Toward land restoration transitions: elevating regional voices and the provenance of co-benefits in Queensland rangelands

Abstract

Land management changes are and will continue to play a substantial role in national and global strategies towards decarbonisation goals. Yet, roles for land managers and their communities to co-create opportunities for just transitions are not well represented or accounted for in policy instruments or markets, including those for carbon offsets. Understanding regional context is critical to identify strategies for land management changes to underpin just transitions. We outline a mixed-methods approach involving an analysis of socio-economic data and a critical review of regional plans to identify the benefit aspirations that communities have articulated, and the drivers of transitions already at play to understand how land sector carbon abatement projects could support regional transitions. This approach is demonstrated using a case study region in Queensland, Australia. The case study region hosts land sector carbon abatement projects under a national policy that incentivises least cost abatement and under a state policy that incentivises land sector carbon abatement with bundled environmental and social co-benefits. The results show that across sectors and locations, communities are seeking economic, cultural, and social outcomes that can be delivered as co-benefits of land management changes for carbon abatement. Our analysis shows that the value of multiple co-benefits is place-specific and dependent on the provenance of land management changes and broader regional conditions. By understanding regional contexts and aspirations, it is possible to identify how and where land sector carbon abatement investments can be negotiated between investors and communities to support just transitions to low-carbon futures.