NRM South

Local Area Coordination

Local Area Coordination is NRM South’s sub-regional delivery model that provides local assistance to meet particular local targets. It protects and enhances natural values through working in close partnership with local government in the delivery of natural resource management projects and in actively involving the community in managing the local environment.

The five Priority Areas

Program Overview

The Healthy Catchments and Coasts Program integrates natural resource management activity at catchment or landscape level. It protects and enhances natural values through working in close partnership with local government in the delivery of natural resource management projects and in actively involving the community in managing the local environment.

The program delivers landscape-scale planning, capacity building activities and on-ground works in five priority areas. In each area NRM South has developed a partnership with local government to deliver a coordinated natural resource management program addressing agreed local targets. Our input and involvement includes supporting local coordination, direct funding of on-ground activities, providing knowledge and data, and initiating monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement processes.

The five Priority Areas were identified through sub-regional consultation during 2007 and program implementation began in late 2008. Prioritization was determined against several criteria, including: National/State/regional significance, timeliness/time criticalness for investment, current resource condition, stakeholder and community capacity to deliver, potential for achieving multiple outcomes and identified need/priority. A key mechanism for program delivery is local coordination. NRM South provides support for local coordination in our priority areas.

Our current Priority Areas are:

Program Objectives

Local NRM Stakeholders engaged with, and sharing a vision for, NRM within their area, through:

  • local NRM stakeholders having direct input into the development or review of catchment and NRM plans
  • local awareness raising, training and capacity building activities addressing NRM knowledge gaps

Improved planning at a landscape and property scale to reflect regional and local priorities, through:

  • developing and reviewing landscape-scale NRM plans
  • supporting planning at individual property level
  • identifying and disseminating data and information to inform planning processes

Increased resources for actioning NRM priorities at a local level, through:

  • identifying and pursuing opportunities for funding local NRM projects
  • informing local stakeholders and the community about relevant funding and information resources

Strategic on-ground works, through:

  • coordination of on-ground works, particularly where cross-tenure in nature
  • provision of incentives to land managers to protect natural resource values and address threats

Improved natural resource management practices, through:                             

  • support for property level planning;
  • provision of workshops, field days and other events to demonstrate current best practice management
  • provision of one-on-one support through local NRM coordinators

Increased local input into research priorities, through:

  • communicating relevant existing research activities and results to target audiences
  • identifying highest priority local information gaps and promoting these to research institutions and other agencies

Improved local NRM information and data co-ordination and dissemination, through:

  • supporting local NRM coordinators to identify and fill information and data needs
  • provision of appropriate tools and technology
  • supporting interest groups to assist land managers to identify best practice management techniques and access relevant information and data