The 2013 Queensland State Landcare Conference has the theme ‘Healthy Habitats … Profitable Production’ and will focus on balancing sustainable natural resource management with vibrant landscapes for profitable and productive farming. Hosted by Condamine Headwaters Landcare, the conference program will include a mix of interactive workshops, keynote addresses and field trips as well as the Queensland State Landcare Awards and a relaxing networking evening on the banks of the Condamine River.
One Land – Many Stories: Prospectus of Investment provides an overarching framework of the Australian Government’s priorities for funding biodiversity conservation and improving natural resource management in 2013–14. It articulates the places (target areas), national priorities (investment themes) and the available grant funding to guide the development of project proposals in the 2013–14 round of biodiversity conservation and natural resource management investment across the Australian Government environment portfolio.
Back in 2006, Resilience Thinking addressed an essential question: As the natural systems that sustain us are subjected to shock after shock, how much can they take and still deliver the services we need from them? This idea caught the attention of both the scientific community and the general public. In the new book Resilience Practice, Engaging the Sources of Our Sustainability authors Brian Walker and David Salt take the notion of resilience one step further, applying resilience thinking to real-world situations and exploring how systems can be managed to promote and sustain resilience.
The NSW Government has announced that from January 2014, new Local Land Services will deliver functions currently provided by 13 Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) across NSW. You are invited to Have your say on the proposed Local Land Services Regional Boundaries. The changes include the incorporation of the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority into the Hawkesbury Nepean CMA as part of creating the proposed new Greater Sydney Local Land Service.
A framework to help Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups build resilience in rural and regional communities has been developed by a team from The University of Queensland (UQ). Professor Helen Ross, from UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, says NRM groups are well positioned to help communities thrive alongside improving their environments, and to also improve their capacities to deal with and adapt to major changes such as industry deregulations, economic downturns and natural disasters.
The NRM knowledge online repository is designed as an open access digital archive for publicly funded information derived from Australian Government investments in natural resource management activities. It has been developed to be compliant with the Open Archives Initiative interoperability standards and to deliver on the Australian Government’s commitment to providing open access to publicly funded information.
SEQ Catchments has unveiled a new website and launched a Facebook page to engage with as many people as possible to help protect the biodiversity, catchments and waterways of South East Queensland which includes Brisbane and other major urban and peri-urban areas. The new website includes a more interactive media section, easier to understand information, as well as downloadable maps, case studies, and an events calendar.
The National NRM Regions’ Working Group in partnership with WWF, ACF, and NFF, and supported by the Australian Government Land and Coasts Team, invites you to register for the 4th National NRM Knowledge Conference to be held in Adelaide from 16 to 18 April 2012. Under the banner of There’s a lot happening in our backyard the conference will address a number of sub-themes:
The Conference will be an opportunity for planning, policy and on-ground practitioners to share their relevant successes, experiences and learnings with their Australia-wide colleagues and to see and hear a lot of examples of how programs are being delivered by peers to achieve healthy and resilient landscapes inclusive of productive, cultural and natural systems. The primary audience would include planning officers, researchers, policy officers and on-ground implementers from regional NRM bodies, industry organisations, non-government agencies, government agencies, and research and development organisations.
The Australian Government has announced the open call for funding applications for grants to carry out projects that address the Caring for our Country 2012-13 Business Plan targets and can be completed by June 2013. Applications close 9 February 2012. Caring for our Country (CFOC) is an ongoing Australian Government initiative that seeks to achieve an environment that is healthier, better protected, well managed, resilient and provides essential ecosystem services in a changing climate.
The review of the Caring for our Country initiative has commenced. Submissions close 5pm AEST 20 May 2011. The review is looking at the effectiveness of the program, achievements to date and will explore options for natural resource management delivery in the future.
An important part of the review is consultation with Australia’s natural resource management stakeholders. The views and experiences of partners and stakeholders are an essential part of informing the review and will help identify program improvements that are practical and focused. In addition, specific feedback from the recipients and applicants of Caring for our Country funding about the outcomes of investments will help tell the Caring for our Country story and inform the review.