Principles and policies
Caring for our Country announced
Caring for our Country is the Government's new natural resource management program. Caring for our Country is designed as an integrated package with one clear goal, a business approach to investment, clearly articulated outcomes and priorities and improved accountability. It will commence on 1 July 2008 and will integrate delivery of the Commonwealth's existing natural resource management programs, the Natural Heritage Trust, the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, the National Landcare Program, the Environmental Stewardship Program and the Working on Country Indigenous land and environmental program.
This section acts as a practical guide to the types of investments and activities that the Australian Government supports through regional natural resource management (NRM) strategies under the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP) and the Natural Heritage Trust (the Trust). It also provides detailed information on the objectives and outcomes that plans need to address in order to gain funding.
Regional plan accreditation criteria
Through the development of accredited regional plans, the Australian Government and state and territory governments agreed to support integrated NRM across Australia. These plans identified regional priorities and established a framework for investment in action.
Accreditation of a regional plan was dependent on the fulfillment of criteria agreed upon by the Australian Government and state and territory governments through the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council (NRMMC) in May 2002.
It was necessary for regional bodies to demonstrate that their plans adhered to key elements of the accreditation criteria. Each plan was required to:
- cover the full range of NRM issues
- be underpinned by scientific analysis of natural resource conditions, problems and priorities
- effectively involve all key stakeholders in plan development and implementation
- focus on addressing underlying causes rather than the symptoms of problems
- include strategies to implement agreed NRM policies to protect the natural resource base
- demonstrate consistency with the region's other planning processes and legislative requirements
- set targets at the regional scale, consistent with the national framework for NRM standards and targets
- identify strategic, prioritised and achievable actions to address NRM issues and achieve regional targets, including an evaluation of the wider social economic and environmental impacts of such actions and of any actions needed to address such impacts
- provide for the continuous development, monitoring, review and improvement of the plan
See also:
National and state investments
National and state investments cover activities that have a national or state focus. They also cover activities and matters that:
- cross state and regional boundaries and are best dealt with at a broader scale
- are of direct Commonwealth jurisdiction, such as those relating to Commonwealth waters
Investments at this level include activities such as resource assessment, research and industry strategies. They also cover innovative approaches to managing NRM issues such as:
- weeds
- marine species and protected areas
- reserve acquisitions
- training and information
- national coordination and facilitation
Funding principles for monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities under the NAP and the Trust
Investment proposals which addressed resource condition targets had to include a monitoring, evaluation and reporting component. This component had to utilise existing monitoring wherever possible.
Investment by the programme could have supported new and additional monitoring requirements which, following consideration of an appropriate cost and benefit analysis, would be fully funded as part of the investment proposal.
The monitoring and reporting components of investment proposals had to be consistent with the state or territory requirements for the relevant core indicator. Each state or territory aimed to have a medium to long-term strategy for the maintenance and development of the indicators in the core set.
In the development or review of its strategy for the maintenance and development of the indicators in the core set, each state or territory would consult with the National Land and Water Resources Audit (NLWRA) and make best endeavours to ensure that the proposed plan or strategy is consistent with the data requirements for reporting on the core set of NRM indicators.
See also:
Key
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