Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner

The Margaret River region is within a biodiversity ‘hot spot’ and is an agricultural region famous for its premium wine production and wine, gastronomic and ecotourism. These activities are vulnerable to climate change, especially to reductions in rainfall and runoff. The region has experienced demo...

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Main Author: Jones, Roy
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88797
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author Jones, Roy
author_facet Jones, Roy
author_sort Jones, Roy
building Curtin Institutional Repository
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description The Margaret River region is within a biodiversity ‘hot spot’ and is an agricultural region famous for its premium wine production and wine, gastronomic and ecotourism. These activities are vulnerable to climate change, especially to reductions in rainfall and runoff. The region has experienced demographic growth as the wine and tourism industries have expanded, and as an educated and affluent population of retirees, second home owners, ‘electronic cottagers’ and alternative lifestylers has moved into the area. Two projects, a local study as part of a national evaluation of the adaptation of tourist areas to climate change and a more focused identification of vulnerable locations and activities were supported by local government, business and community organisations and several adaptive strategies were identified. The success of these projects can in part be attributed to the relatively high levels of both education and environmental awareness possessed by the local population as a matter of happenstance. Nevertheless, the original contention of this paper is that these initiatives also allow communities like Margaret River to take on the role of front-runners, providing demonstrations and learning opportunities on how to manage the transition to sustainability and guidance on how such methods might be adapted in other rural areas facing the challenges of climate change.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-887972022-07-07T04:37:07Z Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner Jones, Roy The Margaret River region is within a biodiversity ‘hot spot’ and is an agricultural region famous for its premium wine production and wine, gastronomic and ecotourism. These activities are vulnerable to climate change, especially to reductions in rainfall and runoff. The region has experienced demographic growth as the wine and tourism industries have expanded, and as an educated and affluent population of retirees, second home owners, ‘electronic cottagers’ and alternative lifestylers has moved into the area. Two projects, a local study as part of a national evaluation of the adaptation of tourist areas to climate change and a more focused identification of vulnerable locations and activities were supported by local government, business and community organisations and several adaptive strategies were identified. The success of these projects can in part be attributed to the relatively high levels of both education and environmental awareness possessed by the local population as a matter of happenstance. Nevertheless, the original contention of this paper is that these initiatives also allow communities like Margaret River to take on the role of front-runners, providing demonstrations and learning opportunities on how to manage the transition to sustainability and guidance on how such methods might be adapted in other rural areas facing the challenges of climate change. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88797 10.32508/stdjssh.v2i2.489 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fulltext
spellingShingle Jones, Roy
Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner
title Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner
title_full Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner
title_fullStr Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner
title_full_unstemmed Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner
title_short Rural sustainability in the face of climate change: Consultation and adaptation in Australia's South West corner
title_sort rural sustainability in the face of climate change: consultation and adaptation in australia's south west corner
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88797