CHAPTER 8
RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE

· INTRODUCTION

· SECTOR-BASED RESEARCH NEEDS

· PROGRAMS OF SELECTED RESEARCH BODIES

· RESEARCH APPROACHES

· COMMUNICATION OF RESEARCH INFORMATION

· FUNDING

INTRODUCTION

While reviewing various sectors that utilise native plants and animals in Victoria (Chapters 3 to 6) the Committee became aware of the importance of research to the success of virtually all sectors. Moreover, as was described in Chapter 7, sound knowledge is vital to the ecologically sustainable management of these utilisations.

Analyses of factors affecting economic growth across different countries indicate that incentives to develop and take up new knowledge are important determinants of economic growth.¹ Further, `take up of new knowledge' requires that research be communicated effectively to those who must use it.²

The Committee had occasion to speak with some of the key research staff of the Waite Institute of South Australia, one of the major agricultural and horticultural research institutes in Australia. In addition to generating new products and techniques, benefits of research and development, as identified in these discussions, included:

a) assistance with risk management by reducing the risks, including environmental ones, inherent in new industries;

b) assistance with time management - developing new enterprises always takes more time and effort than those involved expect; and

c) better planning and more efficient use of resources.

In this chapter the Committee considers research issues as they affect the major areas of existing and potential utilisation. Principal research bodies in Victoria and some in other States are described. Their potential for increasing knowledge about Victoria's biota and its potential utilisation is indicated. The Committee then discusses a range of approaches to meeting the need for research and improving the transfer of knowledge.

A Brief Historical Perspective

Until the early twentieth century, wild-harvest was almost the only way in which native plants and animals were used.

Lack of Research into the Sustainability of Utilisation

Such early utilisation was undertaken in the virtual absence of research into sustainability. Similarly, population-control programs were based on very limited research. Market research may have been sound - products such as fur and oil sold well - but demand commonly led to harvesting rates that decimated populations of the targeted species. As a result, the industries did not last long at economically viable levels. Trade in fur seals and koalas are examples of industries that led to overharvesting, population crash and failure of the industries.

Lack of Research into Utilisation Potential

From the beginning of European settlement in Victoria, plant and animal production has been based on exotic species.³ Victoria has always had world-class agricultural-support research and extension programs - but these overwhelmingly gave emphasis to the traditional exotic crops and livestock.⁴ Very little attention has been given to the potential of native plants and animals. By and large, information on the incorporation of native species into agricultural systems has been based on the experience of farmers themselves, rather than on formal research. Information on the food and medicinal potential of native plants has relied heavily on information passed on by Koori people. The Committee regards such experiential information as being of considerable value. However, it also understands that such traditional and anecdotal information is both limited and seldom used as effectively as it might be for the good of the wider community.

The Committee's investigation of Victoria's research activity indicates that Victoria has the capability to undertake appropriate research into the utilisation of native species. Any failure to have done so is the result of a focus on exotic species rather than a lack of capacity.

Lack of Research into the Basic Ecology of Native Species

A colloquium held in 1984 on the food potential of seeds from Australian native plants concluded that the exploitation of native plants is severely handicapped by "our lamentable ignorance of Australian native flora and fauna and the natural ecosystems in which the have evolved."⁵