Coast reflects change in Australia's values
For many Australians the coast evokes feelings of freedom, escape and nature, however an ANU academic is arguing that the coastal zone has emerged as one of the most contentious areas of environmental regulation. A study in the south-eastern region of New South Wales by Dr Nicholas Brown of the Urban Research Program in RSSS, is examining the effects of legislation on the management of social and environmental issues on the coast, and its affects on communities far removed from centres of government. "Recent trends in regulation, such as the introduction of Landcare and Coastwatch, Regional Forest Agreements and Native Title Claims are bringing complex pressures to bear on coastal users," Dr Brown said. He believes these initiatives are attempting to instil in individuals an ethic of stewardship for resources, and policies in general are widely advocating a principle of "user pays". "These new roles, however, are often coupled to a perception by communities that they are bearing responsibility for matters which governments still need to coordinate, and which involve negotiations between local knowledge and values on the one hand, and increasing levels of expertise in resource management on the other," Dr Brown said. Talking to groups on the south coast, Dr Brown frequently heard of the tensions arising from this process, and of the perception that these policies were creating a conflict between the rights of the individual, and the duty to take responsibility for others and the environment. "This perception might reflect widespread concerns, but the coast is the perfect place to observe this intersection between policy and diverse local resources," Dr Brown said. "In the case of the New South Wales south-coast fishing communities such as Ulladulla and Eden, the sudden regulation of the fishing industry in the 1980s - after the awareness that fish stocks were in danger - forced several waves of very sophisticated resource management, accountability and compliance measures onto a small and sometimes insular industry. "The traditions, the ethnic composition, and the often intense individualism of these fishing communities posed particular problems in the management of the South East Fishery and as a result it has become the most alienated and litigious area of Australian fisheries management," he said. Dr Brown found that it was not only the complexity of regulation - balancing ecological and economic sustainability - which strained the resources of these communities, but also that fishers were caught at the intersection of inconsistent policies, appallingly handled implementation processes and a virus-ridden software package which mis-allocated fishing quotas. As these issues have been redressed, and as a younger generation of workers has become more comfortable in adopting these new policy identities, such tensions are abating, Dr Brown said. Even so, these quiet coastal villages have been transformed. "While Australians might not ever have to pay to sit on the beach, the coast is less likely to function as a place of retreat, and more as a zone of increasing governmental influence," Dr Brown said. Julian Lee