THE DETERMINANTS OF THE ADOPTION OF CURRENT RECOMMENDED PRACTICES FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE WIMMERA REGION OF AUSTRALIA

The Wimmera Catchment Management Authority (WCMA) is responsible for approximately 30,000 square kilometres of land in the west of the state of Victoria in Australia. The predominant land use in the Wimmera is agriculture which is primarily responsible for the clearing of 85 percent of the region’s native vegetation. The 2003–2008 Wimmera Regional Catchment Strategy (WRCS) confirmed the natural resource management (NRM) priorities for the Wimmera Region. The Strategy document identified a number of current recommended practices (CRP), the adoption of which would contribute to the future sustainability of the region. Qualitative research identified thirteen critical CRPs that were investigated in a survey of land-management practices in the Wimmera. The research reported in this paper is based on the data collected in this survey of 1003 of the region’s landholders. Our research identifies the main determinants of the number of CRPs taken up by the region’s landholders as the size of landholding, direct government support and conservation education.