Why monitor?

Monitoring overview

Figure 1: Some of the key external drivers for monitoring of natural resources and environmental performance

Key drivers

There are both internal property and external drivers for environmental performance monitoring. Your internal drivers may be a desire to pursue new business opportunities or to improve your environmental stewardship.

Figure 1 shows some of the many external drivers for why you may want or need to monitor your environmental performance. For a more detailed discussion of the drivers of property level monitoring see A landholder’s monitoring guide for sustainable natural resource management practice (PDF, 69K)*, a conference paper prepared for 13th International Soil Conservation Organisation Conference held in Brisbane in July 2004.

Whether your property drains to Lake Eyre, the Great Barrier Reef, the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Murray Darling Basin or through a major urban centre, there are many perceived and real natural resource management problems that are attributed to land practices. Monitoring is an important part of minimising the possible impacts of your land practices.

Understanding your farming system

Monitoring gives you ownership of the problem. Knowing what is happening to the natural resources on your property will increase your understanding of the impact of your farming system and your management options.

Environmental reporting

Monitoring can help establish your environmental credentials and provide proof of due diligence for a third party audit or assessment by demonstrating that you are meeting your duty of care. Such groups may include:

your industry group
various levels of government
banks and investors
Landcare or catchment groups
regional natural resource management bodies
other non-government organisations
your market supply chain.

Monitoring may also help fulfil legal or regulatory requirements that may apply to your particular enterprise, land tenure or industry.

Marketing your stewardship and performance

Monitoring may provide you with a competitive advantage if you are involved in export or specialist niche marketing for your farm products. It will give you the information to demonstrate your environmental stewardship and may also be an industry requirement for export to some areas (for example, fruit and vegetables entering the European Union need to adhere to EUREPGAP - a global partnership for safe and sustainable agriculture).

Property asset values

Monitoring can influence property asset values. While production figures and business accounts provide short-term evidence of productivity and financial performance, natural resource monitoring provides information and a history for valuers and potential purchasers on how well the property has been managed long-term.

⁺ NRMMC 2002, Australia's national framework for environmental management systems in agriculture, Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, Canberra, http://www.daff.gov.au/natural-resources/land-salinity/ems/framework (accessed July 2, 2010).

Improving performance

During your daily activities you are continuously making observations about your property. You may keep formal records about rainfall, crop yields, management actions and farm inputs such as fertiliser use. However, emerging environmental problems are often better detected by regular monitoring of indicators that are not about production or use of the land. Land conditions tend to change slowly and changes over three (or even 20) years may not be obvious to detect. If changes are noticed early, management practices can be modified to prevent further decline.

For example, graziers may make mental notes of the condition of their pastures during their day-to-day activities on the property. However, it can be difficult to recall accurately how the pastures looked 12 months ago, unless some observations have been recorded. A documented record allows comparison with previous years and allows the data to be shared.

Monitoring can help you determine if your management actions are benefiting or threatening your natural resources and if they are contributing to higher or lower productivity in the longer term.

Managing towards your goal

Figure 2: Monitoring is an integral part of the management system (adapted from NRMMC 2002, p.6+)

How do you know if you are achieving your property goals? Many land managers use a property management planning process to more holistically manage their farm production system. However, this process does not necessarily result in improved natural resource performance. An environmental management plan or system that includes natural resource monitoring will help you assess your progress towards natural resource targets.

Figure 2 shows how, to be effective, monitoring should be included at all stages of the management process (using the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System as an example).

Managing environmental impact

Understanding your farming system

Environmental reporting

your industry group
various levels of government
banks and investors
Landcare or catchment groups
regional natural resource management bodies
other non-government organisations
your market supply chain.

Monitoring may also help fulfil legal or regulatory requirements that may apply to your particular enterprise, land tenure or industry.