ENM109 - Assessment Item 3 PDF

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ENM109

Future career report, the conservation industry (2016) Number of pages: 10

Contents: 1 – Introduction…………………………………………………………………………p 3 Page 1 Assessment 3

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2 – Discussion………………………………………………………………………p 3 - 9 2.1 – Industry Background…………………………………………………....p 3 2.2 – Geographic Locations …………………………………...………...…...p 4 2.3 – Roles within the conservation industry ………………………….p 5 8 2.4 – Future Prospects of the conservation industry ………….…….p 8 - 9 3 – Conclusion…………………………………………………………….......………..p 9 4 – References……………………………………………………………….........p 9 - 10

1 - Introduction: Page 2 Assessment 3

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This report has been created to enable those interested in conservation employment opportunities within Australia to have a basic understanding of the conservation industry. This report relates to the conservation industries background, geographic location, and a broad understanding of employment opportunities available. This includes their respective roles within the industry and the future prospects of the conservation industry as a whole. This report is not designed to be in depth but rather to give an overview of what opportunities the conservation industry can provide to those who are interested in an environmental conservation career.

2 - Discussion: 2.1 - Industry background: The beginning of the conservation industry doesn’t appesr to have a defined start. It actually seems to have developed over time as environmental conditions have gradually deteriorated and as society has voiced concern more openly throughout the 20 th century. Though there are a few interesting moments in history that are very important to conservation as a whole. For example, the world’s first National Park was Yellowstone, Wyoming in the United States of America (USA) (Department of the interior, 2016, para. 1). This legislation was declared in 1872, around 144 years ago (Cohen, Cohen, 1999, p. 1). Australia’s first national park was the Royal national park which was announced on the 26 of April 1879 (Australian Government, 2016, para. 4). This was the second national park to be announced in the world, indicating a start to conservation of the natural environment in selected locations. The beginning of conservation law originates in the USA when people began to notice a decline in natural flora and fauna (Delaware Government, 2016, para. 3). On May 25 th, 1900, the first United States (US) federal law designed to protect native game animals in America was created. This law was the Lacey Act. This is the earliest conservation law created (Theodore, 1973, p. 4). It seems that as laws and legislations have developed so too has the conservation industry on a worldwide scale (RMIT University, 2010, p. 22). In Australia alone there have been efforts to control introduced species over the last 100 years by both conventional and biological means (Australian Government, 2016, para. 5). Geographically, conservation is effectively a global issue and is an issue which is constantly being addressed in most countries and appears to be constantly growing larger as an industry as time passes.

2.2 - Geographic locations: Page 3 Assessment 3

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Over 11% of Australia’s land mass is protected, of this, there is over 9,000 protected areas making up over 89 million hectares and this is spread throughout the Australian continent (Teresa Day, 2010, para. 1). Refer to Figure 1.0 below for a geographical map which gives detail of all the current protected land reserves within Australia. In addition to the land reserves there is also over 3.1 million square kilometres of Commonwealth marine reserves which is managed by Parks Australia (Australian Government, 2016, para. 1). Refer to Figure 1.1 below for a geographical map of Australia’s Commonwealth marine reserves. Both maps combined give a sense of the sheer size of protected area in Australia, where environmental conservation is happening not only to maintain current environmental conditions but also to regenerate those areas back to their original state where required and the conservation industry is inherently part of the conservation process.

Figure 1.0 - Location of reserves within Australia (Australian Government, 2016)

Figure 2.1 - Commonwealth marine reserves Australia (Australian Government, 2016)

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2.3 - Roles within the conservation industry: There is a broad range of employment options within the conservation industry. Listed below are examples of the possible employment options and a brief explanation of their roles:

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Bush Regenerator Bush regenerators are responsible for the rehabilitation and restoration of bushland where required. They work as a restoration team and approach bushland management in an organised manor (Sutherland Shire Council, 2016, para. 2).

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Coastal Scientific Officer Coastal scientific officers are charged with managing, protecting and conserving coastal areas. They often advise government policy and legislation creating groups on requirements and issues prevalent in coastal management. They are often involved with the fisheries and aquaculture industries and are required to create management strategies with local councils (University of Newcastle Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Conservation Policy Officer Conservation policy officers assist with policy development while communicating with policy makers. They also research and conduct ongoing assessments of conservation and protected information. Conservation policy officers also create strategies and find opportunities for those areas they are creating policies for (National Parks Association of New South Wales, 2016, para. 1).

