Agrarian Landscapes, the Environment and World Heritage Sites: Why our region should apply?

World Heritage Sites bring economic, social and cultural benefits to their communities. Along with global prestige comes increased investment, new business opportunities and potential ‘reputation premiums’ for local products. So, too, does an enhanced sense of local pride, place and identity. Only a handful of the 890 listed sites focus on agricultural landscapes; only a of few of those are ‘working agrarian landscapes’. Professor Randy Stringer contends that a mosaic of agrarian landscapes, from the Fleurieu Peninsula to the Clare Valley, should apply for World Heritage status as this is an outstanding example of distinctive land use on a rare agro-ecosystem under threat of irreversible change.

Randy Stringer is Professor, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide where he teaches and conducts research on food, agriculture and natural resource policy. From 2002 to 2006, Randy was the Director of the Comparative Studies Service, Agricultural and Development Economics Division, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. He was the Deputy Director of the Centre for International Economic Studies from 1996 to 2001, managing research programs and lecturing in the School of Economics, University of Adelaide. Over the past thirty years, he has taught, published and conducted research on agricultural development, food security, water resource use, climate change, poverty and environmental services in Australia, the Asia/Pacific, Africa, Europe, the Near East and Latin America.