northern rivers catchment action plan...

www.northern.cma.nsw.gov.au

CAP2 SETTING THE DIRECTION FOR

NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN RIVERS REGION

APRIL 2013

NortherN rivers

CatChmeNt aCtioN PlaN

2013–2023

Copyright © 2013, Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority

ABN 14 982044763

You may copy, distribute, display, download and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority as the owner. However, you must obtain written permission if you wish to modify or republish the publication or part thereof.

While the information contained in this document has been formulated with all due care and is considered to be true and correct at the time of publication, the Authority does not warrant or represent that the information is free from error or omission or is wholly appropriate for your particular purpose.

ISBN 978-0-7313-3603-6

Designed by The Ad Agency April 2013 CMA132 Stock: Printed on Australian made paper, certified carbon neutral 300gsm / 110gsm ‘Revive Laser’ 100% recycled using vegetable-based ink.

An electronic copy of this document is available for download from the Northern Rivers CMA website at www.northern.cma.nsw.gov.au.

Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority Office Locations

NORTHERN RIVERS REGIONAL OFFICE:

Level 4, 49 Victoria St (PO Box 618) GRAFTON NSW 2460 Phone: (02) 66420622 Fax: (02) 66420640

Email: [email protected]

Business hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday

All correspondence should be addressed to the General Manager.

OTHER OFFICES:

Alstonville: Shop 27, The Plaza (PO Box 906), ALSTONVILLE NSW 2477

Armidale: McCarthy Building, 83–85 Faulkner St (PO Box 739), ARMIDALE NSW 2350

Coffs Harbour: AMP Centre, 24 Gordon St (PO Box 1417), COFFS HARBOUR NSW 2450

Kempsey: The Harrington Building, 41 Belgrave St (PO Box 228), KEMPSEY NSW 2440

Murwillumbah: 135 Main St (PO Box 678), MURWILLUMBAH NSW 2484

Business hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday

The Northern Rivers CMA is supported with funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country.

www.northern.cma.nsw.gov.au Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority


3NORTHERN RIVERS CATCHMENT ACTION pLAN 2013–2023

Catchment Action Plans are developed in partnership with local communities and present a vision for healthy natural landscapes across New South Wales to help support regional prosperity.

As Minister for Primary Industries, I am pleased that through implementation of these regional plans we have motivated, supported, encouraged and funded local communities to deliver more than 13,000 important projects, both large and small to NSW.

Against the backdrop of many serious natural events, including drought, flood and bushfire, the achievements in natural resource management across NSW have continued to be both impressive and ground-breaking.

Catchment Action Plans benefit from regular review in order to incorporate the growing knowledge of the catchment’s natural, social and cultural resources.

This second iteration of Catchment Action Plans has provided an opportunity to cast a critical eye over the objectives, investment priorities and targets outlined, as well as an opportunity to outline new approaches to setting priorities for investment in natural resources.

The Hon Katrina Hodgkinson MPMinister for Primary IndustriesMinister for Small Business

2nd April 2013

foreword from the miNister

The Catchment Action Plans have been developed in close consultation with local communities, shire councils and government agencies, using the latest scientific knowledge.

This is a plan that outlines the shared vision for the sustainable management of the catchment’s natural resources. The successful implementation of the Catchment Action Plan will be driven by continued good relations between government agencies at all levels, industry and the wider community.

From January 2014, Local Land Services will deliver functions currently provided by Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs), Livestock Health & Pest Authorities (LHPAs) and advisory services of Agriculture NSW (part of the Department of Primary Industries).

This upgraded Catchment Action Plan will play a critical role in planning natural resource management so that Local Land Services can continue with the building of healthy and resilient regional communities.

We all have a role to play in the sustainable and productive management of the region’s resources and this Catchment Action Plan will ensure positive and practical outcomes for the years ahead.

4 NORTHERN RIVERS CATCHMENT ACTION pLAN 2013–2023




¹ Generally speaking, this is who we are referring to in this plan when we say ‘us’, ‘our’ and ‘we’.* Terms with an * are explained in the ‘New concepts and approaches’ section of this Summary.

A plan for the next 10 years

The Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan 2013–2023 (CAP2) is an all-of-government and all-of-community plan to guide the sustainable management of natural resources in the Northern Rivers Region for the next decade. These natural resources include soils, biodiversity, rivers, estuaries, wetlands, and coastal and marine environments.

CAP2 builds on a long history of community involvement in natural resource management (NRM) across the Northern Rivers Region.

A plan for our NRM community

Northern Rivers communities have helped to develop a robust, regional CAP2 that will remain relevant despite any challenges and changes which lie ahead. Our NRM community¹ is diverse and vibrant. It encompasses:

•theNorthernRiversCatchmentManagement Authority (CMA)

•governmentagencies(includingpublicland managers)

•localgovernments,utilitiesandcouncils

•localandregionalnetworks (e.g. Regional Development Australia,

CaP2 is aN all-of-CommuNity aNd all-of-goverNmeNt PartNershiP

Landcare, Aboriginal land councils, conservation consortiums and alliances, fishers, boaters and traditional owner groups)

•non-governmentorganisations (e.g. EnviTE, Greening Australia, Bush Heritage, Nature Conservation Council)

•businesses(e.g.GreenTeams,environmental consultants, tourism and primary industries)

•educationandresearchinstitutions

•individualsinvolvedinNRM(e.g.privatelandowners, volunteers, urban dwellers).

NORTHERN RIVERS CMA REGION

NSW

QLD Tweed Heads

Tenterfield

Coffs Harbour

GraftonYamba

Wooli

Port Macquarie

Lord Howe Island

Armidale

NSW

sydney

SETTING THE DIRECTION FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN RIVERS REGION

CaP2iN summary



the NortherN rivers regioN iN Profile

A Region of outstanding natural resources and capable communities

The Northern Rivers Region is unique in the mixture and quality of landscape, livelihood and lifestyle values it supports.

•Adiversityofnaturallandscapesandamix of temperate and subtropical climates provide nationally recognised biodiversity and wilderness and wetland areas, and complex and diverse soil systems. Large river systems with extensive floodplains have strong connections through to estuarine and marine environments.

•Arangeofdynamicandproductivenaturalresource–based livelihoods, including grazing, horticulture, fishing, timber production and tourism.

•ARegionofvibranttowns,villagesandcommunities that support diverse coastal, hinterland and tableland lifestyles. A Region that supports people who have a strong connection to their healthy, natural and productive landscapes and seascapes and the lifestyles, culture and opportunities they create.

•AlargeandcapableNRMcommunityactivelyengaged in the sustainable management of the Region’s natural resources.

•Aniconicanddenselypopulatedcoastlineprovides a focus for recreational pursuits and much sought after sea changer lifestyles.

The health of our resources and the capacity of our communities vary

The health of our natural resources varies significantly across the Region. At present, the Central and Tablelands SE Landscapes have higher overall resource health.

In terms of community capacity, all four SE Landscapes* in the Region have average capacity to undertake NRM activities.

Drivers of change influence health and capacity

Identifying the key drivers of change that influence natural resource health and community capacity is challenging and complex. There are many drivers, but changing population demographics, changing land use and farm viability are seen as major influences on NRM across the Region.

Drivers of change result in many challenges. We need to maintain water quality, manage development pressure (particularly on the coast), better understand and manage the marine environment, and build on sustainable land-use practices. We need to halt the decline in biodiversity by reducing habitat loss, controlling terrestrial and aquatic invasive species and minimising the risk of new introductions. We need to increase the capacity of our communities to undertake effective on-ground NRM across the Region.

Our resilience to change varies

Preliminary assessments show that the New England Tableland and Northern SE Landscapes have a relatively higher overall resilience to cope with changes that may influence delivery of NRM compared to the Southern and Central SE Landscapes. This resilience is a function of complex factors that include governance systems, leadership, innovation, and the diversity of social, economic and environmental systems. CAP2 ultimately seeks to better measure and understand resilience in order to improve the Region’s ability to cope with change.



figure 1.

The Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority Region and its Socio-ecological Landscapes

Note that the tablelands se landscape also falls within the Border rivers-gwydir, Namoi and hunter-Central rivers Cma regions.



