The Australian Rangelands cover over 80% of the continent and can be roughly split into the monsoonal north and the arid and semi-arid south. The Rangelands Cluster Project is facilitating climate change science into natural resource management planning across some of the driest and hottest country on earth. The project is a collaboration between the Rangelands NRM Alliance, CSIRO, University of Canberra and Ninti One.

Planning for climate change adaptation in the rangelands encompasses many challenges including:

• small (and declining) populations,
• poor institutional and governance capacity, struggling to implement delivery models based on closer settled coastal communities,
• low socio-economic communities,
• large distances
• different seasonal "cycles" (ie not 4 seasons)
• different production systems, mostly relying on managing naturally occurring systems for production outcomes.

 Residents within the rangelands consider themselves to be capable in dealing with climate variability in current systems but many questions remain on the future activities across the region. Adding the likely rise in temperatures and uncertainty regarding rainfall, means these already vulnerable communities will face even greater challenges. But people are resourceful and resilient. They are looking for information, relevant tools and guidance, as well as flexibility in the "system" to enable better planning for adaptation.