What We Do >> Research Programs >> Flagship Programs

Flagship Programs

The Flagship Programs of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute aim to improve research and enhance community and sponsor engagement. They are holistic, landscape-scale concepts that tackle complex socio-economic and ecosystem challenges for the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

Coping with Climate Change

The values of the World Heritage Area are seriously threatened by climate change, with both the impacts and extent of the threat being unpredictable. Climate change is likely to change fire regimes, and may encourage the spread of invasive species, disrupt ecological processes and hasten the extinction of species. At the same time, the area makes a significant contribution to climate change mitigation through carbon storage and sequestration.

The impact of change on species and ecological communities needs to be understood and adaptive management approaches developed within and outside the eight protected areas that make up the World Heritage Area. Informed and compatible decisions on surrounding land use can mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhance resilience. Quantifying the positive contribution of the reserve to carbon storage and sequestration will strengthen arguments for the protection of the World Heritage Area and its values.

Healthy Ecosystems and Communities

The future health of the World Heritage Area depends on the proper functioning of the region’s natural ecosystems and its interaction with human development needs. The values of the area will be compromised if those needs are not balanced. Healthy ecosystem dynamics need to be maintained, including appropriate fire regimes and the maintenance of top-order native carnivores within the system. Similarly there is a need to improve the community’s understanding of the links between healthy ecosystems and human wellbeing (economic prosperity, human health, spiritual well-being etc).

This understanding can reinforce the vital links between local communities and the ecosystems of the World Heritage Area, especially the role of predators, fire behaviour and risk management. It can also help develop an overarching, multi-stakeholder brand for the area that emphasises the link between healthy ecosystems and healthy communities and which draws on various initiatives in Australia and overseas, including Healthy Parks Healthy People and One Health.

An Effective Buffer Zone

The World Heritage Area is impacted by adjacent land use, including water flow from catchments that feed into the reserve, invasion by introduced species, agri-industry and urban development. Councils are under pressure to allow more subdivision and there are economic incentives for neighbouring rural and semi-rural landholders to allow urban development. The World Heritage Area has a fragmented boundary with several in-holdings and development corridors. It urgently needs a buffer zone of compatible land uses and management regimes to ensure its values are protected and enhanced.

Such a proposal would significantly support Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention, which increasingly uses buffer zones to help protect the core values of world heritage properties. The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute can help researchers, policy makers and the community develop a buffer zone with appropriate land use regulations, incentives and awareness strategies.