CAp2 has a logical strategic framework

CAP2 is founded on a 50-year, long-term vision and three, 10-year aspirational goals (see Figure 2). Five strategies have been devised to attain these goals:

Strategy 1: Engage and support the community to build capacity and partnerships

Strategy 2: Manage landscapes and seascapes

Strategy 3: Sustain livelihoods

Strategy 4: Enrich lifestyles and culture.

Strategy 5: Manage for change to enable the community and government to effectively carry out NRM.

Strategies 1 and 5 are the support pillars that are essential to successfully implementing CAP2—they enable the priority actions under the other three strategies to be undertaken.

Strategies 2, 3 and 4 focus on our NRM values (the three L’s) and include priority actions or interventions to deliver our NRM priorities. These three strategies are connected and interact with each other. For example, controlling grazing and restoring river bank vegetation not only benefits riparian habitats, it improves water quality for the oyster industry, and creates a nicer place to fish.

CAp2’s strategic directions are our priorities

There are 21 strategic directions that sum up the Region’s strategic NRM priorities for the next decade.

These directions are delivered by 85 priority actions. This large number of actions reflects the highly diverse nature of the Region’s natural resource assets, the issues that influence them, the extent of our all-of-government involvement in CAP2 implementation, and the breadth of activity already undertaken by our NRM community.

CAP2 implementation will commence with a focus on a core set of priorities that address our key drivers of change. These priorities will consolidate the platform that supports the delivery of CAP2 into the future:

1. developing and refining an adaptive all-of-government CAP2 implementation structure with the support of the community

2. building community capacity (guided by our maps of community capacity)

3. managing threats to increase landscape and seascape function, productivity and resilience (guided by our maps of natural resource health), including managing threatened species and ecological communities

4. managing conflicts around land and sea resource availability, use and security

5. promoting best practice and innovation

6. supporting planning and management processes that protect lifestyle and cultural values

7. acquiring knowledge and applying new learning in an adaptive manner (including climate ready scenarios).

CAP2 strategies and priority actions deliver on CAP2, state and federal NRM targets and priorities.


CaP2 sets the direCtioN for regioNal Nrm

CAP2 is the key reference plan for natural resource management in the Northern Rivers Region (see Figure 1). It will inform the delivery of regional NRM by our NRM community. It reflects the shared vision that our NRM community has for the Northern Rivers:

Healthy landscapes and seascapes managed to be sustainable, resilient and productive by viable industries and vibrant, prosperous local communities.

CAP2 provides the overarching, regional strategic direction for NRM to achieve this vision:

•setting priorities to maintain and improve the health, resilience* and productivity of the Region’s natural resources

•building the capacity of our communities to contribute to these priorities

•buildingthecapacityofourcommunitiesand natural resources to cope with change, shocks and uncertainty.

CAP2 focuses on maintaining and improving the resilience of our systems which in turn support three broad NRM values: landscapes (which include seascapes), livelihoods, and lifestyle and culture (see Regional Profile). Maintaining and improving the ‘three L’s’ is a focus for action in CAP2—this is our triple bottom line approach.



Our plan on a page−an overview of the CAP2 strategic framework

OUR VISION – Where we want to be in 50 years

OUR GOALS – What we want to achieve in the next 10 years

OUR STRATEGIES – What we are going to do in the next 5 years

OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS & PRIORITY ACTIONS* – What we will focus on in the next 2 to 5 years

Healthy landscapes & seascapes managed to be sustainable, resilient & productive by viable industries & vibrant, prosperous local communities

Adaptable & responsive communities with a high

capacity for maintaining their viability & identity

1. Engage & support the community to build capacity

& partnerships

1.1 Engage our NRM community

1.2 Enhance community capacity

1.3 Build partnerships

to enable our interventions

* Please see Section 3 of CAP2 for unabridged strategic directions & detailed priority actions

13 priority actions

our interventions to enable our interventions

15 priority actions

An adaptive Region with a high capacity to cope with

change, shocks & uncertainty

5. Manage for change to enable the community & government to effectively

carry out NRM

5.1 Develop a framework for adaptive governance & management

5.2 Implement processes to progress regional & SE Landscape planning, delivery & reporting

5.3 Integrate policy & strategic initiatives into regional & SE Landscape planning, delivery & reporting

5.4 Align knowledge & integrate research to support evidence-based NRM

Healthy, resilient, sustainable & ecologically functional landscapes & seascapes supporting vibrant &

prosperous communities & viable natural resource–based industries

3. Sustain livelihoods

2. Manage landscapes &

seascapes

4. Enrich lifestyles &

culture

3.1 Promote sustainable use of natural resources through best practice & innovation

3.2 Address threats to natural resource productivity & resilience, including land-use/sea-use change, climate variation & extreme climatic events

3.3 Manage natural resource availability & security

3.4 Maintain availability of agricultural land, fishing grounds & aquaculture waters

3.5 Protect & conserve ecological function in production landscapes & seascapes

3.6 Achieve outcomes for sustainable NRM industries through innovative policy

3.7 Capitalise on new & emerging sustainable markets & initiatives

2.1 Integrate NRM across all spatial scales

2.2 Address threats to natural resources

2.3 Manage threatened species & habitats

2.4 Mitigate climate variation & extreme climatic events

4.1 Understand relevance of regional NRM to the values of the people

4.2 Promote the values of regional NRM that deliver community needs

4.3 Improve amenity & experience through best practice

28 priority actions

21 priority actions 8 priority actions

figure 2.



CaP2 imPlemeNtatioN is CollaBorative & targeted

Northern Rivers CMA will lead CAp2 implementation

The Northern Rivers CMA is both a leader and a partner in CAP2 implementation. The CMA’s roles include:

Regional leadership

•LeadandcoordinatetheCAP2Implementation Group which plans and delivers NRM programs to address CAP2 priority actions at regional, Socio-ecological Landscape* (SE Landscape), Socio-ecological District* (SE District) and local scales.

•ProvideNRMgovernanceandmanagement that set a foundation for learning and adaptation in the Northern Rivers Region.

•Cooperatewithandcontributetoissuesand policies of regional, state and national importance.

•Ensurethatpolicyisintegratedinregional NRM delivery.

•Setanddeliverinvestmentprioritiesthathave local, regional, state and national relevance.

•Buildandmaintainworkingrelationshipswith our delivery partners, including our neighbours.

•Promoteandsupportprogramsandtechnologies which either provide new opportunities or enhance natural resource–based industries.

•LeadandcoordinatethedeliveryoftheCAP2 Adaptation Strategy.

Deliver targeted NRM works

•Partnerorbrokerwithdeliverypartnersto deliver targeted and integrated NRM programs across the Region to:

− sustain livelihoods by enhancing adoption of best practice, particularly sustainable grazing, agricultural,

fishing and aquaculture practices

− address terrestrial and aquatic invasive pests, diseases and weeds, biosecurity and land degradation processes

− maintain and improve riparian, estuarine, wetland, coastal and marine habitats

− maintain and improve biodiversity and enhance corridor connections

− address key threats to water quality and water security

− better understand marine environments in order to enhance their management.

Deliver targeted community capacity building

•Engagestakeholdersineffective,consolidated and targeted capacity building programs based on identified priorities and community needs.

Coordinate knowledge building

•Workwithtechnicalexpertstoupdateand improve our understanding of natural resource health and community capacity (including our knowledge base and mapping).

Facilitate learning and adaptation

•Establishanddelivercollaborativemonitoring, evaluation and reporting processes across the Region.

•Partnerwithstakeholders,includingkey research institutions, to make the Region’s NRM planning more climate ready.

Collaboration & networking are fundamental to implementation

A Northern Rivers CMA CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee the early phase of the delivery of CAP2. This Group will initially act as a conduit and will facilitate the transition from the current CAP to the new planning, priority setting and delivery processes established under CAP2. Two key roles for this Group will be brokering all-of-government and all-of-community involvement in CAP2 implementation, and facilitating collaboration and networking between stakeholders, including our neighbours.

Implementation will engage communities and stakeholders at the regional, SE Landscape and local levels. Local communities will be engaged and involved in the development of both capacity building and NRM on-ground activity programs.

