Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Paradox of Engagement: Land Stewardship and Invasive Weeds in Amenity Landscapes

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover A Comparative Political Ecology of Exurbia

Abstract

In New South Wales, Australia, rural landscapes are undergoing profound change as a result of exurbanization. Newcomers—amenity migrants—are drawn to the scenic beaches, forests, and open landscape character of this part of Australia near Sydney and they join existing communities of long-term residents, notably ranchers involved in dairy, beef, and other types of primary agricultural production. The rural to exurban transition is stimulating both intended and unintended socio-ecological changes, especially the proliferation of invasive weeds, which are considered to be a top national priority as they threaten Australia’s agricultural economy. Drawing on interview and survey research from three case studies in New South Wales, locations where an influx of exurbanites has led to mixed landscapes of production and consumption, we explore landowners’ diverse environmental ideologies, the degree to which they collaborate with one another, and their specific land-use practices. Results show that an overwhelming majority of both exurbanites and ranchers express concerns about weeds, but there is a marked lack of coordinated engagement on invasive species between the two types of groups. This chapter is an example of social disengagement over land-use and land-cover change, rather than competition or cooperation, and contributes to a political ecological understanding of the co-construction of social relations and land management regimes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    One estimate of rural land-use in the Kiama LGA finds that rural residential properties cover 6711 ha (43.1 %), extensive agriculture covers 3549 ha (22.8 %), and dairy operations cover 4087 ha (26.2 %) (Sinclair, personal communication). In a country where people tend to celebrate using land “productively”, the trend away from using land for dairy or agriculture and towards rural residential development contributes to debates about rural change and food security (Miller and Roots 2011).

References

  • Abrams, J., Gosnell, H., Gill, N., & Klepeis, P. (2012). Re-creating the rural, reconstructing nature: An international literature review of the environmental implications of amenity migration. Conservation and Society, 10(3), 270–284. doi:10.4103/0972-4923.101837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics). (1954/1955–2005/2006). Agricultural censuses. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/c311215.nsf/web/agriculture + - + agricultural + census .

  • Adger, N. W. (2003). Social capital, collective action, and adaptation to climate change. Economic Geography, 79(4), 387–404. doi:10.1111/j.1944-8287.2003.tb00220.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agtrans. (2005). Review of the progress on invasive species. Final report to Department of Environment and Heritage. Agtrans research in conjunction with Noel Dawson, Brisbane, 142 pp. Retrieved from http://deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/review/index.html.

  • Alam, M. J. (2012). Invasive plant management in complex social landscapes: A case study in coastal New South Wales in Australia. Unpublished master’s thesis, School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Wollongong.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argent, N., Smailes, P., & Griffin, T. (2007). The amenity complex: Towards a framework for analyzing and predicting the emergence of a multifunctional countryside in Australia. Geographical Research, 45(3), 217–232. doi:10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00456.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Department of the Environment. (2014). Invasive species. Retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species.

  • Ballet, J., Sirven, N., & Requiers-Desjardins, M. (2007). Social Capital and Natural Resource Management: A Critical Perspective. The Journal of Environmental Development, 16, 355-374. doi:10.1177/1070496507310740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr, N., Karunaratne, K., & Wilkinson, R. (2005). Australia’s farmers: Past, present and future. Canberra, Australia: Land & Water Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bebbington, A., & Perreault, T. (1999). Social capital, development, and access to resources in highland Ecuador. Economic Geography, 75(4), 395–418. doi:10.1111/j.1944-8287.1999.tb00127.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breen, J., Hurley, P. T., & Taylor, L. E. (2016). No (back)sliding: Amenity migration, viewsheds, and contesting steep slope ordinances in Western North Carolina. In L. E. Taylor & P. T. Hurley (Eds.), A comparative political ecology of exurbia: Planning, environmental management, and landscape change. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnley, I., & Murphy, P. (2004). Sea change: Movement from metropolitan to arcadian. Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butcher, E. R., & Kelly, D. (2011). Physical and anthropogenic factors predict distribution of the invasive weed Tradescantia fluminensis. Austral Ecology, 36, 621–627. doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2010.02196.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadieux, K. V., & Hurley, P. (2011). Amenity migration, exurbia, and emerging rural landscapes: Global natural amenity as place and as process. GeoJournal, 76(4), 297–302. doi:10.1007/s10708-009-9335-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadieux, K. V., & Taylor, L. (Eds.). (2012). Landscape and the ideology of nature: Green sprawl. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, B., & Lane, R. (2015). How do amenity migrants learn to be environmental stewards of rural landscapes? Landscape and Urban Planning, 134, 43–52. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.10.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crosby, A. W. (1986). Biological imperialism: The biological expansion of Europe, 900–1900. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Decker, K. L., Allen, C. R., Acosta, L., Hellman, M. L., Jorgensen, C. F., Stutzman, R. J., et al. (2012). Land use, landscapes, and biological invasions. Invasive Plant Science and Management, 5(1), 108–116. doi:10.1614/IPSM-D-11-00007.1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department of the Environment. (2013). Weeds of national significance. Australian Government. Retrieved from http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/weeds/weeds/lists/wons.html.

  • Dillman, D. A., Smyht, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2009). Internet, mail and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • DPI (Department of Primary Industries). (2014). Biosecurity. Retrieved from http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/pests-weeds/weeds/definition.

  • Dunlap, T. R. (1997). Australian nature, European culture: Anglo settlers in Australia. In C. Miller & H. Rothman (Eds.), Out of the woods: Essays in environmental history (pp. 273–289). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, G. (2003). The story of deregulation in the dairy industry. The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 47, 75–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, E. C., Antill, E. C., & Kreft, H. (2012). All is not loss: Plant biodiversity in the anthropocene. PLoS ONE, 7(1), e30535. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030535.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Epanchin-Niell, R. S., Hufford, M. B., Aslan, C. E., Sexton, J. P., Port, J. D., & Waring, T. M. (2010). Controlling invasive species in complex social landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 8(4), 210–216. doi:10.1890/090029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, C., & Gill, N. (2010). Bushfire and everyday life: Examining the awareness-action ‘gap’ in changing rural landscapes. Geoforum, 41, 814–825. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.05.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, C., & Prior, T. (2011). The art of learning: Wildfire, amenity migration and local environmental knowledge. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 20(4), 612–624. doi:10.1071/WF10018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiege, M. (2005). The weedy West: Mobile nature, boundaries, and common space in the Montana landscape. The Western Historical Quarterly, 36(1), 22–47. doi:10.2307/25443100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery, T. (1994). The future eaters: An ecological history of the Australasian lands and People. New York: Grove.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, N. (2014). Making country good: Environmental change and stewardship in central Australian pastoral culture. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 39(2), 265–277. doi:10.1111/tran.12025.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, N., Chisholm, L., Klepeis, P., Wickramasuriya, D. R., & Marthick, J. (2008). Land management and land cover on land owned by amenity oriented rural landowners in Jamberoo Valley. Retrieved from http://ro.uow.edu.au/scipapers/999/.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, N., & Klepeis, P. (2011). Data summary: Living, working, and playing on the land survey. Retrieved from http://socialsciences.uow.edu.au/ausccer/UOW002998.html.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, N., Klepeis, P., & Chisholm, L. (2010). Stewardship among lifestyle oriented rural landowners. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 53(3), 317–334. doi:10.1080/09640561003612890.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie, P. D. (2003). Agricultural trends in the Sydney region 1996–2001 census comparisons. Sydney, Australia: NSW Agriculture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, R. (2010). Ecosystem services: How people benefit from nature. Environment, 52(5), 15–23. doi:10.1080/00139157.2010.507140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosnell, H., & Abrams, J. (2010). Amenity migration: Diverse conceptualizations of drivers, socioeconomic dimensions, and emerging challenges. GeoJournal, 76(4), 303–322. doi:10.1007/s10708-009-9295-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosnell, H., Haggerty, J. H., & Travis, W. R. (2006). Ranchland ownership change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, 1990–2001: Implications for conservation. Society and Natural Resources, 19(8), 743–758. doi:10.1080/08941920600801181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goulden, M., Adger, W. N., Allison, E. H., & Conway, D. (2013). Limits to resilience from livelihood diversification and social capital in lake social-ecological systems. