FOREWORD and INTRODUCTION

Abstract

FOREWORD T his 'special' issue of the Australian Journal of Environmental Management is devoted to an examination of environmental risk assessment and management. Seven authors have looked at environmental risk from diverse persepectives, recognising that, in the words of one of them Janet Gough it has particular characteristics that differentiate it from other types of risk: the need to make decisions based on long time frames and on assumptions regarding their effects on future generations, and in the absence of scientific certainty.