Our delivery partners are identified

A range of government agencies and stakeholders from our NRM community will play a major role in delivering priority actions.

CAP2 identifies these delivery partners, however, it is likely that new partners will become involved over the life of the plan as implementation progresses and partnership opportunities emerge. The commitment provided by our delivery partners has given the Region’s NRM community confidence that priority actions will be implemented.

Our neighbours are involved

The CMA’s delivery partners include our neighbours and we will continue to build and enhance cooperation across borders. For example, the Border Rivers-Gwydir and Northern Rivers CMAs are committed to an integrated and collaborative approach to CAP implementation on the New England Tableland.

The Northern Rivers CMA will also take a consultative approach with our other neighbours in south-east Queensland (including Condamine and Queensland Border Rivers catchments), and the Namoi and Hunter-Central Rivers CMAs. We will work collaboratively to identify and implement projects within joint SE Landscapes and across borders.

We are also working collaboratively with the other coastal CMAs on a range of state scale issues (e.g. building our knowledge of the marine environment to inform management).

Capacity building & NRM activities are prioritised & regularly reviewed

The Northern Rivers CMA CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee the evolution of a finer scale prioritisation to progress the CAPs identified strategic




CaP2 uses the latest Nrm thiNkiNg

New concepts & approaches

Systems

There has been a fundamental shift in NRM over the last 30 years. In the 1980s we focussed on individual threats like vegetation loss and soil erosion. Today our focus is on understanding whole systems and the complex and dynamic relationships between people and the natural environment.

Systems can be social, environmental or economic in nature and can operate at multiple scales. As such a system can be a community, a farm, forest or wetland.

Socio-ecological Landscapes (SE Landscapes) are systems that represent ‘communities of similarity’. They are based on areas with consistent and unique combinations of social and ecological characteristics. CAP2 identifies four SE Landscapes in the Region—Northern, Central, Southern and New England Tableland (see Figure 1), and 10 SE Districts that sit within these Landscapes.

These Landscapes and Districts allow us to plan and implement NRM programs to suit the values and needs of local communities. They also allow us to plan and deliver NRM at various scales—from regional to local.

Resilience

Resilient systems are able to cope with changes and shocks and still retain their basic function and structure.

Our resilience approach helps us understand how the social, economic and environmental relationships between and within our SE Landscape systems change in response to each other and in response to outside forces. In an ever-changing world, systems need to be resilient if they are to adapt to change.

Models & maps inform capacity building & NRM activities

We have used state and transition models as a working tool for exploring resilience.

priorities. This process will determine where best to focus our NRM efforts within each SE Landscape and District. This prioritisation process will be based on:

•communitycapacityandresourcehealthmaps*

•theprioritiesofNRMdeliverypartners

•ourinvestmentprinciples

•technicalexpertsandnewresearch

•existingplanning

•investorpreferences

•localcommunitypriorities.

The prioritisation process will ensure that investment and delivery are locally relevant, timely, reviewed and updated regularly, adaptive, and ultimately linked to CAP2 priority actions. This process will be part of annual planning processes. In terms of community capacity, the process will help us to target which capacity building activities to invest in and where to invest.

These models consider how the Region’s systems function, and their limits to absorb disturbances before they change their identity or state. They have helped us to more fully understand the dynamics of community capacity and natural resource health and what is required to build and maintain the resilience of our Region, SE Landscapes and Districts.

One of the new approaches in CAP2 is the use of spatial information drawn from a range of sources to map health and capacity of each of the 217 subcatchments in the four SE Landscapes (including 205 subcatchments within the Region).

The Northern Rivers CMA, with the help of the community, has produced trial maps of community capacity, including Aboriginal community capacity. We have also mapped the health of our soils, biodiversity, rivers, estuaries, wetlands and coastal and marine environments.

These maps will inform priorities for how we target capacity building and NRM activities at the regional, SE Landscape and subcatchment scales.

These maps will always be in a constant state of refinement because capacity and health change over time and new information comes to light. With the help of the community we will ground-truth our health and capacity maps and the data they are based on. This constant refinement will ensure that our maps are as accurate and up to date as possible.

We will continue to invest in maintaining and improving community capacity so communities can undertake best practice NRM activities.

Best available information supports CAp2

CAP2 incorporates the best available information, including scientific research, spatial information (for mapping), modelling processes, and expert and local knowledge.

This approach has allowed us to develop a range of innovative and useful products to help us plan and implement NRM in the Region.



adaPtatioN eNsures CaP2 has oNgoiNg relevaNCe

CAP2 not only uses the latest NRM thinking available in 2012, it also includes processes to ensure that new information (or evidence) is continuously applied to NRM in the Region.

CAp2 Adaptation Strategy

There is no doubt that over the life of the plan there will be social, environmental and economic changes and opportunities, and new government reforms that will influence CAP2 delivery. The CAP2 Adaptation Strategy will allow us to adapt to these changes in NRM policy, planning and delivery requirements as they occur. Our adaptive approach to governance and decision-making will ensure CAP2 continues to be a live, strategic document with ongoing relevance.

New evidence—gleaned from NRM reporting, research and ‘environmental scans’—will be used to identify emerging social, environmental and economic change that might influence how natural resources are managed across the Region and SE Landscapes.

This evidence will be used to decide if CAP2 needs to adapt to the change, and will guide any amendments we need to make to CAP2 decision-making or implementation processes.

These approaches will ultimately see us shift our thinking from ‘Did it work?’ to ‘Is it working?’. Continually looking for ways to be adaptive and innovative will ensure that we have healthy catchments that can meet our landscape, livelihood and lifestyle needs.

CAp2 supports reporting at multiple scales

A vital component of adaptation is monitoring and evaluating our work, reporting on this, and making improvements where needed. To date,

these processes have been captured under various disjointed reporting procedures.

CAP2 will support collaborative NRM reporting processes across various scales, including existing frameworks such as the NSW state of the catchments and state of the environment reporting, and the Region’s river health report card (Ecohealth).

Also at a regional level, CAP2 will build on new initiatives such as the Regional State of the Environment Report 2012 (NRCMA 2012). This Report brings information together in an integrated and collaborative framework for the first time, providing a publicly available scientific account of the health of the Region’s environment.

CAP2 can also support potential new developments including national environmental reporting.

JoiN iN the CaP2 exPerieNCe

The Northern Rivers CMA encourages you to explore the full version of CAP2 and the supporting information that underpins its directions, priorities and technical framework.

These can be found at: http://northern.cma.nsw.gov.au/.




The Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority (CMA) Region extends from the Queensland border, south to the Camden Haven River and inland onto the New England Tableland. It is one of just four CMAs in New South Wales with coastal and marine environments. The Region extends seawards three-nautical miles and also includes Lord Howe Island.

The Northern Rivers Region is known for its outstanding natural beauty and high level of biodiversity. With leadership and support from the Northern Rivers CMA, the Northern Rivers community has achieved much since the introduction of the first catchment action plan (CAP) in 2005, including:

•enhancedleadershipcapacitytodelivernaturalresourcemanagement (NRM) across the Region

•greatercommunitycapacitytoundertakeNRM

•improvedhealthofournaturalresources

•adoptionofsustainableagriculturalpractices

•improvedland-useandsea-useplanningapproaches

•newpartnershipstodeliverNRM

•improvedknowledgeandunderstandingofnaturalresources

•improvedtechnologiesforimplementingNRM.

Much of this has been achieved through strong working relationships and partnerships between NRM stakeholders, in particular, Landcare networks, non-government organisations, industry groups, local Councils and the Northern Rivers community.

The Northern Rivers CMA is pleased to present the second 10-year catchment action plan for NRM across the Northern Rivers Region. The Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan 2013–2023 (CAP2) is a statutory, non-regulatory plan developed through a facilitated process of stakeholder engagement over the past 18 months. It is the reference plan for natural resource management organisations in the Northern Rivers Region. The plan has been drafted by Northern Rivers CMA staff with oversight and strategic direction provided by the CMA Board and an all-of-government CAP2 Reference Group.

