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Summary of full report
August 2005
RIRDC Publication No 05/149 RIRDC Project No ANU-65A
Executive Summary
Nature conservation has
traditionally been regarded as the province of the government because of
the public good characteristics of many of the benefits provided. This
view has been challenged given the growing recognition of the mix of private
and public goods provided by nature conservation activities and the development
of innovative management strategies for the provision of other goods and
services such as infrastructure that historically were also supplied by
government. It has also been challenged by the emergence over the past
twenty years of a growing number of private organisations with nature conservation
as their primary goal.
This research explores the nature and scale of such private sector conservation organisations in Australia. Two surveys of these organisations were undertaken to discover their activities, scale, organisational structures, supply capacities, demand sources, locations and financial characteristics. It was found that the private sector makes a significant contribution to nature conservation in Australia through profit orientated and not-for-profit organisations specifically formed for that purpose. The activities undertaken by these organisations are broad ranging, but most surveyed organisations are involved with the on-ground management of natural areas and the provision of technical advice/support. Both financial and labour resources are mobilised through this effort.
Specific attention was paid to private sector conservation enterprises (PSCEs) and the activities they undertake and the barriers and opportunities they face. Surveyed PSCEs receive revenue from a range of sources; with revenue from government grants being the most substantial. The sector also successfully garners financial support from the private sector through receipt of membership fees, donations and sponsorships. However, the key private sector resource leveraged by PSCEs is the labour input; the volunteer labour force in the sector is substantial.
The PSCEs surveyed identified financial resources as a key constraint to the work they undertake, with many organisations recommending an increase in the allocation of government grants for the purposes of nature conservation. Other organisations, however, noted the importance of diversifying the revenue sources accessed by their organisation.
It is recommended that further gains to society could be achieved by government actions that would encourage the activities of PSCEs. Most notably, streamlining administration of government grant programmes, the contracting of PSCEs to perform more conservation actions such as managing existing state-owned nature protection areas and the revision of the Tax Act to allow for the more lenient treatment of deductions for conservation related expenses against other forms of income.
It is also recommended that
further research be undertaken in this field, specifically to compare the
cost effectiveness of nature conservation activities carried out by the
public sector and PSCEs. This would enable a better division of effort
between the private and public sectors in achieving societal goals of nature
conservation.
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