View Case studies
Wildlife habitat management and strategic planning experience have been gained through diverse projects. View examples in the fields of:
Fauna and environmental survey
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Strategic planning
Catchment Strategy:
A river catchment is a microcosm of human and biological communities. Wayne Lawler's task was to plan and conduct an ambitious community consultation process leading to the drafting, review and acceptance of a strategic plan for the sustainable development of an entire river catchment, in a rapidly developing section of the Central Queensland coast.
Stakeholders ranged from graziers, farmers, foresters, commercial and recreational fishermen, rural residential landholders, urban residents, conservationists and concerned residents, wide-ranging government departments, tourist operators, real estate developers and indigenous communities. All were involved in a process of public meetings, networking, focus groups and workshops. Promotional work included newspaper columns, media interviews, promotional advertising and competitions etc. involving local businesses. High level negotiations were conducted with government and state/national interest groups.
The outcome was a comprehensive catchment strategy which belonged to all stakeholders in the catchment, addressed a wide range of critical issues, provided a planned direction for future actions, and, importantly, achieved acceptance by government through the official catchment strategy endorsement process.
Development advice:
An AIDAB project, in collaboration with the Asian Wetland Bureau, sought to resolve a conservation and socio-economic problem in rural east Java which saw endangered migrant shorebirds netted by cash-strapped rice-farmers, for sale in city market food stalls.
As part of the aid team, Wayne participated in research into the bird population dynamics and the economic alternatives available to the netters, while training Indonesian ornithologists in the scientific techniques. Wayne drafted the project report to the Indonesian and Australian authorities. It's recommendations mapped out a path towards alternative income sources for the villagers during their dry season, and sustainable management of the wildlife populations and their habitat while they passed through on migration.
It was the win-win type of solution so often sought in the difficult natural resource management problems in developing communities.
Ecological modelling:
Wayne developed statistical models from field data as a tool in the strategic planning of estuarine development in SE Australia. Estuaries are foci of both human activities and wildlife populations, and migrant shorebirds are of particular concern in development planning due to their status on international treaties.
The models allow planners to assess the importance of estuarine habitats to migrant shorebirds by a suite of indicator variables, measurable by remote sensing and simple physical and chemical assessments. The techniques were set out in a management manual.
The work produced an effective planning tool for estuarine managers and EIA investigators even during the migration off season, and has been praised by coastal zone managers familiar with the problems of this type of assessment.
Contact Wayne for a confidential discussion of your needs. Phone messagebank 0429 800 498 anytime. Wayne will return your call. Or email: ecopix at auzy dot net.