The development of CAP2 has involved a review of our achievements against the first CAP, and an assessment of opportunities for the future. It has sought the community’s response to the values and issues of concern it has for NRM. Through an intergovernmental technical review we have collected and documented science-based evidence of the health and functionality of our natural resources. This consultation process has produced an all-of-government and all-of-community NRM plan for the Northern Rivers Region.

Central to CAP2 is the idea of building resilience into our natural systems so they have the ability to cope with shocks

and changes while retaining essentially the same structure and function. Social factors have always been an important aspect of building ecological sustainability. Indeed, the resilience of human communities and ecological systems are strongly interlinked.

The new CAP is based on core strategies to manage landscapes and seascapes, sustain livelihoods and enrich lifestyles. These are supported by additional strategies to engage communities and manage change. CAP2 provides strategic direction and priorities for improving the health, resilience and productivity of the Region’s natural resources. It identifies priority actions to support both livelihoods and productivity through best management of natural resources and well as taking advantage of the opportunities provided through NRM programs such as carbon farming.

The CAP recognises the strong sense of place that many residents feel with their natural environment and contains actions to enrich the lifestyle, culture and heritage of the Region. Central to the success of the plan are strategies which build the capacity of our communities to contribute to these priorities, and which build the adaptive capacity of our communities and natural resources to cope with change, shocks and uncertainty.

CAP2 identifies Socio-ecological Landscapes within the Region to help deliver the plan. These subregional areas are based primarily around ‘communities of interest’ and subcatchments. This approach will facilitate the setting of local priorities and community engagement.

CAP2 will continue to provide clear direction for the local, state and federal funding of regional NRM activities. With assistance from local communities, the Northern Rivers CMA and other organisations will use CAP2 to prioritise annual NRM investment programs. This funding supports landholders, community groups, Aboriginal land managers, industry, business and government to achieve the objectives and targets of the plan.

CAP2 embodies the growth and maturity of collaborative relationships between NRM stakeholders in the Northern Rivers Region. This broad ownership establishes a firm basis for effective implementation and attainment of targets in the future.

The Board and staff wish to acknowledge the invaluable input, advice and comments provided by the Northern Rivers NRM community, and especially the key stakeholders within the Region. The Board also acknowledges the dedication and outstanding effort of the Northern Rivers CMA staff who have guided and developed this process.

John WilliamsChairNorthern Rivers CMA

foreword from the Chair


CoNteNts1. settiNg the CoNtext 17

Where is the Northern Rivers Region? 18

Why do we need a new catchment action plan? 18

How did we develop CAp2? 18

What is the current state of play? 20

What will CAp2 do? 20

Who is CAp2 for? 22

Who will implement CAp2? 22

2. the CaP2 strategiC framework 23

A logical framework 24

Overview of the framework 24

The importance of engagement, capacity and partnerships 24

Maintaining and improving landscapes, livelihoods and lifestyles and culture 25

An adaptation approach embeds resilience into implementation 28

3. CaP2’s Priority aCtioNs 29

A hierarchy of relationships 30

Multiple outcomes—triple bottom line 30

Our delivery partners 30

Strategy 1: Engage community 32

Strategy 2: Manage landscapes and seascapes 33

Strategy 3: Sustain livelihoods 35

Strategy 4: Enrich lifestyles and culture 38

Strategy 5: Manage for change 39

4. imPlemeNtiNg CaP2 41

A systems and resilience approach requires new implementation processes 42

CAp2's strategic directions are our priority 42

Northern Rivers CMA will lead CAp2 implementation 42

Regional and SE Landscape governance arrangements 43

Regional and SE Landscape implementation processes 45

Working with our neighbours 48

5. adaPtiNg to ChaNge 51

CAp2 supports active decision-making and continuous planning 52

The CAp2 Adaptation Strategy 52

Evidence systems 54

Regional MERI 54

Aligning stakeholder MERI systems 55



aPPeNdixes

Appendix A: The CAp2 Development process 59

Appendix B: CAp2 New Approaches & Concepts 61

Appendix C: Outline Of State And Transition Model And Map Development 75

Appendix D: Socio-Ecological Landscapes Of The Northern Rivers Region 85

list of figures aNd taBles

Figure 1. The Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority Region and its Socio-ecological Landscapes. 7

Figure 2. Our plan on a page−an overview of the CAp2 strategic framework 9

Figure 3. Key guide to the strategic framework 26

Figure 4. CAp2 strategic framework 27

Figure 5. Development and implementation of CAp2 44

Figure 6. CAp2 prioritisation process 46

Figure 7. CAp2 process to identify the scope of delivery partner collaboration 47

Figure 8. CAp2 Adaptation Strategy framework 53

Table 1. Relationship of CAp2 key indicators of success, subtargets and targets to relevant state targets and national priorities 56

Figure B.1. Socio-ecological districts of the Northern Rivers Region 63

Figure B.2. Soil health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 68

Figure B.3. Biodiversity health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 69

Figure B.4. Wetland health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 70

Figure B.5. River, estuary and marine health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 71

Figure B.6. Coastal health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 72

Figure B.7. Community capacity state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 73

Figure B.8. Aboriginal community state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region 74

Figure C.1. A simplified illustration of a biodiversity S&T model 77

Figure C.2. Biodiversity state and transition model 78

Table C.1. Data used in natural resource health maps 81

Figure C.3. The biodiversity state and transition model is underpineed by real spatial data and works at a range of scales 82

Table C.2. Criteria used to map community capacity 83

Table C.3. Alignment of biodiversity S&T model priority actions with the objectives identified in the NR Regional Biodiversity Management plan (BMp) 84

Table D.1. preliminary assessment of the potential influence of drivers of change on SE Landscape identity given current trends in driver direction and intensity 88

NORTHERN RIVERS CATCHMENT ACTION pLAN 2013–2023 15



aCkNowledgemeNts

The Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority recognises that we all have a responsibility to secure our natural resources for future generations. We acknowledge and thank all those that have taken on that responsibility and contributed to natural resource management—in the past, present and future.

The Northern Rivers CMA also thanks all those from our natural resource management community that have contributed to the development of the Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan 2013–2023. Your tremendous efforts will have a far-reaching and progressive influence over how we manage our natural resources over the next decade.

aCkNowledgemeNt of traditioNal owNers

The Northern Rivers CMA acknowledges the traditional owners of Country in the Northern Rivers Region, and strongly respects the rich culture and intrinsic connection and responsibility they have to the land.

thaNk you

The Northern Rivers CMA thanks all who have contributed so far to the Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan 2013–2023, in particular, the following members of the CAP2 Development Team.

Northern Rivers CMA representatives:

CAP2 Project Team: Mark Asquith, Royce Bennett, Annette Harrison, Graeme Moss, Monica Poel, Deb Tkachenko, Ian Simpson.

CAP2 Technical Reference Group Team Leaders: Mark Asquith and Darren Murray (Aboriginal capacity), Nigel Blake (wetlands), Peter Boyd (community capacity), Tony Broderick (rivers), Peter Corlis (aquatic), Sharon Cunial (estuaries), Jamie Morton (biodiversity), Peter Roberts (soils), Jai Sleeman (coasts), and Lachlan Stace (estuaries, marine).

Northern Rivers CMA Board: John Williams (current Chair) Judy Henderson (prior Chair), Rod McKelvey (Deputy Chair), Isabel Borrelli, Steve MacDonald, Peter Smith, Chris Spencer, Tony Walker.

CAp2 Reference Group representatives:

Greg Watt, Dan Simpkins (Dept of Premier and Cabinet – DPC)

Lynn Baker, Shane Ruming (Office of Environment and Heritage, DPC)

Claire Purvis, Steve Jensen (Dept of Planning and Infrastructure – DP&I)

Rik Whitehead, Peter Slavich, Phillip Hirst (Dept Primary Industries – DPI)

Nicola Johnstone (Marine Parks Authority, DPI)

Peter Baumann, Ian Hanson (Crown Lands Division, DPI)

Robyn Fitzroy, Katrina Luckie (Regional Development Australia Northern Rivers)

Rod Wright, Peter Wilson (Northern Regional Organisation of Councils)

Gerry Moran (New England Shires Alliance of Councils)

Thor Aaso, Nigel Cotsell (Mid North Coast Group of Councils which includes Lord Howe Island)

Jennie Coldham (Regional Landcare Facilitator – Tablelands and Slopes), Jodi Gager (Coastal Regional Landcare Facilitator)

Megan Tattersall, Rick Sammons, Lee Pearson, James Morris (Australian Government)

Michael Burt (NSW Farmers Federation)

Chris Spencer (Aboriginal Peoples’ representative, Northern Rivers CMA)

John Edwards (North Coast Environment Council)

Tim Rabbidge, Glenn George (NSW Office of Water)

Wendy Miller, Liz Blair (Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA).

