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North Western - Natural Resource Management region

Regional summary

The North West region of Tasmania, which attracts almost half the state's tourists, is renowned for its unique and diverse environment, which includes pristine wilderness, rugged mountains, extensive forests, untouched coastlines and fertile agriculture lands. The region covers 22,500 square kilometres and comprises Latrobe, Devonport City, Kentish, Central Coast, Burnie City, Waratah-Wynyard, West Coast, Circular Head and King Island. It supports almost 107,000 people, or 22.6 percent of Tasmania's population.

It includes the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area with its unique wildlife, ancient plants, breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural heritage. This covers 1.38 million hectares (about 20 percent of the state) and takes in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park and Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National Park.

The major industries in the region are manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, mining, retail and tourism. Manufacturing is the leading industry, and includes the production and processing of dairy goods, vegetables, textiles, wood, paper, cement and mining equipment. Its relatively high rainfall, mild climate and rich red soils are well suited to horticulture and agriculture, which account for $315 million a year and include quality vegetables, flowers, dairying and beef production.

Priority issues

Key natural resource management issues in the region include:

• soil management
• water quality and quantity
• forest management
• threatened species protection
• weed management

Regional plan

The Cradle Coast NRM Committee was responsible for developing the North West NRM regional strategy, in consultation with the local community. This strategy was based on a whole-of-region approach and will address significant NRM issues, incorporating social, environmental and economic aspects.

Once the regional strategy was accredited, the Cradle Coast NRM Committee was responsible for developing the regional investment proposal. This is essentially the business plan that will be developed to attract investment from the Australian and state governments and details the specific actions, costs and timeframes required to implement the regional strategy.

• North Western plan  - accredited March 2005

Current activities

NRM priority	Activities addressing the priority
Soil condition	Establishing a network of sites in high-risk areas to collect data Reducing silt discharge into rivers and estuaries from soil run-off caused by agricultural and forestry activities Increasing public awareness of the risks and impacts of chemicals and fertilisers Initiating whole farm planning and integrated farming practices
Land salinity	identifying the salinity hazard on King Island identifying salinity hazard on the Eldorado land system by hydrological and Electromagnetic Induction (EM) studies. The land system covers 26 percent of the island and includes uncleared and cleared land
Native vegetation communities	benchmark descriptions of 160 vegetation types statewide and benchmark vegetation condition at 380 sites assessing the methodologies used for large scale monitoring of vegetation distribution and health across natural resource management regions
Inland aquatic ecosystems - rivers and other wetlands	provide management and planning advice and direct funding for on-ground works to retain and improve native vegetation, waterways and wetlands within the region grants will be provided for fencing and off-stream watering points establishment of ten-year management agreements that oblige participants to manage the selected areas for conservation purposes and complete the required works within predetermined timelines. Sites will be registered on a database and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation conducted
Weeds and feral animals	develop a strategic framework for weed management and integration of municipal weed management activity - this will help ensure optimum delivery of local resources

Contacts

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