• Change text size
• Skip to content

Caring for our Country

What is NRM?

• About us
• Contact us

Search:

Home

• What is Natural Resource Management (NRM)?
  • What's an NRM region?
  • What's an NRM plan?
  • Who manages NRM?
  • Policies, agreements and frameworks
• What can I do?
  • Building capacity
  • Engaging communities
  • For landholders
  • Find a facilitator
  • Indigenous communities and NRM
  • NRM discussion forum
  • Volunteer
• Business plan 2009-10
  • Information sheets
  • Information sessions
  • Priority coastal hotspots
  • Planning your project
  • FAQs
• Funding
  • 2008 funding
  • A-Z list
• Funded projects
  • Community Coastcare announcement
  • Open Grants announcement
  • NSW
  • Vic
  • Qld
  • SA
  • WA
  • Tas
  • NT
  • ACT
• Data, maps and research
  • Atlases
  • Spatial data
  • Reporting tools
  • Managing data
• Monitoring and evaluation
  • Setting and reporting on targets
  • Measuring performance through indicators
  • National and regional evaluations
• Publications
  • Agreements
  • Annual reports
  • Books and reports
  • Brochures
  • Case studies
  • Fact sheets
  • Frameworks
  • Guidelines
  • Legislation
  • Links
  • Logos
  • Media releases
  • Newsletters
  • Policies
  • Strategies

Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges - Natural Resource Management region

Regional summary

The Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region includes the majority of South Australia's population (around 77 percent), as well as highly productive areas with reliable rainfall that make a substantial contribution to the state's agriculture. It contains many areas of high biodiversity significance.

The region is a key water-supply catchment for Adelaide. It includes eight large reservoirs that supply, on average, 60 percent of Adelaide's water. The region includes some of the state's most fertile and productive soils, and is biologically rich.

The Mount Lofty Ranges have been extensively cleared for grazing and dryland agriculture, so much so that only 13 percent of the original native vegetation remains. These areas are fragmented and subject to ongoing pressures from development, and degradation from weeds, feral animals, grazing and diseases, resulting in a significant decline of native species that were dependent upon native vegetation. A number of species of woodland birds depend on the remaining native vegetation remnants.

Priority issues

Key natural resource management issues in the region include:

• preventing decline of water quality due to excess nutrients, pesticides and contamination by pathogens
• achieving effective water use and management that recognises the demands upon this resource
• ameliorating stress on areas of original native vegetation
• preventing decline in the quality and productive capacity of the soils
• addressing salinity in local areas such as the Upper Torrens catchment

Regional plan

The Adelaide and Mount Lofty RangesIntegrated NRM Group was responsible for developing the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges regional plan, in consultation with the local community. This plan was based on a whole-of-region approach and addresses significant NRM issues incorporating social, environmental and economic aspects.

Once the regional plan was accredited, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Integrated NRM Group was responsible for developing the regional investment strategy. This is essentially the business plan that attracts investment from the Australian and State Governments and details the specific actions, costs and timeframes required to implement the regional plan.

The region has been at the forefront of a number of initiatives to manage natural resources. For instance, the Mount Lofty Ranges Catchment Management programme has been running since 1993 and is recognised nationally as a model for implementation of integrated regional NRM involving the cooperative efforts of all levels of government and the community. This has provided a good foundation for the Integrated NRM Group to build upon in developing its Plan to tackle regional priorities.

The community was engaged in the development of the Integrated NRM in a number of ways including:

• targeted consultation with a wide range of groups from local councils
• conservation groups and farmers to regulatory bodies such as the Animal and Plant Control Commission
• consultation with Indigenous communities through Rural Solutions SA and the Ngopamuldi Trust

• Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges plan  - accredited April 2003

Current activities

NRM priority	Activities addressing the priority
Water quality	Water quality activities are focussed on a 'whole of catchment' basis. A range of projects to improve water quality and restore watercourses is being supported. These activities include protection of riparian zones through revegetation, bank stabilisation, fencing, weed removal and stock watering point control. Major efforts in urban areas are focussed on surface water degradation through stormwater runoff and litter management. A comprehensive review of surface and ground water resources use and actions is planned to help achieve sustainability.
Biodiversity	Activities include protection, maintenance and improvement of ecosystems (land, rivers, wetland, estuarine and marine ecosystems). Integrated work is underway for remnant vegetation protection, seed resource preservation and revegetation. These actions are being complemented by weed and feral animal control and community awareness/education activities 240 priority remnant vegetation sites are being managed under a key National Action Plan project. Another major project (the SA Urban Forest Biodiversity Programme) spans the entire metropolitan area and is providing assistance and advice to community groups and local government to undertake revegetation works. Research is underway on the population dynamics and habitat requirements of local native species. Land use and management Improved land management is being encouraged through a range of projects that support improved skills, knowledge and information networks. In rural and semi-rural areas support is aimed at improved primary production methods and better matching land-use with land capability, whilst in urban areas the focus is on soil, vegetation and watercourse management.
Salinity	Work is underway on data collection, planning, mapping, monitoring and on-ground activities (e.g. improved production practices and revegetation) to address salinity in the region.

Contacts

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