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 103(4), 906–924. doi:10.1080/00045608.2013.765771.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, S. (2013). Three cooperative pathways to solving a collective weed management problem. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 20(2), 116–129. doi:10.1080/14486563.2013.774681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guagnano, G. A., Stern, P. C., & Dietz, T. (1995). Influences on attitude-behavior relationships: A natural experiment with curbside recycling. Environment and Behavior, 27, 699–718. doi:10.1177/0013916595275005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haggerty, J. H., & Travis, W. R. (2006). Out of administrative control: Absentee owners, resident elk and the shifting nature of wildlife management in southwestern Montana. Geoforum, 37(5), 816–830. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2005.12.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, M. (2003). Editorial: The native, naturalized, and exotic—Plants and animals in Human History. Landscape Research, 28(1), 5–9. doi:10.1080/01426390306534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halseth, G. (1998). Cottage country in transition: A social geography of change and contention in the rural recreational countryside. Montréal, Quebec, Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, I. (Ed.). (2010). Qualitative research methods in human geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Head, L. (2000). Cultural landscapes and environmental change. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Head, L., & Atchison, J. (2009). Cultural ecology: Emerging human-plant geographies. Progress in Human Geography, 33(2), 236–245. doi:10.1177/0309132508094075.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hindle, J. P., Nott, M. J., & Crichton, J. R. (1987). Illawarra region—Agricultural land classification study. Sydney, Australia: Department of Agriculture New South Wales.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, J. (2005). Impulses towards a multifunctional transition in rural Australia: Gaps in the research agenda. Journal of Rural Studies, 22, 142–160. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2005.08.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoogesteger, J. (2013). Trans-forming social capital around water: Water user organizations, water rights, and nongovernmental organizations in Cangahua, the Ecuadorian Andes. Society and Natural Resources: An International Journal, 26, 60–74. doi:10.1080/08941920.2012.689933.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houston, P. (2005). Re-valuing the fringe: Some findings on the value of agricultural production in Australia’s peri-urban regions. Geographical Research, 43(2), 209–223. doi:10.1111/j.1745-5871.2005.00314.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, J. (2008). The future of the Murray River: Amenity re-considered? Geographical Research, 46(3), 291–302. doi:10.1111/j.1745-5871.2008.00524.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ikutegbe, V., Gill, N., & Klepeis, P. (2014). Same but different: Sources of natural resource management advice for lifestyle oriented rural landholders. Journal of Environment Planning and Management, 58(9), 1530–1543. doi:10.1080/09640568.2014.936551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasperson, R. E., Golding, D., & Kasperson, J. X. (1999). Trust, risk, and democratic theory. In G. Cvetkovich & R. Lofstedt (Eds.), Social trust and the management of risk (pp. 22–44). London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiama Municipal Council. (2013). Kiama Municipal Council—Annual report 2011–2012. Retrieved from http://www.kiama.nsw.gov.au/Your-Council/Major-Publications---Reports.

