Land Use

Status of information for reporting against indicators

Land use and land management practices have a significant impact on how we achieve natural resource targets, work towards sustainable use of natural resources and maintain agricultural productivity and foster prosperous regional communities.

The availability of nationally consistent land use mapping and spatial information on land management practices is increasingly important for development, implementation and monitoring of relevant policies and programs.

A collaborative national land use mapping initiative was established in 1999. Before this, the availability of detailed mapping in Australia was limited and uncoordinated. Australian and state/territory government agencies independently produced land use mapping at a range of scales using a variety of cartographic methods and classification systems.

The National NRM Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (National M&E Framework) called for the identification of ‘matters for target’. Each matter for target has a set of ‘indicators’ that will be used to monitor and report on the topic.

Matter for Target

While not identified as a specific matter for target, land use is the one dataset that can act as a surrogate for other, more intractable, indicators. It is accepted as a key natural resource data and information theme. Land use mapping and land management practices have importance to the indicator framework and to the use and interpretation of data and information provided by other themes.

Sponsor Agencies

Primary portfolio responsibility for the land use theme lies with the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

National Coordination

The Australian Collaborative Land Use Mapping Program (ACLUMP) is a consortium of Australian and state/territory government partners to promote the development of nationally consistent land use and land management practices information. Development of ACLUMP is overseen by the Executive Steering Committee for Australian Land Use Mapping (ESCALUM) supported by the Technical Advisory Group on Australian Land Use Mapping (TAGALUM).

Australian Government partners are:

• Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry and the Bureau of Rural Sciences
• National Land & Water Resources Audit
• Australian Greenhouse Office
• Murray-Darling Basin Commission.

State agency partners are:

• NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change
• NT Department of Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts
• WA Department of Agriculture and Food
• Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water
• SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation
• Victorian Department of Primary Industries
• Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries and Water.

Program activities are financed by partner agencies and the Natural Heritage Trust, National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and the National Landcare Program

National Database

National scale mapping (approx 1:2 500 000 scale)

National scale mapping gives an overview of land use activities and is useful for modelling processes at a continental or broad regional scale and for assessing priorities, setting policies and allocating resources for natural resource management problems such as dryland salinity risk.

Catchment scale mapping (approx 1:25 000 scale for irrigated and peri-urban areas; 1:100 000 scale for broadacre cropping regions;1:250 000 scale for the semi-arid and arid pastoral zone). Catchment scale land use mapping has an important role to play in developing effective solutions to Australia’s natural resource management issues because landscape processes involving soil and water generally operate at land catchment scale. Catchment scale mapping is completed or underway for over 90% of the continent.

Visit the Land Use Mapping for Australia website.

Audit Related Publications