Evaluation of sustainable agriculture outcomes from regional investment (NAP and NHT)
Final Report to the Department of the Environment and Heritage and Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Prepared by RM Consulting Group
with
URS, Rural Directions, Griffin NRM and Mark Gardner & Associates
March 2006
PDF file
About this document
The sustainable use of natural resources by agriculture (sustainable agriculture) is a key objective of the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) and is also incorporated into the objectives of the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP). The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of regional planning and investment in working towards the sustainable natural resource use and the achievement of sustainable agriculture outcomes of the Trust and the NAP. It also examined ways to improve the NHT and NAP to support improved sustainable agriculture outcomes at the regional level.
Around 60% of the Australian landscape is devoted to agriculture of some form. In many regions, primary producers are the principal owners and managers of natural resources. Many of the identified national, state and regional natural resource management priorities are directly linked to on-farm land, water and vegetation management practices. The impact of on-farm behaviour on off-farm assets is an important driver of investment in sustainable agricultural outcomes.
Improving the sustainability of agriculture through developing and adopting better management practices and/or farming systems is expected to maintain or enhance the resource base and related ecosystems both on and off the farm. Equally, if there are no suitable technologies then there is adjustment out of agriculture and/or research and development of new technologies.
Improving sustainability requires engaging landholders, building their understanding of natural resource management issues (and building the understanding within NRM regional bodies about agriculture and regional socio-economics) and creating an environment that supports and influences them to make changes to the way in which they manage natural resources. It also requires engaging with many other stakeholders in agriculture such as land use planning agencies, state agencies, farmer R&D groups, research and development organisations, scientists, other land users (e.g. plantation forestry) and agribusiness.
The evaluation process, which was overseen by a Steering Committee comprising government and industry experts, occurred over four stages:
- Developing the evaluation framework and selecting 15 regions across Australia for high level evaluation.
- High level evaluation of the effectiveness of regional planning and investment in working towards the sustainable agriculture outcomes of the Trust and NAP in 15 regions and identifying key issues influencing the achievement of these outcomes.
- Detailed evaluation conducted in seven regions to provide a more thorough analysis of the key issues and sustainable agriculture outcomes from investment.
- Collation and critique of observations and findings into the conclusions and recommendations contained in this report.
This evaluation has sought to answer the question of whether the regional delivery model been valuable to date in achieving sustainable agriculture outcomes. In short, the answer is – yes, however there is still a great deal of potential to be realised, particularly as the maturity and capacity of the regional delivery model grows.
Before you download
Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view PDF files.
If you are unable to access a PDF file, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.
Key
Links to another web site
Opens a pop-up window