We would also like to acknowledge the significant contribution made by all Northern Rivers CMA staff. Their commitment, passion and knowledge of natural resource management in the Region have been invaluable in developing CAP2. Northern Rivers CMA staff, as well as other agency staff and experts, the Region’s three Aboriginal Extension Officers and staff of the 14 Landcare Networks and Community Support Officers also made significant contributions via Technical Reference Groups.

Critical support, advice and expertise have been provided by Paul Ryan (Interface NRM), Donella Andersen (Nature Edit) and Jane Baldwin (Northern Rivers CMA, document and web production).

Thanks also to the communities of the Northern Rivers Region for commenting on discussion papers, sharing their enthusiasm, their patience, and for keeping us on track!

January 2013

NORTHERN RIVERS CATCHMENT ACTION pLAN 2013–2023


17

1settiNg the

CoNtext



where is the NortherN rivers regioN?

The Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority (CMA) Region extends from the Queensland border, south to the Camden Haven River and inland onto the New England Tableland (see Figure 1). It is one of just four CMAs in New South Wales with coastal and marine environments. The Region extends seawards three-nautical miles and also includes Lord Howe Island, 600 kilometres east of Port Macquarie. The Northern Rivers Region is known for its outstanding natural beauty and high level of biodiversity.

why do we Need a New CatChmeNt aCtioN PlaN?

The Northern Rivers CMA is one of 13 authorities established in New South Wales in 2004 under the Catchment Management Authorities Act 2003. One of the specific functions of a CMA is to develop a catchment action plan (CAP) and review it periodically. The catchment action plan helps the CMA to meet its obligations and legislative responsibilities under the Native Vegetation Act 2003 and Native Vegetation Regulation 2005.

Through the catchment action plan, a CMA engages regional communities in natural resource management (NRM) priorities and directs investment into activities that restore and protect our natural resources.

The Northern Rivers CMA Board developed the first Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan (Northern Rivers CAP) and has overseen its implementation. Catchment action plans across New South Wales have been reviewed and now set new priorities for natural resource management over the next 10 years.

The Northern Rivers CMA Board was responsible for leading the development of the new Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan 2013–2023 (CAP2), which like the first CAP will be a statutory, non-regulatory plan.

An All-of-government Reference Group oversaw the development of CAP2. The Group included over 20 representatives from government agencies (at all levels) with responsibility for NRM, local and regional NRM groups (including Landcare and Aboriginal land councils), the farming sector and conservation sector [see supporting information # 1].

how did we develoP CaP2?

Applied lessons learnt from our first CAp

Our community has achieved much since the first Northern Rivers CAP was released in 2005. Together we have:

•enhancedleadershipcapacitytodeliverNRM across the Region

•growncommunitycapacitytoundertakeNRM

•improvedthehealthofournaturalresources

•implementedsustainableagriculturalpractices

•improvedland-useandsea-useplanningapproaches

•collaboratedandformednewpartnerships to deliver NRM

•improvedourknowledgeandunderstanding of natural resources

•improvedtechnologiesforimplementingNRM.

Many of our achievements are due to the hard work and dedication of the landholders/farmers, local Landcare groups and other committed community members who participate in on-ground NRM in our Region.

Over the past 10 years we have also learned how to improve the delivery of NRM in the Region. A detailed evaluation of the Northern Rivers CAP was undertaken to identify areas of improvement needed for CAP2 [see supporting information # 2]. We evaluated and reviewed the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of CAP programs and critically evaluated CAP targets. The evaluation of the original CAP has informed the new directions taken in CAP2.

Applied state standards

CAP2 has been developed in accordance with the Natural Resources Commission’s Standards for quality natural resource management (NRC 2005) and criteria for upgrading CAPs (NRC 2012).



As such, CAP2 has been founded on:

•structured,consultative,collaborativeand adaptable planning processes

•bestavailableinformationtodeveloptargets and actions for building resilient landscapes and seascapes

•processesthatensurethatCAP2isa plan for collaborative action and investment between government, community and industry partners.

We consulted and collaborated with key stakeholders and the broader Northern Rivers community to develop CAP2. Community feedback on a series of discussion and technical papers also informed the process. See Appendix A.

Adopted new approaches

CAP2 has adopted a number of new approaches and directions.

A focus on NRM values

CAP2 focuses on maintaining and improving the Region’s landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and cultural values.

A socio-ecological systems approach

We have identified four Socio-ecological Landscapes (SE Landscapes—see Figure 1) and will tailor NRM activities to suit local needs as part of CAP2 implementation. We have also identified 10 smaller-scale SE Districts that sit within these broader Landscapes. See Appendix B.

SE Landscapes encompass areas with consistent and unique combinations of social and ecological characteristics.

A resilience approach

We have looked at influences that can transform our SE Landscapes and identified ways to ensure their resilience to change. See Appendix B and D.

Resilience relates to a system’s ability to cope with changes and shocks (be they social, economic or environmental) while retaining essentially the same structure and function.

A resilience approach focuses on understanding the dynamics and connections between people and their natural environment and how these connections change in response to each

other and to external influences such as drivers and shocks and the local opportunities and threats these create.

Drivers of change are unpredictable, slow, pushing forces that we have little control over (e.g. climate change, changes to government policy).

Due to their nature, we can’t influence drivers directly—we can only adapt to the conditions they create, manage the threats they create, or take advantage of any opportunities they create. CAP2 includes priority actions that focus mostly on the local threats created by drivers.

A mapping and modelling approach

We have used state and transition models to more fully understand the dynamics of community capacity and natural resource health. See Appendix B and C.

State and transition models represent the relative health and capacity states of our natural resource systems and communities, and the threats and priority actions that cause these to transition from one state to another. They provide a working tool for exploring resilience.

We have used best available data to map natural resource health along with community capacity to undertake NRM activities (see Table C.1 in Appendix C). These models and maps will help us understand resilience and system dynamics and, with the help of local communities, will inform the setting of priorities for maintaining and improving health and building community capacity. See Appendix C.

Community capacity encompasses four key elements:

1) knowledge—an awareness and understanding of NRM principles and issues

2) skills—practical experience in NRM activities

3) social capital—family, community, other social networks and support services

4) resources—time, money and opportunity.

Natural resource health describes the ability of a system to provide the full range of ecosystem services. It is measured using ‘characteristics’ that relate in some way to resource composition, structure or function. Broad health ‘states’ (higher, average or lower) are the units of measure for health in CAP2.

An approach to adapt to change

We have developed an Adaptation Strategy which will assess and enable us to respond to new and emerging social, environmental and economic changes and government reforms. It also establishes processes to identify and make any changes to the way we make decisions or implement CAP2. See Section 5.



what is the CurreNt state of Play?

The priority actions in CAP2 are founded on our current understanding of the Region (see Regional Profile).

what will CaP2 do?

Manage our resources sustainably

CAp2 is the key reference plan for natural resource management in the Northern Rivers Region.

CAP2 provides an all-of-government and all-of-community approach to the sustainable management of the Region’s natural resources between 2013 and 2023. Sustainable natural resource management refers to how we manage our natural resources, with a specific focus on management that ensures that they are sustainable and can continue to provide for both present and future generations.

The Region’s natural resources are its soils, biodiversity, rivers, estuaries, wetlands, and coastal and marine environments.

CAP2 provides the overarching strategic direction for:

•settingprioritiestomaintainandimprovethe health, resilience and productivity of the Region’s natural resources

•buildingthecapacityofourcommunitiesto contribute to these priorities

•buildingtheadaptivecapacityofourcommunities and natural resources to cope with change, shocks and uncertainty.

protect our landscapes, livelihoods, lifestyles and culture

The people of the Northern Rivers Region have a strong connection with the healthy, natural and productive landscapes and seascapes that they live amongst, and the

lifestyles, culture and opportunities these create. We rely heavily on the Region’s natural resources, and the environmental values and services they provide support our livelihoods and wellbeing, both directly and indirectly.

