Building consensus through the application of a decision support tool for land managers

The economic and practical reality for local government and other land managers is the need to prioritise resources. Ku-ring-gai Council on Sydney's North Shore has improved transparency of funds allocation in planning recurrent and capital works projects through the application of a bushland priority rating tool. Council staff adapted the traditional 1971 Leopold matrix in a similar way to how the University of Western Sydney adapted it when examining the impact of tourism on the economy, community, and environment of Manly in 2007. The tool integrates technical knowledge acquired from multiple research projects and local community perceptions to rank the value and level of socio-environmental pressure exerted on each reserve. The outcome is a ranking system that dissolves bias, and accords equity amongst competing points of view to ensure the natural assets of greatest value receive adequate funding.