using MBIs.

The National MBI Pilots Program seeks to increase Australia's capacity to use MBIs in managing natural resource issues, in particular to address the problems of salinity and water quality.

In April 2003 the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council announced ten pilot projects that will be funded under the $5 million first round of the National Market-Based Instruments Pilots Program.

The projects will trial a range of MBIs and operate over the next two years in several of the National Action Plan's 21 priority regions.

Several examples of pilot programs include:
• Multiple-outcome auction of land-use change;
• Tradable net recharge contracts in Coleambally Irrigation Area; and
• Farming Finance: Creating positive land use change with a Natural Resource Management Leverage Fund.

Contacts

Phone		02 6272 3933
Fax
E-mail		nrm.contact@affa.gov.au
Website		http://www.daff.gov.au
Postal Address		GPO Box 858 Canberra ACT 2601
Street Address		Edmund Barton Building Blackall Street Barton ACT 2601

Publications

No publications found for this organisation.