CAP2 focuses on maintaining and improving the Region’s landscape (environmental), livelihood (economic) and lifestyle and cultural (social) NRM values. This focus is captured in CAP2’s 50-year vision.

CAP2’s vision:Healthy landscapes and seascapes managed to be sustainable, resilient and productive by viable industries and vibrant, prosperous local communities

Landscape values reflect natural resource function and health, together with what natural resources supply. Natural resources are the key components of functioning landscapes and seascapes.

Integrating the protection, use and conservation of our natural resources across the matrix of land- and sea-uses and public and private lands is fundamental to regional sustainability and the protection and maintenance of landscape values.

Livelihood values reflect how people make a living, and so have an economic basis. The sustainable use of our natural resources is integral to livelihoods that are based on our natural resource–based industries. These industries must continue to be profitable and continue to produce goods and services (e.g. food, fibre, clean water and nature-based tourism) without degrading the natural resources and catchments on which they rely.

Major natural resource–based industries in the Region are:

•dairy

•cropping

•grazing

•horticulture

•conservation

•timber

•fishingandaquaculture

•tourism.

Lifestyle and cultural values reflect more intrinsic values, including community/cultural identity, landscape amenity, community needs and aspirations, and sense of place.

The goods and services produced by our landscapes and seascapes sustain our lifestyles and cultures. We live in these landscapes and we draw our identity from them. We enjoy the recreational opportunities and amenity they provide. Our rocky escarpments and gorges, grazing floodplains, outstanding biodiversity, rural landscapes, natural areas, and the beaches, rivers, estuaries and oceans all provide us with our sense of place and fulfil our aspirations.

provide multiple outcomes—our triple bottom line

Some of CAP2’s priority actions deliver multiple outcomes across a range of strategies and strategic directions—as such, CAP2 has a triple bottom line approach. This highlights the complexity of linkages across landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and cultural values, and reflects the integrated nature of delivery processes. For example, marine debris clean-ups and beach rehabilitation initiatives not only benefit coastal health (landscapes), they improve visitor experiences for the tourism industry (livelihoods), and make our beaches more appealing places to surf (lifestyle).


the NortherN rivers regioN iN Profile

A Region of outstanding natural resources and capable communities

The Northern Rivers Region is unique in the mixture and quality of landscape, livelihood and lifestyle values it supports.

•Adiversityofnaturallandscapesandamix of temperate and subtropical climates provide nationally recognised biodiversity and wilderness and wetland areas, and complex and diverse soil systems. Large river systems with extensive floodplains have strong connections through to estuarine and marine environments.

•Arangeofdynamicandproductivenaturalresource–based livelihoods, including grazing, horticulture, fishing, timber production and tourism.

•ARegionofvibranttowns,villagesandcommunities that support diverse coastal, hinterland and tableland lifestyles. A Region that supports people who have a strong connection to their healthy, natural and productive landscapes and seascapes and the lifestyles, culture and opportunities they create.

•AlargeandcapableNRMcommunityactivelyengaged in the sustainable management of the Region’s natural resources.

•Aniconicanddenselypopulatedcoastlineprovides a focus for recreational pursuits and much sought after sea changer lifestyles.

The health of our resources and the capacity of our communities vary

The health of our natural resources varies significantly across the Region. At present, the Central and Tablelands SE Landscapes have higher overall resource health.

In terms of community capacity, all four SE Landscapes* in the Region have average capacity to undertake NRM activities.

Drivers of change influence health and capacity

Identifying the key drivers of change that influence natural resource health and community capacity is challenging and complex. There are many drivers, but changing population demographics, changing land use and farm viability are seen as major influences on NRM across the Region.

Drivers of change result in many challenges. We need to maintain water quality, manage development pressure (particularly on the coast), better understand and manage the marine environment, and build on sustainable land-use practices. We need to halt the decline in biodiversity by reducing habitat loss, controlling terrestrial and aquatic invasive species and minimising the risk of new introductions. We need to increase the capacity of our communities to undertake effective on-ground NRM across the Region.

Our resilience to change varies

Preliminary assessments show that the New England Tableland and Northern SE Landscapes have a relatively higher overall resilience to cope with changes that may influence delivery of NRM compared to the Southern and Central SE Landscapes. This resilience is a function of complex factors that include governance systems, leadership, innovation, and the diversity of social, economic and environmental systems. CAP2 ultimately seeks to better measure and understand resilience in order to improve the Region’s ability to cope with change.




NRM bodies including Hunter-Central Rivers CMA, Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA, Namoi CMA, and those from south-east Queensland (including Condamine and Queensland Border Rivers catchments). We also work collaboratively with the other NSW coastal CMAs on statewide NRM issues.

who will imPlemeNt CaP2?

While the Northern Rivers CMA has overall responsibility for overseeing implementation of CAP2, key stakeholders will have individual responsibility for specific priority actions in CAP2.

CAp2 does not provide a detailed action plan for the community, nor does it describe detailed actions and budgets for local on-ground activities. Rather, it provides a framework for strategies and priority actions that will guide the development of annual investment programs and implementation plans. These programs/plans will be tailored to suit regional, SE Landscape and local priorities and needs.

CAP2 will be implemented through integrated and collaborative partnerships with local community members, government agencies and key stakeholders. Section 4 details the implementation process and priorities.

who is CaP2 for?

CAp2 is for everyone in the Northern Rivers Region

The Northern Rivers Region community comprises people from diverse backgrounds who have a shared interest in protecting and using our natural resources.

CAp2 is for our NRM community

The Northern Rivers Region’s natural resource management community is the major stakeholder of CAP2. Our NRM community is diverse and vibrant. It encompasses:

•theNorthernRiversCMA

•governmentagencies(includingpublicland managers)

•localgovernments,utilitiesandcouncils

•localandregionalnetworks (e.g. Regional Development Australia, Landcare, Aboriginal land councils, conservation consortiums and alliances, fishers, boaters and traditional owner groups)

•non-governmentorganisations (e.g. EnviTE, Greening Australia, Bush Heritage, Nature Conservation Council)

•businesses(e.g.GreenTeams,environmental consultants, tourism and primary industries)

•educationandresearchinstitutions

•individualsinvolvedinNRM(e.g.privatelandowners, volunteers, urban dwellers).

Our community encompasses the Region’s Aboriginal people, including Biripi (Hastings Valley), Bundjalung (Richmond, Tweed and northern Clarence valleys), Yaegl (lower Clarence Valley), Dunghutti (Macleay Valley), Gumbaynggir (Bellinger and southern Clarence valleys), Anaiwan (southern tablelands), Banbai (northern tablelands), and Kamilaroi. We acknowledge these traditional owners of Country and their responsibilities relating to managing Country.

Our NRM community also extends beyond our borders. We have a close working association with neighbouring regional



2the CaP2

strategiCframework

23





Strategy 4: Enrich culture and lifestyle

Strategy 5: Manage for change to enable the community and government to effectively carry out NRM.

Strategies 1 and 5 are the support pillars that are essential to successfully implementing CAP2—they enable the priority actions under the other three strategies to be undertaken efficiently and effectively.

Strategies 2, 3 and 4 focus on our NRM values (landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and culture) and include priority actions or interventions to deliver our NRM priorities. These three strategies are connected and interact with each other.

There are 21 strategic directions that sum up the Region’s NRM priorities for the next decade. These directions are delivered by 85 priority actions (see Section 3). This large number of actions reflects the highly diverse nature of the Region’s natural resource assets, the issues that influence them, the extent of our all-of-government involvement in CAP2 implementation, and the breadth of activity already undertaken by our NRM community.

Key indicators of success and targets relate to the strategies and reflect achievements towards our goals (see Table 1, Section 5). CAP2 targets and subtargets are linked to targets in the NSW Government’s NSW 2021: a plan for making NSW number one (DPC 2011). They are also consistent with the key directions outlined in the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country – an outline for the future 2013–2018 (Australian Government 2012).

