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The article discusses the concept of "squirrel wheel economics" and the need for countervailing power in the modern economy. It explores the idea that the process of satisfying consumer wants can create more wants, leading to a cycle of production and consumption that may not necessarily improve overall welfare. The article highlights the historical shift from real scarcity to relative scarcity in Western economies and the negative consequences of excessive consumption and production, such as environmental degradation and increased consumer debt. It calls for a reevaluation of the pursuit of continuous economic growth and the development of strategies aimed at sufficiency-orientation and degrowth. The article emphasizes the importance of collective action and informed public dialogue in addressing these issues and achieving sustainable development goals. [Extracted from the article]

Temperate Australian saltmarshes, including those in the southern island state of Tasmania, are considered to be a threatened ecological community under Australian federal legislation. There is a need to improve our understanding of the ecological components, functional relationships and threatening processes of Tasmanian coastal saltmarshes and distil research priorities that could assist recovery actions. A semisystematic review of the literature on Tasmanian coastal saltmarshes supported by expert local knowledge identified 75 studies from 1947 to 2019. Existing understanding pertains to saltmarsh plants, soils, invertebrates and human impacts with ongoing studies currently adding to this knowledge base. Several knowledge gaps remain, and the present review recommends six key priority areas for research: (1) citizen science–organised inventory of (initially) saltmarsh birds, plants and human impacts with the potential for expansion of datasets; (2) use of saltmarsh by marine transient species including fish and decapods; (3) use of saltmarsh by, and interactions with, native and introduced mammals; (4) invertebrates and their interactions with predators (e.g. birds, fish) and prey (e.g. insects, plants, detritus); (5) historic saltmarsh loss and priority areas for conservation; (6) monitoring changes to saltmarsh due to both localised human impacts (e.g. grazing, eutrophication, destruction) and global change factors (e.g. climate change, sea-level rise). Addressing these research priorities will help in developing a better understanding of the ecological character of Tasmanian coastal saltmarshes and improve their conservation management.

ABSTRACTThe Tamar Saltmarsh Monitoring Program is a citizen science program started in 2016 as part of a State-wide effort to better map, monitor and manage Tasmanian saltmarsh ecosystems. Now in its third year (2018), the Program has facilitated the involvement of community volunteers in surveying and documenting the natural values of the Tamar River estuary saltmarshes, along with the human impacts they face. In addition to collecting valuable ecological data, the surveys have raised the profile of these ecosystems among the local community and identified key areas for improved management. Many survey volunteers had previously never stepped foot in a saltmarsh and, through their involvement in the program, have built knowledge, awareness and deeper connections with their local environment. The Tamar Saltmarsh Monitoring Program provides a salient case study to illustrate both the process and potential for the wider adoption of citizen science saltmarsh monitoring in Australia.

In a recent Forum Essay in Pacific Conservation Biology, the well known ecologist Harry Recher argued that over the past three decades Australia had experienced a ‘failure of science’ and a concomitant ‘death of nature’. In this essay we examine some of the propositions put forward by Recher (2015), with particular reference to the role played by neoliberal ideology in nature conservation in Australia. Since the early 1980s the neoliberal value system has effectively shaped a new paradigm for nature conservation in Australia with its own language, tools and institutions, and through such a process has redefined nature in its own terms. We focus on two of the most significant neoliberal, free-market mechanisms – (1) monetary valuation of biodiversity and of ecosystem services, and (2) the provision of complementary areas to offset losses of high-quality habitat – and show how they have come to dominate policy development and on-ground activities in wetland management and conservation in Australia. Despite the wide reach of neoliberal ideology, ecologists and conservation biologists seem largely unaware of its practical implications. In some cases, such as with offset programs and with carbon valuation, they have become complicit with the ruling ideology, without, it seems to us, being fully aware of their involvement, tacit or explicit, or of the likely connotations of that participation. Hedging the future of wetland conservation to ‘market-driven environmentalism’ is simply an expected overreach in the broader context of neoliberal economic and political ideology, and provides rich grounds for a critique in support of a more considered approach to nature conservation.

Coastal saltmarshes of temperate Australia are in decline and have recently been listed as a threatened ecological community under Federal legislation. Further research is required to better understand both the extent and nature of their decline in order to plan their recovery. A case study is presented of the most extensive area of saltmarshes in Tasmania, on the north-west Circular Head coast. A mixture of aerial photographs and ground-truthing data were used to determine human impacts and saltmarsh loss between 1952 and 2006. There was an absolute loss of 219 ha since 1952, largely due to the effects of a 24.5 km network of levees. Of the 1 153 ha of saltmarshes that remained in 2006, a further 752 ha (65%) was associated with one or several of land-based human impacts. This left 401 ha (35%) of saltmarshes that had no recorded human impacts and a contiguous vegetative buffer zone of 50–100 m. These areas represent some of the least disturbed saltmarshes in Tasmania and warrant adequate conservation measures. Future planning for conservation and the use of land and marine resources should strive to promote both the extent and functional health of saltmarshes.