Status: Complete
Leader: Dr Allan Dale, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines,
Brisbane
Full title: Regional vegetation management & water resource
planning for sustainable landscape management
Project 3.2.2
Summary | Advice on planning integration |
R&D and planning processes | Future directions |
Project
team |
This project evaluated regional vegetation and water resource
allocation and management planning in the Burdekin-Fitzroy region
of Queensland at the south-eastern extent of the tropical
savannas.
This region in the midst of concurrent regional vegetation,
water allocation and community-based NRM planning activities.
Practical support for planners to improve the health of their
regional planning system is critical. Using a participatory
in-progress evaluation approach, the project identified strengths
and limitations of these planning activities as well as adaptive
management opportunities for improved coordination and integration
of participation, decision-making, technical information and
planning outcomes.
Now complete, the project addressed stakeholder participation,
use of information and coordination between government and
community-driven planning processes. Two guidance-focused /
training modules on improving planning integration were developed,
and a final report is now in preparation. The work of this project
will now contribute to the new CRC project, Healthy
savanna planning systems (3.3.5).
The training modules now form part of the formal set of guidance
material for regional NRM bodies and regional government planning
teams. They will support the implementation of the National Action
Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and Natural Heritage Trust in
savanna regions.
You can download these papers at the bottom of the page as
electronic documents.
-
Supporting integration of Regional Vegetation Management
Planning and Regional NRM plans and arrangements, February
2003
-
Supporting integration of Water Resource Planning and
Regional NRM plans and arrangements, June 2003
The guidelines identify:
-
Practical inputs to the NRM plans from the statutory
planning including relevant targets, policy, investment criteria,
monitoring standards etc.
-
Broader service flows and ongoing relationships through
for example: developing shared or complimentary monitoring
frameworks; triggers for plan review; support for complimentary
on-ground investment at property scale etc.
Highlights included the extent the Research & Development
was able to directly inform and influence the planning processes as
they evolved in those regions.
Maintaining effective (yet objective) operational relationships
with the departmental planning teams and community-based
organisations such as the Burdekin Dry Tropics Board and the
Fitzroy Basin Association was critical to this. The key challenge
was adapting the evaluation approach to the changing regional
planning context as it evolves during the life of the project.
Key findings were reported to vegetation planners and an
adaptive management work plan negotiated for the region.
The evaluation framework applied in this project will now
contribute to the statewide regionally focused monitoring and
evaluation framework aimed at tracking and improving the health of
regional planning arrangements. Development of this framework will
take place within the TS–CRC project Healthy savanna
planning systems (3.3.5), due to start in early 2004
Allan Dale, Qld Dept. Natural Resources &
Mines
Bruce Taylor, CSIRO SE
Collaborating staff
Rod Hewitt, Qld Dept. Natural Resources &
Mines
Andrea Leverington, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
Michael McDougall, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
Greg Claydon, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
Peter Gilbey, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
Jason Douglas, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
Adam West, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
Kirk Smith, Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM Board
Arwen Rickert, Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM Board
Barbara Wilden, Fitzroy Basin Association
Suzie Christensen, Fitzroy Basin Association
Michael Bradby, Qld Dept. Natural Resources & Mines
