In this issue

	ECOS Issue 141

Focus

Supermodelling the Murray–Darling
How does the Murray–Darling's complex water system work, how do we measure its capacity and supply under increasing demands, and how do we understand the implications for local communities – in just a year? CSIRO's Murray–Darling basin Sustainable Yields Project, probably the most ambitious resource inventory attempted anywhere in the world, has met that challenge.
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Features

The tsunami gardeners A simple organic gardening and ecosystem restoration program is building new self-sufficiency in Sri Lankan communities striving to overcome tsunami damage and effects from the ongoing civil war. Download Article

Flight path to peril In a tiny desert outpost, a tenacious ornithologist is fighting to keep open one of Nature's wonders – the greatest migratory bird highway on Earth. Download Article

Farming a climate change solution
Farmers have a golden solution to global warming largely missed by climate change pundits, right beneath their feet. The innovative Australian Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme is showing how incentive payments can be received by landholders for measurable increases in soil carbon that soaks up CO₂ from the atmosphere. Financial incentives could help fund soil restoration efforts, which in turn bring the bonus of greater productivity, drought resilience and even rain. The action is deep underground.
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Progress

Sustaining development through protecting 'critical capital' Stocks of different sorts of 'capital' are integral to society's capacity for sustainable development. Steve Hatfield Dodds – senior CSIRO researcher and President of the Australia New Zealand Society for Ecological Economics – explains why. Download Article

Clever cooperation will step up climate progress In the first of a two-part series, Michael Smith and Karlson Hargroves discuss how cost-effective and mutually beneficial opportunities for OECD countries to assist fast-growing developing nations can appreciably reduce emissions in a new era of greater global cooperation. Download Article

Rescuing the Barmah Forest A powerful collaboration between research, catchment management, indigenous, national parks and government working groups is combining knowledge to restore a precious native river habitat. Download Article

Firefighters get more bushfire savvy As bushfires again spark across the country following the hottest year on record for south-east Australia, advanced research has provided fire agencies and land managers with vital new methods of predicting bushfire behaviour in dry eucalypt forest and assessing forest fuel hazards. Download Article