BestFarms - An Integrated Approach to Environmentally Sustainable Farming in the South-west Region of Western Australia

Abstract

Active Landcare communities, such as the example in the Blackwood Basin in south- western Australia, are continually searching for methods that better integrate environmental and economic sustainability at both the farm and catchment/ regional scales. The Blackwood's pilot Environmental Management System Project, BestFarms, was developed as a tool to assist landholders to integrate the complex demands of natural resource management (NRM). This article explores the use of a catchment-based environmental management system framework in integrating community and land manager objectives, and values related to sustainable agriculture. Importantly, the management system approach provides a communication tool between different scales and a tool to implement aspects of NRM regional strategies.