NRM POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
In the past decade, there have been a range of policy initiatives aimed at improving NRM practices. The 'Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) of Australia' was established under the Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Act 1997 to "repair and replenish Australia's natural capital infrastructure" (NHT 2007:8). Funds were allocated to projects and programs aimed at providing solutions to nationally significant environmental problems.
The Australian Government's 'Caring for our Country' program commenced on 1 July 2008, and integrates a number of existing Commonwealth programs including: the Natural Heritage Trust, the National Landcare Program, the Environmental Stewardship Program, and elements of the Working on Country program (Australian Government 2008a).
To facilitate the delivery of NRM throughout Australia, the Australian Government, in association with state and territory governments, established 56 NRM regions. In most cases, the NRM region boundaries are based on catchments or bio-regions. Integrated NRM plans have been developed for each region to assist in evaluation of the environmental, social and economic impacts of NRM decisions. The plans aim to improve the sustainable management of natural resources (Australian Government 2008b).
In order to assess the impact of individual NRM issues, natural resource managers (e.g. regional, state and national management authorities) require information to determine:
- the extent of issues;
- what practices are being (or will be) undertaken to address them;
- the time and cost required to manage them; and
- the barriers to implementing management practices.
NRM issues that affect Australia's environment and agricultural land include:
- native vegetation - the degradation in quantity and quality;
- soil quality - erosion, salinity, sodicity, compaction and acidification of soils;
- water issues - quantity and quality of surface and ground water; and
- weeds and pests - the impact on biodiversity and agricultural production as a result of weeds or pests.
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