The Economics of the Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves in NSW

Posted on September 28, 2011 · Posted in Blog

Between June and July this year, Economists at Large completed some work for the National Parks Association of New South Wales (NPANSW) looking into the economics of the Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves (TSRs) of New South Wales (NSW).  Our first piece of work involved preparing a briefing paper for an economic study to assess the economic values of shared and sustainable uses of the NSW Travelling Stock Route (TSR).  Following that, I presented at the 2nd Conference on Travelling Stock Routes, held in Orange, NSW.

 

The economics of the NSW TSR presents some interesting questions for policy makers and the NSW and Australian public.  The TSRs were originally maintained for the movement and shelter of stock, for regular and irregular droving.  As a result, the TSRs are also colloquially refered to as “The Long Paddock”.  In recent times, alternatives to traditional droving have become available – namely road transport using trucks.  While not as commonly used for droving or shelter as in the past, a number of unforeseen benefits are now derived from TSRs.  The TSRs are culturally significant, being linked both to indigenous and European history in Australia.  Furthermore, some TSRs are now used for tourism or educational purposes and represent classes of remnant vegetation in otherwise heavily cleared areas.  For the same reason, the TSRs have very significant biodiversity values, with little research yet to be conducted in this area for TSRs.

Many countries, states and organisations are working on reforestation and biodiversity corridors around the world, for example; the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) scheme, for which Norway recently entered into a US $1 billion dollar deal with Indonesia.  South Australia also a Biodiversity Corridors program and the Asian Development Bank runs a Biodiveristy Corridor project in the Great Mekong region of South East Asia.

The NSW TSRs present an unique opportunity to maintain – and expand on – an existing biodiversity corridor to protect and enhance the range of values provided by this natural resource.  The alternative – the conversion of the TSRs to other uses – would likely result in just marginal increases to agricultural productivity and economic activity in regions affected, but at a potentially significant loss of wider public welfare and a missed opportunity for Australia to lead the world in whole of landscape conservation and biodiversity protection.

Our work so far on the economics of TSRs can be downloaded or viewed online: