REMAKING WETLANDS - Rethinking Invasion Ecologies from the Environmental Humanities - page 232

From the time of Frith's report, special open seasons in rice areas continued to
be declared most years for several months across the Australian summer, as they still
are. 8 As most farmers have remained convinced that ducks damage crops,
intermittent research by government ecologists into this issue has continued. In
1997, a report from one of these investigations, by Alison Curtin and Richard
Kingsford, indicated that there was 'some belief' among rice farmers that previous
government research, including Kinghorn's and Frith's, had been undertaken when
duck damage was not at its worst and so presented an inaccurate view of the
potential severity (Curtin and Kingsford, 1997: 18). Further, in the 1970s, the
accuracy of traditional gizzard analysis was shown to be suspect by biologists,
throwing this aspect of Kinghorn and Frith's research into doubt. Yet the 1997
report also showed a more complex picture than that presented by some farmers,
suggesting, as other investigations had done, that farming methods may be a factor
in attracting ducks to rice fields (ibid.: 16-17).
An emphasis on habitat protection has continued in Australian conservation
efforts, in part through international pressure. In the 1970s Australia signed a range
of international agreements for habitat conservation, including in 1971 the
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, or the Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands (www.ramsar.org) (Jarman and Brock, 2004: 11-12). This agreement
aimed to protect the loss of wetlands, and consequently biodiversity, around the
world, primarily for the conservation of waterbirds. Some wetlands in Australia
have been included as Ramsar sites (including Fivebough and Tuckerbill swamps
in the MIA), and their management for the conservation of birds has required the
government to gain the cooperation of private land owners, those whose properties
cover sections of or adjoin the wetlands, including some rice farmers.
During the late twentieth century there was a shift in landscape ecology to
understanding landscapes as mosaics (see, for example, Wilson, 1995: xiii). This
approach takes a holistic view that includes agricultural areas as habitats. Reflecting
this, in recent years, rice farmers have started to make more space for birds, animals,
and plants, treating rice farms as kinds of wetlands. It is unclear whether this change
is motivated by ecological/biodiversity goals or political agendas. Rice farming has
come under increasing scrutiny in recent years for its traditionally high water use
farming methods, the catalyst for which was an intense drought across many parts
of eastern Australia that lasted in some regions from 2000 to 2010. During this
drought and afterwards, the aquatic habitat created by the fields has been used
by the Ricegrowers' Association of Australia to help justify the crop and has
publicly made available brochures about biodiversity on rice farms (Ricegrowers'
Association). There is at least an element of strategy by rice growers in presenting
their farms this way during a period of heightened criticism, to show that the water
used on the farms is used for more than one purpose. These efforts can be seen as
a new negotiation by rice farmers for sharing these water landscapes. However,
ducks have not been included in these negotiations. In their 1997 report, Curtin
and Kingsford suggested that duck 'decoy feeding' (1997: 33) areas could help to
attract ducks away from rice crops. These are essentially dams with vegetation that