In recent years, the Australian and State Governments have initiated a substantial program of environmental reforms to provide for sustainable natural resource management (NRM). Initiatives include new approaches to sustainable land, vegetation and water management.
The introduction of the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP) and Natural Heritage Trust Mark II (NHT2) seeks involvement from Local Governments in the development and implementation of integrated regional approaches to land-use and natural resource planning and management.
There are 125 Local Governments, 15 Aboriginal and 17 Islander community council’s across Queensland. Many have consistently advised the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) that they do not have the capacity to be further involved in NRM issues and have expressed support for LGAQ to take a lead role in assisting Councils to become more engaged.
For this reason, LGAQ sought involvement in the development and implementation of a capacity building program that supports and enhances Local Government participation towards sustainable land use and natural resource planning and management under the NAP and NHT programs.
The LGAQ was commissioned under the NAP and NHT programs to directly assist Queensland councils in participating in the regional community planning processes whilst raising awareness of the importance of improved local and regional NRM arrangements.
The LGAQ project, Local Government and Sustainable Natural Resource Management in Queensland, aims to build Local Government’s capacity to effectively participate in and integrate effort towards the design, establishment and delivery of sustainable NRM at a local and regional scale in Queensland.
A dedicated LGAQ team of three project staff commenced in June 2004 and has achieved the following outcomes:
- visited 110 councils to assess their capacity and identifying gaps to effectively participate in the regional NRM planning and implementation programs funded under the NAP and NHT
- presented to 120 full council meetings to facilitate interest and identify capacity amongst elected members in developing ownership and solutions to actively address NRM issues, and met with Regional NRM Groups to discuss the LGAQ project and gain relevant NRM information on each region
- developed a guideline for the Integration of NRM into Councils Corporate, Strategic and Operational Plans’ and have commenced delivering workshops relating to the guidelines
- established a State Local Government NRM Reference Group to assist the LGAQ in identifying key issues for effective Local Government engagement under the regional NRM program
- finalised and commenced the implementation of the Local Government NRM Marketing and Communication Plan. The plan identifies a range of strategies including a dedicated NRM website enabling member Councils immediate access to available information and preferred communication methods, such as hotlinks with regional NRM bodies, Australian and State Government websites. Completed and published Local Government NRM banners, brochure and four Issues of the LGAQ NRM newsletter.
- delivery of the LGAQ Environment and NRM Conference 2004 and 2005
- currently developing a series of Local Government best practice guidelines (works procedures manual) aimed at assisting Council operational staff in understanding and achieving sustainable NRM outcomes in accordance with their day to day responsibilities, including erosion and sediment control planning, identification, assessment and management of environmentally significant reserves.
Other products in the pipeline include developing an environmental evaluation software and training package to assist councils identify the cost associated with NRM and the development of a Local Government NRM plan guideline to assist councils monitor the health of their Local Government area and how that data can be integrated into the regional NRM planning process.
For more information on the products and services of the LGAQ NRM project, please contact the Association’s NRM Project Coordinator Malcolm Petrie on (07) 3000 2202 or email malcolm_petrie@lgaq.asn.au