This framework was informed by public consultation and extensive all-of-government consultation, including that undertaken in the development of the state and transition models. As such, the strategic framework reflects all-of-government agreement on the directions and priorities established by CAP2.

the imPortaNCe of eNgagemeNt, CaPaCity aNd PartNershiPs

Strategy 1: Engage community

Engage and support the community to maintain and build community capacity and partnerships to manage natural resources

Strategy 1 provides the first support pillar that is essential to the successful implementation of CAP2—it enables the priority actions associated with the management of our natural resources (i.e. Strategies 2, 3 and 4) to be undertaken in partnership at a local scale where communities have a local understanding and ownership of their NRM issues.

The breadth and complexity of our communities demands contemporary approaches to harness their knowledge, skills and ability to participate in NRM activities. The three strategic directions within this strategy are derived largely from our state and transition model priority actions which offer a more diverse, flexible and adaptive approach to engaging stakeholders, building community capacity and building partnerships. This approach will be essential given the breadth of CAP2’s all-of-government and all-of-community approach.

Strategy 1 is supported by key indicators of success, and a target that reflects improvements in community engagement and capacity. The target combines four subtargets that focus on community knowledge, skills and social capital. These subtargets flow from the community capacity state and transition models developed by all-of-government technical expert groups. As such they have a resilience basis where the emphasis is on maintaining or improving the state of community capacity which has been mapped at a subcatchment scale.

a logiCal framework

The CAP2 strategic framework is based on a hierarchy; from its vision through to it priority actions and targets. The levels in the hierarchy build on each other in a logical manner and work at a range of spatial scales (regional, SE Landscape, SE District, subcatchment and property) and temporal scales (2–10 years).

overview of the framework

Figure 3 provides a simple key (or guide) to our strategic framework and a description of its core elements, and Figure 4 provides a representation of the strategic framework.

At the top of the hierarchy is the CAP2 vision:

Healthy landscapes and seascapes managed to be sustainable, resilient and productive by viable industries and vibrant, prosperous local communities.

CAP2’s three goals reflect this progressive NRM vision:

Goal 1: Adaptable and responsive communities with a high capacity for maintaining their viability and identity

Goal 2: Healthy, resilient, sustainable and ecologically functional landscapes and seascapes supporting vibrant and prosperous communities and viable natural resource–based industries

Goal 3: An adaptive Region with a high capacity to cope with change, shocks and uncertainty.

Below each goal are a number of strategies and within these are various strategic directions. CAP2 contains five strategies:

Strategy 1: Engage and support the community to build capacity and partnerships



to the Region’s natural resources. These activities—which ultimately improve resource extent, condition and connectivity—include community capacity building, partnership development, promotion of best practice, coordination, knowledge building, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement, and on-ground habitat management. Emerging and existing threats include habitat clearing and fragmentation, inappropriate grazing, acid sulphate soils, pollution, competition or predation from invasive species, bell miner associated dieback, disease, climate variation and extreme climatic events, wildfire, erosion, and unsustainable harvesting (e.g. fishing, forestry) practices.

The management of priority threatened species, ecosystems and habitats that might not otherwise be addressed by the management of landscapes and seascapes is also a focus.

Strategy 2 is supported by key indicators of success and a target that reflects improvements in landscape health and function. This target combines seven subtargets which focus on soil, biodiversity, river, wetland, estuary, coastal and marine resource health. These subtargets flow from the seven individual resource health state and transition models developed by all-of-government technical expert groups. As such they have a resilience basis where the emphasis is on maintaining or improving natural resource health states which have been mapped at a subcatchment scale.


Maintain and improve the natural resource base to deliver viable natural resource–based industries on land and in water

With priority actions resulting largely from stakeholder and all-of-government consultation that focussed on landholder and industry needs, Strategy 3 provides direction for strategic ‘policy’ initiatives, practice change, innovation, and on-ground management of our natural resources to enhance sustainable and viable resource-based industries.

Seven strategic directions focus on solving existing and often long-standing NRM issues using a proactive and innovative

approach. There is also a focus on progressing new and emerging initiatives that present potential opportunities and markets (e.g. carbon farming), and addressing potential threats (e.g. new invasive species).

The strategic directions promote natural resource sustainability and innovation through improved best practice, and innovative policy interventions that are beneficial to sustainable NRM industries.

Strategy 3 places emphasis on addressing the impacts that emerging and existing land-use and sea-use threats and changes have on natural resource productivity. Threats include soil degradation, introduction of new invasive species including marine pests, aquatic diseases, resource over-extraction, climate variation and extreme climatic events. Land-use change includes shifts towards more intensive forms of agriculture or mining.

Opportunities to further enhance resource availability, sustainability and security are considered, particularly in relation to water, recreation land, commercial fisheries and timber resources.

A key direction is the use of land-use and sea-use planning instruments to address the impacts of land- and sea-use change on the availability of prime production land and commercial fishing grounds in order to ensure food security. Planning also features as a key mechanism for integrating production with conservation management.

Strategy 3 is supported by key indicators of success and a target that reflects improvements in the productive capacity and sustainability of the Region’s NRM industries.

Strategy 4: Enrich lifestyles and culture

Enhance the Region’s natural resource management profile to enrich community identity and strengthen sense of place

Strategy 4 promotes the value of regional NRM and the role that it can play to enrich community identity, enhance the environmental components associated with people’s sense of place, and meet community needs and aspirations. In doing

maiNtaiNiNg aNd imProviNg laNdsCaPes, livelihoods aNd lifestyles aNd Culture

Landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and cultural values are linked

Strategies 2, 3 and 4 collectively provide priority actions that focus on maintaining and improving the health of our natural resources so they can continue to provide landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and cultural values.

These strategies are intimately linked by virtue of the direct and indirect influence that management of one value can have on the other two values. For example, controlling stock grazing on the banks of an estuary not only improves riparian vegetation condition (landscape value), it also improves estuarine water quality for aquaculture (livelihood value) and opportunities for recreational fishing (lifestyle and culture value).


Manage landscapes and seascapes to maintain and improve natural resource health and function

With priority actions drawn largely from our soil, biodiversity, river, wetland, estuary, coastal and marine state and transition models, Strategy 2 provides the direction for on-ground management of our natural resources and the pursuit of healthy, sustainable and ecologically functional landscapes and seascapes.

Four strategic directions provide for an integrated and resilience-based approach to the management of our natural resources.

Strategy 2 places emphasis on integrating NRM planning at a range of scales and putting activities in place to address emerging and existing threats



figure 3.

Key guide to the strategic framework



28 priority actions

to enable our interventions our interventions to enable our interventions

Vision

Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3

3 strategic directions 7 strategic directions

4 strategic directions



Strategy 3:Sustain livelihoods

Strategy 1:Engage community

Strategy 2:Manage

landscapes& seascapes

Strategy 4:Enrich lifestyles

& culture

Strategy 5:Manage for change

Vision: A statement of what we think the Region will look like in 50 years if our achievements are consistent with our goals.

Goals: Aspirational statements of what we want CAP2 to achieve within a 10-year timeframe. They reflect our resilience approach to managing natural resources in partnership with the community, and our adaptive approach at regional and SE Landscape scales. CAP2 has 3 goals.

Strategies: Statements of what we are going to do to achieve our goals within a 5-year timeframe. The strategies provide direction to our resilience approach. CAP2 has 5 strategies.

Priority actions: The specific activities that will be undertaken to achieve our goals over a 2- to 5-year timeframe. Priority actions were derived from:1. state and transition models (mostly on-ground

actions)2. all-of-government and all-of-community

consultation and ‘issues analysis’ (mostly policy and strategic initiatives).

CAP2 has 85 priority actions.

Strategic directions: Statements of the key directions we will take within the scope of our strategies within a 2- to 5-year timeframe. They provide the framework for the priority actions. The timeframe allows for change because of management and subsequent adaptive management. CAP2 has 21 strategic directions.


figure 4.

