BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
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4. OUR PRIORITIES
4.1 People connections
Strongly connected, well-informed and highly-skilled communities are the region’ s greatest NRM assets. Sustainably managing our natural resources depends on these communities – including rural land managers, Traditional Owners, NRM community groups, industry, researchers and all levels of government – working together and being empowered to make informed NRM decisions. The strong spirit of regional collaboration is illustrated by a wide range of decision-making forums, and formal and informal partnerships between groups. Traditional Owners have a crucial role to play, given their connection with the land and their traditional ecological knowledge.
The strategies in our plan aim to:
• connect and inform the regional community so it is empowered to participate in NRM;
• build on existing networks and create opportunities for new connections to share knowledge;
• coordinate NRM research, education, investment and extension to reduce duplication, increase effectiveness, and improve accessibility to NRM knowledge;
• reflect our regional community’ s priorities and desired actions by providing opportunities to be involved in NRM planning and decisions;
• ensure the region’ s natural resource data and mapping is updated and accessible, so it can provide the basis for informed NRM decisions;
• support improved collaboration between NRM community groups;
• build capacity of Traditional Owners to appropriately capture, store and use traditional ecological knowledge;
• increase the opportunities for Traditional Owners to connect to country by supporting training, employment and enterprise opportunities, access to country arrangements, and partnerships with other organisations;
• provide rural land managers with the information and skills to make sustainable land management decisions; and
• promote collaboration between the agricultural, financial, environmental, government, research, education and training sectors to develop long-term, region-specific support processes for rural communities.
4.2 Climate change
Climate change is threatening the Great Barrier Reef( GBR) and its catchments, our natural resource-reliant enterprises and communities. The GBR is currently experiencing its worst coral bleaching event on record primarily caused by elevated sea temperatures. Our grazing industry is experiencing drought conditions, with nearly 80 per cent of our region currently drought declared. Predicted regional effects from a changing climate include longer drier periods, more hot days and less frequent but more intense storm systems. This could mean less water resources and more pressure on biodiversity and land productivity. Land managers and communities are understandably concerned by predictions of more prolonged periods without rain.
The strategies in our plan aim to:
• support programmes that assist individuals, local councils and industries to reduce carbon emissions and capture carbon;
• investigate and promote commercially competitive, alternative and renewable electrical energy, fuel resources and consumable products;
• incorporate climate change projections into planning and NRM;
• build capacity of our communities and individuals to adapt to climate change impacts; and
• improve the resilience of our natural resources by protecting areas of‘ native refugia’ and investigating:- innovative land and water management practices;- crop diversification and switching;- new enterprises; and- the pest and biosecurity implications of higher temperatures.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY