Explore ARDC

RAiD https://raid.org/10.71613/c576a6f5
NESP RL Project 3.19 - Climate-resilient landscapes: an adaptation case study in NSW’s Northern Rivers region and the Wet Tropics of Queensland

Dates

Start Date
01-Jul-2024
End Date
30-Jun-2027

Titles

Title
NESP RL Project 3.19 - Climate-resilient landscapes: an adaptation case study in NSW’s Northern Rivers region and the Wet Tropics of Queensland
Title Type
Primary
Title Type:
Primary
 Preferred full description or abstract.
Start Date
01-Jul-2024
End Date
30-Jun-2027
Language
English

Descriptions

Description

Climate change is escalating the risks to threatened species and ecosystems across Australia. Warming temperatures and changing rainfall patterns pose threats in themselves and may also exacerbate the risks from other threats such as feral animals, weeds and development pressures. In coastal regions, sea-level rise is changing coastal processes and damaging habitat.

Under such complex scenarios, stakeholders and decision-makers need data, information and tools to ensure that adaptation strategies and actions are appropriate and effective. To be successful, strategies and actions must be accepted by the community and be culturally appropriate, and be informed by local knowledge, including Traditional Knowledge.

This project is developing climate change adaptation plans for the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales and the Wet Tropics of Queensland. Both regions are home to many threatened species and ecological communities and contain a diverse range of land uses and protected areas, including significant wetlands, national parks, World Heritage Areas, Indigenous Protected Areas and Indigenous Land Use Agreements. They are also places of rapid change: in a 3-year period in the Northern Rivers region, unprecedented drought was followed by bushfires and floods in rapid succession.

In each region, researchers will work with local community groups, Indigenous organisations, NRM groups and government agencies to design adaptation plans that can be embedded in planning and conservation initiatives. The plans will identify key climate risks for selected species and ecosystems and develop feasible strategies and options to manage these risks.

Adapting to the conservation challenges posed by climate change is a problem facing all landscapes and communities throughout Australia. The Northern Rivers and Wet Tropics regions provide case studies where approaches and tools can be developed that are transferable to other regions.  

Key research areas

To assist local communities to develop adaptation plans for focal threatened species and ecosystems, this project will: 

  • consult with rightsholders and stakeholders to identify focal species and ecosystems that are Culturally significant and/or threatened (terrestrial, aquatic and coastal)
  • assemble available data on species, ecosystems and current and future climate, then map and assess critical habitat and ecosystem condition
  • build a climate-risk database for focal species and ecosystems and construct climate-risk models under current and projected conditions   
  • review and evaluate current adaptation actions and consult with communities and rightsholders on adaptation strategies
  • develop an adaptation plan based on community preferences of what is effective, acceptable and appropriate in their local context.

 

Pathway to impact

The research will assist communities to build the climate resilience of threatened species and ecosystems within their regions by:

  • developing a method for climate change adaptation planning that uses tools for community co-design, modelling and spatial planning that are generic and can be applied to any landscape
  • creating a web-based decision-support platform, ‘Northern Rivers Adapts’, that provides community and stakeholder representatives access to maps, data and related information on climate risks and adaptation options and strategies
  • contributing the data, information, guidance and tools from the Wet Tropics adaptation planning to existing decision support tools or through a new web-based platform.
Description Type

Primary
Description Type:

Primary

 Preferred full description or abstract
Language
English

Contributors

Name Brendan Mackey ORCID Logo (unauthenticated)
Contributor ID ORCID Logo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1996-4064 (unauthenticated)
Leader
Yes
Contact
Yes
Positions
Position
Principal or Chief Investigator
Position:
Principal or Chief Investigator
 Principal investigator refers to the person(s) in charge of a research project
Start Date
01-Jul-2024
End Date
---
Roles
No Entries
Leader
Yes
Contact
Yes
Positions
Position
Principal or Chief Investigator
Position:
Principal or Chief Investigator
 Principal investigator refers to the person(s) in charge of a research project
Start Date
01-Jul-2024
End Date
---
Roles
No Entries

Organisations

Name
Griffith University

Roles
Role
Lead Research Organisation
Role:
Lead Research Organisation
 The research organistion administratively responsible for the project; administering organisation
Start Date
2024-07-01
End Date
---
Name
James Cook University

Roles
Role
Lead Research Organisation
Role:
Lead Research Organisation
 The research organistion administratively responsible for the project; administering organisation
Start Date
2024-07-01
End Date
---

RelatedObjects

Citation
Norman, P., Bhatt, T. R., Wraith, J., & Mackey, B. (2025). Landscape-wide modelling of canopy tree crowns and heights using LiDAR: a case study in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia. Australian Journal of Botany, 73(7).
Type
Journal Article
Categories
Output
Citation
---
Type
Conference Poster
Categories
Output
Citation
---
Type
Conference Poster
Categories
Output
Citation
---
Type
Conference Poster
Categories
Output
Citation
---
Type
Conference Poster
Categories
Output
Citation
Gonda, C. (2026). Challenges and priorities for forest-based climate change mitigation: a global expert elicitation. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 31(6).
Type
Journal Article
Categories
Output
Citation
Toombs, N., Chapman, S., Ma, S., Trancoso, R., Mackey, B., Wraith, J., Norman, P., Owens, D., Bhatt, T., & Singh, A. R. (2026). Downscaled projections of bioclimatic indices for species distribution modelling in Australia—a case study for the greater glider. Environmental Research: Climate, 5(3), 35019.
Type
Journal Article
Categories
Output

Alternate Identifier

No Entries

Alternate URLs

Related RAiDs

Title
NESP Resilient Landscapes Hub (10.71821/ffc970c8)
Relation
IsPartOf
Relation:
IsPartOf
 Relates a subproject back to its parent project

Access

Type
Open Access
Type:
Open Access
 Open access refers to a resource that is immediately and permanently online, and free for all on the Web, without financial and technical barriers.The resource is either stored in the repository or referenced to an external journal or trustworthy archive.
Language
---
Text
---
Embargo Expiry
---

Subjects

No Entries

Raw Data

{
  "access": {
    "type": {
      "id": "https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/access_rights/c_abf2/",
      "schemaUri": "https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/access_rights/"
    }
  },
  "alternateIdentifier": [],
  "alternateUrl": [
    {
      "url": "https://nesplandscapes.edu.au/projects/nesp-rlh/nsw-northern-rivers/"
    }
  ],
  "contributor": [
    {
      "contact": true,
      "id": "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1996-4064",
      "leader": true,
      "position": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/contributor.position.schema/307",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/contributor.position.schema/305",
          "startDate": "2024-07-01"
        }
      ],
      "role": [],
      "schemaUri": "https://orcid.org/",
      "status": "AUTHENTICATION_REVOKED",
      "uuid": "2d85c8a4-ac4c-4649-9109-330cbc1b9f57"
    },
    {
      "contact": true,
      "id": "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4822-8736",
      "leader": true,
      "position": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/contributor.position.schema/307",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/contributor.position.schema/305",
          "startDate": "2024-07-01"
        }
      ],
      "role": [],
      "schemaUri": "https://orcid.org/",
      "status": "AUTHENTICATED",
      "uuid": "98d11771-988c-4a8a-b609-79876893f890"
    }
  ],
  "date": {
    "endDate": "2027-06-30",
    "startDate": "2024-07-01"
  },
  "description": [
    {
      "language": {
        "id": "eng",
        "schemaUri": "https://www.iso.org/standard/74575.html"
      },
      "text": "Climate change is escalating the risks to threatened species and ecosystems across Australia. Warming temperatures and changing rainfall patterns pose threats in themselves and may also exacerbate the risks from other threats such as feral animals, weeds and development pressures. In coastal regions, sea-level rise is changing coastal processes and damaging habitat.  \n\nUnder such complex scenarios, stakeholders and decision-makers need data, information and tools to ensure that adaptation strategies and actions are appropriate and effective. To be successful, strategies and actions must be accepted by the community and be culturally appropriate, and be informed by local knowledge, including Traditional Knowledge. \n\nThis project is developing climate change adaptation plans for the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales and the Wet Tropics of Queensland. Both regions are home to many threatened species and ecological communities and contain a diverse range of land uses and protected areas, including significant wetlands, national parks, World Heritage Areas, Indigenous Protected Areas and Indigenous Land Use Agreements. They are also places of rapid change: in a 3-year period in the Northern Rivers region, unprecedented drought was followed by bushfires and floods in rapid succession. \n\nIn each region, researchers will work with local community groups, Indigenous organisations, NRM groups and government agencies to design adaptation plans that can be embedded in planning and conservation initiatives. The plans will identify key climate risks for selected species and ecosystems and develop feasible strategies and options to manage these risks. \n\nAdapting to the conservation challenges posed by climate change is a problem facing all landscapes and communities throughout Australia. The Northern Rivers and Wet Tropics regions provide case studies where approaches and tools can be developed that are transferable to other regions.   \n\n### Key research areas\nTo assist local communities to develop adaptation plans for focal threatened species and ecosystems, this project will:  \n* consult with rightsholders and stakeholders to identify focal species and ecosystems that are Culturally significant and/or threatened (terrestrial, aquatic and coastal) \n* assemble available data on species, ecosystems and current and future climate, then map and assess critical habitat and ecosystem condition \n* build a climate-risk database for focal species and ecosystems and construct climate-risk models under current and projected conditions    \n* review and evaluate current adaptation actions and consult with communities and rightsholders on adaptation strategies \n* develop an adaptation plan based on community preferences of what is effective, acceptable and appropriate in their local context. \n\n### Pathway to impact\nThe research will assist communities to build the climate resilience of threatened species and ecosystems within their regions by: \n* developing a method for climate change adaptation planning that uses tools for community co-design, modelling and spatial planning that are generic and can be applied to any landscape \n* creating a web-based decision-support platform, ‘Northern Rivers Adapts’, that provides community and stakeholder representatives access to maps, data and related information on climate risks and adaptation options and strategies \n* contributing the data, information, guidance and tools from the Wet Tropics adaptation planning to existing decision support tools or through a new web-based platform.",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/description.type.schema/318",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/description.type.schema/320"
      }
    }
  ],
  "identifier": {
    "id": "https://raid.org/10.71613/c576a6f5",
    "license": "Creative Commons CC-0",
    "owner": {
      "id": "https://ror.org/01db6n192",
      "schemaUri": "https://ror.org/",
      "servicePoint": 20000011,
      "servicePointName": "Resilient Landscapes Hub - National Environmental Science Program"
    },
    "raidAgencyUrl": "https://static.prod.raid.org.au/raids/10.71613/c576a6f5",
    "registrationAgency": {
      "id": "https://ror.org/038sjwq14",
      "schemaUri": "https://ror.org/"
    },
    "schemaUri": "https://raid.org/",
    "version": 9
  },
  "metadata": {
    "created": 1754980011,
    "updated": 1789711346
  },
  "organisation": [
    {
      "id": "https://ror.org/02sc3r913",
      "role": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/organisation.role.schema/182",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/organisation.role.schema/359",
          "startDate": "2024-07-01"
        }
      ],
      "schemaUri": "https://ror.org/"
    },
    {
      "id": "https://ror.org/04gsp2c11",
      "role": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/organisation.role.schema/182",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/organisation.role.schema/359",
          "startDate": "2024-07-01"
        }
      ],
      "schemaUri": "https://ror.org/"
    }
  ],
  "relatedObject": [
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://doi.org/10.1071/BT25031",
      "schemaUri": "https://doi.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/250",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    },
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260911024819/https://biocollect.ala.org.au/document/download/2025-09/RLH3.19%20-%20Network%20mapping%20of%20environmental%20community%20groups%20active%20within%20the%20Northern%20Rivers%2C%20poster.pdf",
      "schemaUri": "https://web.archive.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/248",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    },
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260911024846/https://biocollect.ala.org.au/document/download/2025-09/RLH3.19%20-%20SUPPORTING%20CLIMATE%20ADAPTATION%20FOR%20BIODIVERSITY%20IN%20NSW%E2%80%99S%20NORTHERN%20RIVERS%2C%20poster.pdf",
      "schemaUri": "https://web.archive.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/248",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    },
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260911024937/https://biocollect.ala.org.au/document/download/2025-09/RLH3.19%20-%20Supporting%20climate%20adaptation%20for%20biodiversity%20in%20the%20Northern%20Rivers%20Aquatic%20species%2C%20factsheet.pdf",
      "schemaUri": "https://web.archive.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/248",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    },
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://web.archive.org/web/20260911025218/https://biocollect.ala.org.au/document/download/2026-06/Climate-resilient-Landscapes-info-sheet.pdf",
      "schemaUri": "https://web.archive.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/248",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    },
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-026-10332-2",
      "schemaUri": "https://doi.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/250",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    },
    {
      "category": [
        {
          "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.id/190",
          "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.category.schemaUri/386"
        }
      ],
      "id": "https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/ae70a5",
      "schemaUri": "https://doi.org/",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/250",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedObject.type.schema/329"
      }
    }
  ],
  "relatedRaid": [
    {
      "id": "https://raid.org/10.71821/ffc970c8",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedRaid.type.schema/202",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/relatedRaid.type.schema/367"
      }
    }
  ],
  "spatialCoverage": [],
  "subject": [],
  "title": [
    {
      "endDate": "2027-06-30",
      "language": {
        "id": "eng",
        "schemaUri": "https://www.iso.org/standard/74575.html"
      },
      "startDate": "2024-07-01",
      "text": "NESP RL Project 3.19 - Climate-resilient landscapes: an adaptation case study in NSW’s Northern Rivers region and the Wet Tropics of Queensland",
      "type": {
        "id": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/title.type.schema/5",
        "schemaUri": "https://vocabulary.raid.org/title.type.schema/376"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Page generated: