Groundwater extraction can have varied and diffuse effects. Negative external effects may include costs imposed on other groundwater users and on surrounding ecosystems. Environmental damages are commonly not reflected in market transactions. Groundwater transfers have the potential to cause...

Perth, Western Australia (pop. 1.6m) derives 60% of its public water supply from the Gnangara groundwater system (GGS). Horticulture, domestic self-supply, and municipal parks are other major consumers of GGS groundwater. The system supports important wetlands and groundwater-dependent...

The development of a market in groundwater usage rights can be inhibited by constraints arising from the institutional context. Such impediments may reduce the potential gains from trade and may generate high transaction costs for prospective traders. We analyse the regulations and policies...

This paper has been published in a peer-reviewed journal as: Rogers, A., Kragt, M.E., Gibson, F., Pannell, D.J., Burton, M. & Petersen, L. (2013) Non-market valuation: praise, protest and impact in environmental policy. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Online 5 November...

Hydrologists predict that salinity in the agricultural region of Western Australia will eventually affect an average of 30 percent of the landscape if nothing is done to reduce current levels of recharge. The scale of tree planting and other works thought to be required for controlling salinity...

Lifestyle landowners value land for its amenities and ecological characteristics and could play an important role in managing and conserving native vegetation in multifunctional rural landscapes. We quantify values of ecosystem services captured by owners of rural lifestyle properties in...

Changing land-ownership patterns transform many rural landscapes from agricultural to multifunctional, which may have significant implications for land management and conservation policy. This paper presents a hedonic pricing model that quantifies the value of the remnant native vegetation...

Wildfires can cause significant damage to ecosystems, life and property, and wildfire events that do not involve people and property are becoming rare. With the expansion of the rural–urban interface in Western Australia and elsewhere, objectives of life and property protection become more...

Invasive species are significant threats to biodiversity, natural ecosystems and agriculture leading to large worldwide economic and environmental damage. Spread and control of invasive species are stochastic processes with important spatial dimensions. Most economic studies of invasive species...