  • Kiama Municipal Council. (2014). Flora and fauna. Retrieved from http://www.kiama.nsw.gov.au/environment/our-environment/biodiversity/flora---fauna.

  • Klepeis, P., Gill, N., & Chisholm, L. A. (2009). Emerging amenity landscapes: Invasive weeds and land subdivision in rural Australia. Land Use Policy, 26(2), 380–392. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.04.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klepeis, P., Scull, P., Lalonde, T., Svajlenka, N., & Gill, N. (2013). Changing forest recovery dynamics in the Northeastern United States. Area, 45(2), 239–248. doi:10.1111/area.12016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klinenberg, E. (2002). Heat wave: A social autopsy of disaster in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, S. C., Foulkes, M., Sorenson, C., & Thompson, A. (2011). Environmental learning and the social construction of an exurban landscape in Fremont County, Colorado. Geoforum, 42(1), 83–93. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2010.10.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, S., & Hutton, C. (2012). Community discourse and the emerging amenity landscapes of the rural American West. GeoJournal, 77(5), 651–665. doi:10.1007/s10708-011-9410-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacNaghten, P., & Urry, J. (1998). Contested natures. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maestas, J. D., Knight, R. L., & Gilgert, W. C. (2003). Biodiversity across a rural land-use gradient. Conservation Biology, 17(5), 1425–1434. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.02371.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matarrita-Cascante, D., & Stocks, G. (2013). Amenity migration to the global south: Implications for community development. Geoforum, 49, 91–102. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.06.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCaffrey, S. (2004). Thinking of Wildfire as a Natural Hazard. Society and Natural Resources, 17, 509–516. doi:10.1080/08941920490452445.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNeely, J. A. (2004). Strangers in our midst: The problem of invasive species. Environment, 46(6), 17–30. doi:10.1080/00139157.2004.10545159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meadows, J., Herbohn, J., & Emtage, N. (2012). Supporting cooperative forest management among small-acreage lifestyle landowners in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Society and Natural Resources: An International Journal, 26(7), 745–761. doi:10.1080/08941920.2012.719586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendham, E., Curtis, A., & Millar, J. (2012). The natural resource management implications of rural property turnover. Ecology and Society, 17(4), 5. doi:10.5751/ES-05071-170405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michelmore, M. (2003). The serrated tussock managers’ factpack. The State of New South Wales, Australia: NSW Agriculture.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, K., & Associates. (2006). The natural vegetation in the municipality of Kiama New South Wales—Final report. Kiama, New South Wales, Australia: Report prepared for Kiama Municipal Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, H. A., & Cleland, E. E. (2001). The evolutionary impact of invasive species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(10), 5446–5451. doi:10.1073/pnas.091093398.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moss, L. A. G. (Ed.). (2006). The amenity migrants: Seeking and sustaining mountains and their cultures. Cambridge, MA: CABI Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polce, C., Kunin, W. E., Biesmeijer, J. C., Dauber, J., Phillips, O. L., & the ALARM Field Site Network. (2011). Alien and native plants show contrasting responses to climate and land use in Europe. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 20(3), 367–379. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00619.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, P. (2004). Comparing invasive networks: Cultural and political biographies of invasive species. The Geographical Review, 94(2), 139–156. doi:10.1111/j.19310846.2004.tb00164.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, P. (2007). Lawn people: How grasses, weeds, and chemicals make us who we are. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seidl, D., & Klepeis, P. (2011). Human dimensions of earthworm invasion in the adirondack state park. Human Ecology, 39(5), 641–655. doi:10.1007/s10745-011-9422-y.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sobels, J., Curtis, A., & Lockie, S. (2001). The role of landcare networks in rural Australia: Exploring the contribution of social capital. Journal of Rural Studies, 17(3), 265–276. doi:10.1016/S0743-0167(01)00003-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorice, M. G., Kreuter, U. P., Wilcox, B. P., & Fox, W. E., III. (2014). Changing landowners, changing ecosystem? Land-ownership motivations as drivers of land management practices. Journal of Environmental Management, 133, 144–152. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.11.029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tidwell, L. S., & Brunson, M. W. (2008). Volunteering to manage rangeland weeds. Rangelands, 30(4), 19–24. doi:10.2111/1551-501X(2008)30[19:VTMRW]2.0.CO;2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek, P. M., Dantonio, C. M., Loope, L. L., Rejmanek, M., & Westbrooks, R. (1997). Introduced species: A significant component of human caused global change. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 21(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, J. A., & West, C. J. (2000). Environmental weeds in Australia and New Zealand: Issues and approaches to management. Austral Ecology, 25(5), 425–444. doi:10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01081.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, G. A. (2007). Multifunctional agriculture: A transition theory perspective. Cambridge, MA: CABI Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, G. A. (2012). Community resilience and environmental transitions. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY, 13346, USA

    Peter Klepeis

  2. School of Geography and Sustainable Communities, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Nicholas Gill

Authors
  1. Peter Klepeis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nicholas Gill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Klepeis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Laura E. Taylor

  2. Environmental Studies, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA

    Patrick T. Hurley

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Klepeis, P., Gill, N. (2016). The Paradox of Engagement: Land Stewardship and Invasive Weeds in Amenity Landscapes. In: Taylor, L., Hurley, P. (eds) A Comparative Political Ecology of Exurbia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29462-9_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation