Conservation-relevant lands in Australia have higher farmland values

Agricultural land conversion is a major driver of global environmental degradation, contributing to habitat loss for threatened species and climate change when carbon-rich native vegetation is replaced with crops. Conversely, agricultural production remains a necessary land use to ensure food security, support regional employment, and generate foreign income. Hence, conservation interventions and nature-based solutions must compete with—and be balanced against—agricultural production, with careful consideration of the opportunity costs associated with provisioning land from agriculture to environmentally-focused purposes. Information on agricultural land value and opportunity costs are therefore important factors in land use planning, but such data is often limited. We developed a model of farmland value for Australia using socioeconomic and biophysical data and three years of farm sales records across 316 local government areas (LGAs). Please cite: Engert, J.E. & Andres, S.E. (2026). Conservation-relevant lands in Australia have higher farmland values. Journal of Environmental Management, 402, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.129004.