Handbook

Management of environment and natural resources involves deep human-environment interactions. Looking beyond the science of soils, minerals, water and plants, this unit reveals the human factors that shape the need for and access to natural resources. Framed through a social-ecological lens, the unit examines different management practices and evaluation approaches that shape resource decision-making (and resource conflicts) in Australia and beyond. By exploring social, political, economic, and institutional settings of critical natural resources (e.g. water, forests, minerals, soil/land), we uncover drivers of natural resource conflicts (e.g. rainforest destruction, land degradation, pressure on water supplies) and discuss pathways towards more sustainable resource management approaches.