Developing Law and Governance Strategies for Peri-urban Sustainability

Western Sydney is a peri-urban region of Greater Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia lying within the Hawkesbury Nepean catchment. This catchment has high environmental, cultural and social significance providing vital ecosystem services such as drinking water, food, fibre, nutrient and water cycling, fauna habitat and cultural diversity. The economic value generated from these services includes $1 billion per annum in agriculture and over $6 million a year in commercial fishing. Western Sydney continues to experience ongoing environmental degradation and water shortages as a result of urban development, population demand and climate change. Land use conflicts, climate change predictions and competition for scarce water resources has placed water and food security as high priority issues, as in many other peri-urban regions across the globe. New law and governance strategies are required for peri-urban regions to harmonise the co-existence of agriculture, urban and other land uses. This paper presents a range of methods developed via a case study in Western Sydney (from 2007 to 2010) to facilitate new law and governance strategies for better legal and institutional protection of peri-urban food security and sustainable production.