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Curator of Botany Curators of botany are responsible for managing and archiving botanical material such as specimens, documentation, records and artefacts in museums. Curators contemporary requirements also include the transfer from physical documentation/record to digital versions (Open Universities Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Environmental Officer Environmental officers are required to assess development processes for environmental planning and policies. They also advise and make changes when and where required to those processes. Environmental officers are also required to provide constructive input into assessment and development of company applications from an environmental perspective (Toowoomba Regional Council, 2016, para. 2).

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Environmental Research Scientist Page 5

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Environmental research scientists primarily have a studying role where they focus on environmental phenomenon and how subjects degrade and how to prevent this degradation, they are also required to record the results of their findings. Through this studying they also find the sources and causes of degradation in real world scenarios. They are sometimes referred to as Environmental scientists depending on their exact role (Government of Western Australia, (2016), para. 1).

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Environmental Scientist Environmental scientists use their exceptional knowledge base and experience to design legal policies for protecting the variety of natural aspects of the environment. Their role can be actively involved in the field undertaking conservation or be involved in conservation policy creation. They are sometimes referred to as research environmental scientists depending on their exact role (Open Universities Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Leading Hand - Habitat Restoration Leading hands in habitat restoration are required to supervise a small habitat restoration team of skilled personnel in the environment. This includes natural area management and activity referral to the natural environment supervisor. (Mackay Regional Council, 2014, para. 2).

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Officer GIS officers are required to prepare maps and plains for native title cases and the supply of source information from State land tenure records. They are actively involved in the maintenance, integration and presentation of GIS data and collective non-spatial data. (Australian Government Attorney Generals Department, 2015, para. 2).

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Landscape architects: Landscape architects are responsible for designing, planning and managing designated landscape areas, usually in built up areas in cities and towns. Some requirements of this role are the need to have an exceptional knowledge base on ecology, flora and soils (Open Universities Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Park Ranger Park rangers are employed to maintain and protect the overall state of reserves, national parks and waterways. This includes maintaining visitor facilities and Page 6

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visitor management. They assist in planning and development processes of protected areas and often are required to work in a team environment. Park rangers are also required to respond to emergency situations within their area of authority (Open Universities Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Ranger Rangers, unlike park rangers, are more practically involved in parks and reserves. They use their knowledge base and scientific background to protect the environmental aspects of parks and reserves, for example flora, fauna and waterways (Open Universities Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Science Technicians Science technicians are directly involved with researching sciences such as chemistry and earth science whilst providing technical support in their respected professions. They plan, conduct and manage experiments and provide results to required authorities (Open Universities Australia, 2016, para. 1).

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Scientific Project Officer Scientific project officers undertake project management tasks, they are responsible for ensuring that a scientific project is planned out and set to be completed within required guidelines. This also includes the initial project planning through completing progress reports and to the completion of the project (Government of South Australia Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, 2016, para. 1).

Other roles include: -

Biodiversity Project Coordinator Conservation Officer Ecologist, Threatened Flora Environmental Manager Environmental Planner Field Technician Programs Manager Rangelands Monitoring Officer Senior Conservation Architect Senior Park Ranger Senior Wildlife Ranger Technical Advisor Threatened Species Recovery Project Officer Volunteer Engagement Officer Weed Officer Page 7

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All occupations listed above is supplied by RMIT (RMIT University, 2010, p. 22-23).

2.4 - Future job prospects for the conservation industry: (200 – 300 words) The conservation industry as a whole is one of the most mature within the environmental sector and the majority of jobs within the conservation industry are government based (RMIT University, 2010, p. 22 - 24). This means it is a long standing industry but is dependent on government budgeting. During economic crisis and down turns funding has been cut from the environmental sector in the past. But new technologies and public awareness and action has enabled the environmental sector to continue growing and thus, so too has the conservation industry (RMIT University, 2010, p. 26). Future job prospects for the conservation industry as a whole appears to be positive with all jobs listed by the Job Outlook website run by the Australian Government indicating consistent growth through to 2019 (Australian Government, 2016, para. 1). One of the prominent conservation jobs that comes up on the Job Outlook website is the environmental scientist. Future prospects are positive for environmental scientists with the number of expected job opening within Australia expected to be between 10,000 and 25,000 and the trend to over the last 5 years was one of strong growth and it is expected to continue growing (Australian Government, 2016, para. 1). They also have a strong fulltime job rate with 82% of all current environmental scientist jobs being fulltime (Australian Government, 2016, para. 1). Across the majority of the conservation jobs listed on the Job Outlook website there is expected to be moderate growth leading up to 2019 with more job openings generally expected in comparison to previous years (Australian Government, 2016, para. 1).

3 - CONCLUSION: The conservation industry doesn’t have a distinct start but from the end of the 19 th century through to the present day it has gradually grown and developed through the creation of legislation and public concern for the natural environment. This has led to a large number of protected areas both on land and at sea, not only in Australia but also worldwide allowing for the growth and development of the conservation industry throughout the 20 th century. Employment opportunities within the conservation industry are substantial. with a vast variety of job titles and roles available for those with an interest in the conservation industry. This combined with future prospects from Job Outlook indicating consistent growth forecasts well into 2019, means that the conservation industry is a viable industry for building a career in.

4 - REFERENCES:

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Australian Government Attorney Generals Department. (2015). LG Assist Local Government Employment. Retrieved from http://www.lgassist.com.au/career/55419/Gis _ Officer-South-Australia-Sa-Adelaide Australian Government. (2016). Australia.gov.au. Retrieved from __http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/national-parks Australian Government. (2016). Department of the Environment. Retrieved from __http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/feral-animals-australia Australian Government. (2016). Department of the Environment. Retrieved from __http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves/overview Australian Government. (2016). Department of the Environment. Retrieved from __http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/3a086119-5ec2-4bf1-9889__136376c5bd25/files/capad-2014-nrs-location.pdf Australian Government. (2016). Department of the Environment. Retrieved from __http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/2ed9e96f-d06b-460b-81de__8cd11f2ea66f/files/national-map_0.pdf Australian Government. (2016). Job Outlook. Retrieved from http://joboutlook.gov.au/ Cohen, P. J., Cohen, B. (1999). Yellowstone National Park: Exploring the World’s First __National Park, Collage of Journal Science Teaching, 29, 68, Retrieved from __http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/200373519/abstract/E07E5DC_ _2320F4408PQ/1?accountid=10344 Delaware Government. (2016). Department of Natural Resources and Environmental __Control. Retrieved from __http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/dwap/Pages/HistoryofCons.aspx Government of South Australia Department of Environment, Water and Natural __Resources. (2015). LG Assist Local Government Employment. Retrieved from __www.lgassist.com.au/career/51416/Science-Project-Officer-South-Australia-Sa-Adelaide Government of Western Australia. (2016). Government of Western Australia Department __of Training and Workforce Development. Retrieved from __http://www.careercentre.dtwd.wa.gov.au/Occupations/Pages/environmental-research__scientist.aspx Mackay Regional Council. (2014). LG Assist Local Government Employment. Retrieved __from http://www.lgassist.com.au/career/38633/Leading-Hand-Habitat-Restoration__Queensland-Qld-Mackay National Parks Association of New South Wales. (2016). National Parks Association of -__New South Wales. Retrieved from __http://www.npansw.org.au/index.php/campaigns/park-protection/park-protection__news/288-the-national-parks-australia-council-policy-officer-position-available

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Open Universities Australia. (2016). Open Universities Australia. Retrieved from __https://www.open.edu.au/careers/ RMIT University. (2016). The Guide to Environmental Careers in Australia 2010 2 nd __edition. Retrieved from http://environmentaljobs.com.au/pdf/TheGuide2010.pdf Southerland Shire Council. (2016). LG Assist Local Government Employment. Retrieved __from http://www.lgassist.com.au/career/57398/Bush-Regenerator-New-South-Wales__Nsw-Sutherland Theodore, C. W. (1973). The Lacey Act: America’s First Nationwide Wildlife Statute, __Forest History Newsletter,17, 4-13, doi: 10.2307/4004266 Toowoomba Regional Council. (2016). LG Assist Local Government Employment. __Retrieved from http://www.lgassist.com.au/career/60816/Environmental-Officer__Queensland-Qld-Toowoomba University of Newcastle Australia. (2016). University of Newcastle Australia. Retrieved __from https://www.newcastle.edu.au/degrees-to-careers/job?id=3848#jopt=tabsummary

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