Identifying the economic values that native vegetation provides is one of the first questions that many land managers ask. The data currently available to address this question is patchy and often qualitative. More quantitative economic data is needed to help deliver some answers. This task is not always straightforward, because of the complexity of the systems involved, and because the value of native vegetation crosses a number of sectors such as land management and tourism. Investigating ways to represent the long-term value of native vegetation in financial systems is important, otherwise it will be easy to continue discounting the benefits.

Creating markets for ecosystem services is a relatively new focus, and native vegetation and biodiversity have a number of characteristics that can make it difficult to create new property rights. The uncertainty about ecosystem processes and the challenges of identifying public and private good are two key areas that could be further explored to assist regional managers select market-based approaches for incentive programs. Market-based instruments are only one tool to stimulate the conservation and management of native vegetation, so it is important to explore other options.

Diversifying the range of enterprises using native vegetation, at a property and catchment scale, is one way of increasing the economic value of these resources. The opportunities this can provide will depend on access to suitable species, markets and processing facilities. The productive use of native vegetation can also contribute to conservation values to varying degrees, depending on the level of utilisation, types of enterprise used and where they are located in the landscape relative to existing vegetation. Developing a further understanding of how the productive use of native vegetation can add to both profitability and conservation goals is an important area of research.