CSIRO teams up with Gondwana Link for new action-research collaboration

A new action-research collaboration between researchers at CSIRO’s Valuing Sustainability Future Science Platform (VS FSP) and Gondwana Link has been launched.

The team is seeking insights on why some landscape-scale restoration efforts succeed, how they overcome challenges and navigate challenging circumstances, and the governance characteristics underpinning transformative social and ecological change.

By identifying ‘bright spots’ where landscape-scale restoration programs are succeeding, researchers hope to draw insights, evidence and inspiration that will support and accelerate wider adoption of critical success factors.

“Collaboration and governance processes and the broader enabling environment can be critical determinants of restoration success, yet often receive less attention than the biophysical aspects of restoration interventions.” says CSIRO Project Lead Dr Emma Ligtermoet.

In a well-timed alignment, Gondwana Link are currently reviewing their social measures and governance processes, with a view to more inclusive and effective governance.

“While there has been an abundance of ecological studies into various aspects of the Gondwana Link program and area, this is the first major social sciences effort to understand the habitats and interactions of that particularly significant species – humans. As such we have strongly welcomed this opportunity and look forward to sharing what will be uncovered.” says Gondwana Link CEO Keith Bradby OAM.

Gondwana Link is an internationally recognised, large-landscape scale restoration program which operates across 1000km of south-western Australia. The organisation has worked since 2002 to support and facilitate largescale conservation connectivity and restoration activities. It attracts and connects diverse landholders and stewardship groups, including farmers, First Nations organisations, community environmental groups, national and international NGOs, and businesses.

The experiences of a leading and persistent ‘bright spot’ restoration program like Gondwana Link, and of the many organisations working across the Link, provides valuable opportunities to understand the ‘how and why’ of what’s worked, as well as what hasn’t worked.

“Through this partnership, we will co-produce fresh insights into the principles and measures required for landscape-scale collaborative restoration programs to ensure that just practices are embedded,” explains Dr Ligtermoet. “Gondwana Link has been in operation for more than 20 years, which provides us with a great opportunity to gather insights into the social context and governance processes that have driven Gondwana Link’s transformative social and ecological work.”

One aspect of the collaboration will involve testing findings from Gondwana Link in different contexts, through engaging with other landscape-scale restoration projects across Australia which have had mixed success. Understanding why some persisted and others did not will contribute to strengthening the critical role of large landscape restoration programs in preventing, halting, and reversing biodiversity and ecosystem loss. This is an important opportunity to ensure governance principles and processes that lead to socially just restoration outcomes are embedded.

“We are especially delighted to be working with a CSIRO on this project, and for the work to be part of their much larger Valuing Sustainability program.’ says Keith Bradby. “It’s a great partnership, with our hard-won experience and CSIRO’s wealth of expertise and formidable research reputation, so we are confident of ‘Bright Spots’ being a scientifically rigorous analysis, with the results supporting a strengthening of restoration networks and programs across Australia.”

For further information please contact project lead Dr Emma Ligtermoet.

For further information on Gondwana Link see: https://gondwanalink.org/ .

Project Information flyer can be found here

Authors – Emma Ligtermoet and Ruth Dawkins