ISSUES IDENTIFIED IN NRM REGIONAL PLANS
Information about the delivery of major NRM initiatives and region-specific programs and plans is available on the Australian Government NRM website: http://www.nrm.gov.au/index.html. This source identifies the NRM issues which are considered to be a priority as a result of consultation between stakeholders and the regional bodies administering each region. Examples of key stakeholders include: governments (local, state/territory, commonwealth), academic and scientific communities, industry, environmental and Indigenous groups, and regional communities.
For the 19 NRM regions in the MDB, the following are identified as issues of priority:
- water quality and/or quantity (identified by 16 of the 19 NRM regions);
- salinity (irrigation and dryland) (identified by 14 of the 19 NRM regions);
- biodiversity (identified by 14 of the 19 NRM regions);
- soil health and/or soil erosion (identified by 10 of the 19 NRM regions);
- native vegetation (identified by 9 of the 19 NRM regions); and
- weeds and/or pests (identified by 8 of the 19 NRM regions).
A smaller number of regions reported that cultural heritage (5), and community capacity (4) were issues of priority.