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Peter Ampt

Summary

My primary interest is in the human side of agriculture and natural resource management. The values, attitudes and actions of people are critical to the future of the planet, and it is vitally important that social and cultural aspects are integrated with economic and biophysical knowledge. Integrative and systems thinking is very important to link research and teaching to real world issues and to work towards improving our interaction with and management of the natural world.

Research Interests

I am interested in participatory research that integrates conservation and production.

The concepts of ecosystem services and adaptive management are important components of my work, and I like to work directly with landholders, especially those that are forging the way with practices that regenerate and sustainably use complex natural systems such as grasslands, shrub-lands and woodlands. These landholders actively adapt their management according to the uncertainty of the seasons and the market. There is a strong need for research strategies that take into account this adaptive approach.

I am a member of the Steering Committee for the $4.2million ‘Communities in Landscapes’ project, CiL, which aims to work together to integrate conservation and production across Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands. Please click here to find the latest documents for CiL. I am coordinating the Sydney University components, which include managing the socio-cultural aspects of the project, conducting a benchmark study of landholder innovators who are already integrating conservation and production, coordinating cross property planning to achieve landscape scale management of biodiversity and setting up a demonstration site on the UNSW Wellington Field Station in central west NSW. I co-supervise 3 PhD students looking at different socio-cultural aspects of the project: monitoring the impact of the project on the community; investigating the experience of innovators; and the development of cross-property landholder groups to achieve landscape-scale benefits.

I am an Australia 21 scholar (http://www.australia21.org.au/) working on the development of a national approach to ecosystem services including the development of a National Ecosystem Services Network. I have also worked closely with a number of Indigenous groups to help generate community benefit from involvement in conservation through use strategies.

Background

I have an MScAgr(research) and BScAgr for Sydney and a Dip. Ed. From UNE. I have returned to an academic career after many years as a high school teacher, education manager and participatory research consultant. I am in the final stages of a PhD by papers on the theme of the integration of conservation and production through the Institute of Environmental Studies at UNSW.

For the past 6 years I have managed the ‘Future of Australia’s Threatened Ecosystems’ (FATE) Program which began at the Australian Museum, moved to UNSW and is now to Sydney University. It is the brainchild of Professor Mike Archer and aims to explore the sustainable use of native species and ecosystems to generate conservation benefits. FATE has concentrated on the management and commercial harvest of kangaroos including consumer attitudes to eating kangaroo meat, the opportunities and barriers to achieving conservation through sustainable use, the feasibility of the use on native mammals as pets and the potential of regional bio-energy strategies to drive improved natural resource management through native agroforestry. These projects have been funded by RIRDC and DAFF.

I have been associated with the The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (BMWHI) since it was formed in 2004. It aims to identify, initiate and coordinate cross-disciplinary research to inform policy and management and to build collaboration between the range of stakeholders concerned with the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
The Dean Mark Adams is a member of the Board of the Institute and the Faculty contributes financially to the Institute each year along with other members which include Blue Mtns City Council, Hawkesbury Nepean CMA, NSW DECC (NPWS and RBG), Sydney Catchment Authority, UNSW, UTS and UWS.
The Institute is an ideal vehicle for generating support for research that fits its research priorities. Of particular relevance to FAFNR is the management of the boundaries of the WHA and the generation of complementary development in the Sydney basin and on its western edge. Link for more information Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute.


I currently co-supervise 5 PhD students and my teaching responsibilities include:

  • Management of the Faculty excursion program and its integration with the academic and professional experience programs.
  • Coordination of AFNR 1001: The Rural Environment
  • From 2011 I will coordinate AFNR1002: Climate and the Environment

Recent publications

  • AMPT, P. (2009) Adaptive management of a sustainable wildlife enterprise trial in Australia’s Barrier Ranges. IN ALLAN, C. & STANKEY, G. (Eds.) Adaptive Environmental Management: A Practical Guide. Springer.
  • AMPT, P. & BAUMBER, A. (2006) Building connections between kangaroos, commerce and conservation in the rangelands. Australian Zoologist, 33, 398-409.
  • AMPT, P. & BAUMBER, A. (2010) Building Cooperation and Collaboration in the Kangaroo Industry: Towards a role for landholders. KINGSTON ACT, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
  • AMPT, P., BAUMBER, A. & NORRIS, K. (2006) Using common property resource approaches to achieve systematic landscape change. Proceedings of the eleventh biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASCP) in Ubud, Bali 19-23 June 2006.
  • AMPT, P. & OWEN, K. (2008) Consumer attitudes to kangaroo meat products. Barton ACT Australia, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
  • AMPT, P., TONGWAY, D., BAUMBER, A. & GEPP, K. (2008) Land managers and Landscape Function Analysis (LFA): Enhancing adaptive environmental management while monitoring resource condition in Western NSW. 2008 Australian Rangelands Conference. Charters Towers, Qld Australia, Rangelands Australia.
  • BAUMBER, A., COONEY, R., AMPT, P. & GEPP, K. (2009) Kangaroos in the rangelands: opportunities for landholder collaboration. The Rangeland Journal, 31, 161-167.
  • BOOTH, S., POWELL, J., AMPT, P., WILDMAN, H., AIKEN, J. & RUSSEL, J. (2008) The Penrith Lakes Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Conservation Master Plan: re-instating Cumberland Plain endangered ecological communities. Bulletin of the Australian network for plant conservation, 16, 14-15.
  • ISON, R. L. & AMPT, P. R. (1992) Rapid rural appraisal: A participatory problem formulation method relevant to Australian agriculture. Agricultural Systems, 38, 363-386.
  • MERSON, J., ATTWATER, R., AMPT, P., WILDMAN, H. & CHAPPLE, R. (2010) The challenges to urban agriculture in the Sydney basin and lower Blue Mountains region of Australia. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 8, 72-85.

Contact

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