BackIn Australia, State Government agencies are responsible for assessing the condition of the rangelands. Methods developed by CSIRO are currently being trialled by:
Internationally
Methods used in GRNS are currently being tested overseas under commercial and communal grazing systems in arid and semi-arid Botswana. However, as desertification usually results from some form of human activity, the severity of desertification is dependent on the particular land use and will vary in different regions of the world.
Potential future projects
Techniques developed during the GRNS project could be adapted to assess biodiversity. Biodiversity is also affected by distance from water, and techniques for obtaining an index of biodiversity value that are rapid, precise and cost effective are required. This will require finding effective surrogates of biodiversity that can be assessed and monitored using remote sensing.
Another possible project would be to extend the results and methods used in GRNS to the assessment of the impact of different land use strategies in environmental, social and economic terms. Areas selected would be along gradients of climate, soil type and land use. The landuse gradient would also incorporate a change in population density.