The management of the Australian landscape has occupied a central position in Australian politics since the re-settlement of this continent over 200 years ago. Environmental manage- ment, long recognised as technically complex and challenging, has also been contentious and controversial. The issues associated with coping with lingering droughts, the prospects of sig- nificant climate change, and stemming soil erosion on agricultural lands are now of broad, popular interest. As Australian governments, industry associations and civil society have wrestled with these problems, significant experiments in environmental planning and man- agement have been undertaken. .
