VISION
1 BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
VISION
The healthy natural resources of the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region support a healthy community, a healthy environment and a healthy economy.
1. PURPOSE OF THIS PLAN
Natural resources include everything that is not made, grown or bred by people – including soils, water, air, minerals, nutrients, animals, plants, biodiversity, plains, mountains, rivers, wetlands, reefs, coastlines and oceans. If we don’ t protect and maintain our resource base, we risk losing the foundations on which our regional societies, communities and economies are built. The Burdekin Dry Tropics region is experiencing changes in climate, industry, technology, community and land use, all of which provide challenges for our natural resource base.
It aims to help us understand how governments, land managers and the wider community can work together to make the most of our shared natural resources.
Effectively addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach, which is why we have chosen to identify problems and solutions across five closely interconnected themes: People Connections; Climate Change; Land; Water and Biodiversity. For each theme, we highlight key objectives, identify strategies to achieve these objectives, and outline the success indicators that will track our progress.
This plan updates the original Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management Plan( 2005-2010) to incorporate new information, best practices and technologies. It differs from the original plan in that it is a strategic level document which is supported by action plans that have been developed since 2005. It belongs to the Burdekin Dry Tropics community, and is complemented by a wealth of additional information located on our online information hub.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This community plan outlines high-level strategies to manage these challenges, by protecting the region’ s rich biodiversity, including wetlands, beaches and the iconic Great Barrier Reef, while improving long-term productivity for graziers, sugarcane farmers and horticulturalists.
2. PLANNING METHODOLOGY
We drew on the best available knowledge to develop the plan. Between March 2013 and May 2016, we consulted closely with the regional community, and 14 natural resource management( NRM)