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Southern Rivers - Natural Resource Management region

Regional summary

The Southern Rivers region covers 29,000 square kilometres and has a population of 400,000, which doubles in summer with the influx of tourists. The growth rate in the region is consistently above the state average, with the population rising 1-2 percent each year. The region includes diverse landscapes and natural assets including a spectacular coastline, wetlands, lakes and estuaries, hinterland forests, significant rivers such as the Shoalhaven, Clyde and Snowy, Australia 's highest mountains and snowfields and some of the richest dairy country in New South Wales.

More than a third of the region is public land, including 1.1 million hectares of national park and 415,623 hectares of state forest. The natural assets of the region underpin regional grazing, dairy farming, forestry, horticulture, commercial fishing, and tourism industries.

Priority issues

Key natural resource management issues in the region include:

• pressure from urban development and tourism increases land values in competition with agricultural industries
• pest animals and weeds - such as Bitou bush on coastal dunes, Caulerpa, an invasive seaweed, serrated tussock and foxes in the grazing country of the Monaro plains - affect agricultural industries and biodiversity
• acid sulphate soils reduce aquatic biodiversity and commercial fish stocks
• land degradation caused by erosion and acidification reduces agricultural productivity and water quality. Estuarine water quality is critical to the region's oyster industry
• demand for water - associated with population growth, irrigation, drought and Sydney's needs - outstrips supply. This affects tourism, aquatic biodiversity, the fishing and oyster industries, agricultural production, business and residents

Regional plan

The former Southern and South East Catchment Management Boards - predecessors to the current Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority - prepared integrated natural resource management (NRM) plans, the blueprints, for what is now the Southern Rivers region, incorporating social, economic and environmental elements of NRM.

These blueprints are based on a whole-of-catchment approach and set 10-year catchment condition targets for the priority NRM issues of the region. They outline the tasks to be accomplished to achieve these targets.

They form the basis for the development of Investment Strategies that are used to attract funding from the Australian and state government, and from other sources, for the specific actions identified in the Investment Strategy.

NRM in Southern Rivers balances the twin imperatives of ecological sustainability with profitable agriculture and tourism. Through the Natural Heritage Trust (the Trust), the Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority provides information and incentives to resource managers to encourage strong community involvement in the region's NRM and foster projects and practical activities that benefit the environment and the community.

The region:

• is committed to the ecologically sustainable management of natural resources
• supports and encourages land/water managers' contributions to conservation management to enhance primary production and to protect and improve biodiversity and healthy functioning ecosystems
• maintains and improves the health of rivers, lakes, wetlands, estuaries and coastal waters by balancing resource use and conservation needs and treating the causes of degradation
• maintains or improves soil stability and health through better land management to enhance social and economic well-being
• is increasing the recognition and understanding of cultural diversity and heritage, cultural landscapes, practices of Aboriginal people and the region's natural significance

Current activities

NRM priority	Activities addressing the priority
Water management	rehabilitating streams that are vulnerable to potential development pressures groundwater sharing for coastal plains
Weed and pest management	integrated weed management for weeds such as Asparagus Fern, Cape Ivy, Periwinkle, Turkey Rhubarb and Moth Vine integrated pest management plans for Indian mynahs
Biodiversity	improving connections between plant communities, especially along river increasing areas for conservation of rare and threatened plant communities

Contacts

Further information can be obtained by contacting the Regional Facilitators for New South Wales.