New ideas and techniques in economics open up the possibility of making significant improvements in environmental policy mechanism. It is now possible to design, test and create new policy mechanisms such as tradeable emissions permits, specialised markets

The Australian Shallow Waters Spectral Library initiates an Australia-wide, single method approach to remote sensing based habitat mapping.

This publication is one of a suite of 13 produced as part of a folder showcasing research from the Defeating the Weed Menace Research and Development program.

This fact sheet outlines six projects on market-based instruments commissioned by Land & Water Australia, and explains why it is an important area for ongoing research and investment.

Market-based instruments for achieving conservation outcomes are being implemented by Australian governments and regional natural resource management organisations with increasing regularity. Their benefits are argued to include: increased flexibility in resource management, improved individual incentives and application of specialist site knowledge to management, achievement of outcomes at lower cost, and greater adaptability to ever changing goals. This fact sheet is based on the report Barriers to and opportunities for increasing participation in conservation auctions by Stuart Whitten, Andrew Reeson, Jill Windle and John Rolfe.

The program aimed to: *further develop indicators under the National Natural Resource Monitoring & Evaluation Framework including guidelines on collecting and collating data *develop information products to support policy and management needs *facilitate the development of data and information management systems

Leading and emerging researchers in landscape ecology and conservation biology gathered in Bowral, southern New South Wales, in March 2006 to discuss whether it was possible to create a general framework to guide the management of landscapes for conservation. Participants were asked to appraise a given topic in landscape research and identify 5-10 general insights or key issues emerging from that topic. The topics were clustered into 10 major themes with researchers asked to produce 4000 word essays on each topic.

A national study commissioned by the National Land & Water Resources Audit will inform the design of future NRM programs and provide an important baseline for evaluating their impact.

The overall plan for this Research Fellowship was to read and digest the literature on droughtand aquatic systems and their biota, to produce a report for Land & Water Australia on the major findings from the review of the literature, and to use this Fellowship effort to set up the writing of a book on drought and aquatic systems. The time to read about drought and think about what we know, in spite of some necessary interruptions, has been a very rewarding experience, and I am grateful to Land & Water Australia for giving me the opportunity to dig into the drought literature.