CAP2 strategic framework

OUR VISION – Where we want to be in 50 years

OUR GOALS – What we want to achieve in 50 years

OUR STRATEGIES – What we are going to do in the next 5 years

OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS & PRIORITY ACTIONS – What will we focus on in the next 2 to 5 years

Healthy landscapes & seascapes managed to be sustainable, resilient & productive by viable industries & vibrant, prosperous local communities

Adaptable & responsive communities with a high capacity for maintaining their viability & identity

1: Engage community1.1 Engaging with communities, agencies & industries in NRM1.2 Enhancing community capacity to undertake NRM activities1.3 Building, maintaining & coordinating NRM partnerships

to enable our interventions

13 priority actions

our interventions to enable our interventions

15 priority actions

An adaptive region with a high capacity to cope with change, shocks &

uncertainty

5. Manage for changeManage for change within our Region to enable the

community & government to effectively carry out NRM

1. Engage CommunityEngage & support the

community to maintain & build community capacity & partnerships to manage

natural resources

5. Manage for change5.1 Developing an integrated framework for adaptive governance & management5.2 Implementing effective & collaborative processes to progress regional & SE Landscape planning, delivery & reporting5.3 Integrating policy & strategic initiatives (including ‘climate ready’ thinking) into regional & SE Landscape planning, delivery & reporting processes5.4 Aligning knowledge & integrating research to support evidence-based NRM

Healthy, resilient, sustainable & ecologically functional landscapes & seascapes supporting vibrant &

prosperous communities & viable natural resource–based industries

3. Sustain livelihoodsMaintain & improve the natural resource base to deliver viable natural resource–

based industries on land & in water

2. Manage landscapes & seascapes

Manage landscapes & seascapes to maintain & improve natural resource

health & function

4. Enrich lifestyles & culture

Enhance the Region’s NRM profile to enrich community identity & strengthen sense

of place

3: Sustain livelihoods3.1 Promoting & enhancing the sustainable use of natural resources through best practice & innovation3.2 Addressing existing & emerging threats that influence natural resource productivity & resilience, including land-use/sea-use change, climatic variation & extreme climatic events3.3 Managing natural resource availability & security3.4 Maintaining availability of agricultural land, commercial & recreational fishing grounds & aquaculture waters3.5 Protecting & conserving ecological function in production landscapes & seascapes3.6 Achieving mutually beneficial outcomes for sustainable NRM industries through appropriate & innovative policy3.7 Capitalising on new & emerging natural resource–based markets & initiatives which can deliver sustainable natural resource industries

2. Manage landscapes & seascapes2.1 Integrating NRM at all spatial scales through effective planning & delivery to protect, conserve & enhance landscape function2.2 Address existing & emerging threats to the Region’s soils, biodiversity, rivers, wetlands, groundwater, estuaries & coastal & marine environments2.3 Managing the Region’s priority threatened populations, species, ecosystems & habitats2.4 Managing & mitigating the impacts of climatic variation & extreme climatic events on natural systems

4. Enrich lifestyles & culture4.1 Understanding the relevance of regional NRM to the values of the people of the Northern Rivers Region4.2 Promoting the regional NRM values that deliver community needs, identity, aspirations & sense of place4.3 Improving resident & visitor amenity & recreation experiences through best practice

28 priority actions

21 priority actions

8 priority actions




strategy. Understanding the adaptation options associated with the risk of climate change will be a feature of research and development for the Region.

The ongoing challenge will be to implement a regional- and SE Landscape-based adaptive management framework for planning and delivery. The framework will be aimed at continuous refinement of management methods and approaches to integrated catchment management. The strategic directions within this strategy demonstrate commitment to this challenge.

This strategy is supported by targets that are the result of all-of-government consultation and reflect processes that we need to put in place if we are to effectively manage change, at both the regional and SE Landscape scales.

so, it increases community recognition of NRM which is a necessary precursor to people participating in regional NRM activities.

For example, when a local community becomes involved in managing iconic threatened species such as the koala, this provides an opportunity to promote the role of NRM to the broader community, and also provides opportunities for other people in the community to become involved. Similarly, when people visit Muttonbird Island to enjoy the views, experience the Muttonbird breeding season or just to go for a walk, this provides opportunities to promote the need to understand and protect the Aboriginal cultural values of the land/seascape.

Three strategic directions include understanding the relevance of regional NRM to the values of the people of the Northern Rivers Region.

Strategy 4 highlights the need to showcase best practice NRM to demonstrate in high profile public places how it can improve amenity and recreation experiences. The restoration of native habitats on headlands used for recreation provides an example of the value of NRM to community identity and sense of place.

Priority actions under this strategy were developed largely through stakeholder and community consultation. The key indicators of success and target that flow from this strategy reflect the need to strengthen the profile of regional NRM within people’s community identity and sense of place.

aN adaPtatioN aPProaCh emBeds resilieNCe iNto imPlemeNtatioN

Strategy 5: Manage for change

Manage for change within our Region to enable the community and government to effectively carry out NRM

Strategy 5 embeds the resilience approach into CAP2 implementation. It provides the second support pillar that is essential to the successful implementation of CAP2—it enables the actions associated with engaging the community and managing our natural resources (i.e. Strategies 1–4) to occur in a coordinated, effective, efficient and adaptive manner within an all-of-government framework.

Four strategic directions focus on developing an all-of-government CAP2 Implementation Group to oversee the implementation of CAP2 using adaptive governance and management processes. This direction extends to implementing regional and SE Landscape planning, prioritisation, delivery and reporting processes. The need for a comprehensive multi-scale regional reporting process to accommodate CAP2 regional and SE Landscape performance reporting is also a focus.

The Region will experience major changes in policy direction and initiatives over the life of CAP2 (e.g. water security and competition for land between agriculture and development). Adaptive processes will be put in place that allow us to integrate new policy initiatives into the CAP’s strategic directions in a timely manner and with the involvement of the community (e.g. ‘climate ready’ thinking and planning).

CAP2 is built on expert and scientific knowledge. The state and transition models are underpinned by best available science. However, knowledge gaps do exist so there is a need to develop a knowledge



29

3CaP2’s

Priority aCtioNs



a hierarChy of relatioNshiPs

Developing strategies, interventions and priority actions

The CAP2 strategic framework and the strategies and priority actions it contains are the outcome of a rigorous ‘issues analysis’ based on regional and SE Landscape values, their threats, drivers and impacts. The steps in the analysis are hierarchical, reflect a resilience approach, and include the development of:

1. Priority action or ‘issues statements’: Succinct values-based statements of the problem collated from regional and SE Landscape value and threat inputs, capturing impacts, threats, and drivers of change responsible for the threat. These informed development of our priority actions.

2. Strategic direction or ‘intervention statements’: Filtered issues statements that reflect the higher level impacts, higher level threats, and major drivers. These informed development of our strategic directions.

3. Strategy statements: Integrated intervention statements that reflect the overarching impacts and implications of drivers. These informed development of our strategies.

4. Goal statements: Aspirational statements of vision related to strategy. These informed development of our goals.

5. Vision statement: Aspirational statement of grouped aspirational goals that reflect the broader desired state of the values.

Core elements of the framework

The core elements of the strategic framework are presented in Figure 4. The arrangement of the elements—from the vision at the top to the actions at the bottom—highlights the hierarchical nature of the framework.

NSW targets and federal priorities are integrated

CAP2 targets, subtargets and key indicators of success are linked to each of the five strategies. These contribute directly to a range of NSW 2021 targets and federal priorities outlined in the Australian Government review of Caring for our Country – an outline for the future 2013–2018. See Table 1, Section 5.

multiPle outComes—triPle Bottom liNe

Note that some priority actions can deliver multiple outcomes across a range of strategies and strategic directions. This highlights the complexity of linkages across landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and cultural values, and reflects the integrated nature of delivery processes. It also demonstrates how CAP2 achieves triple bottom line outcomes. We have chosen the ‘best fit’ for the placement of actions within strategic directions.

our delivery PartNers

There are many NRM stakeholders that will be involved in the delivery of CAP2. Delivery partners that will contribute to the implementation of priority actions

have been identified, however, it is likely that new partners will become involved over the life of the plan as implementation progresses and partnership opportunities emerge.

Delivery partners are those that have an interest in the delivery of CAP2’s priority actions. That interest extends from being involved in the refinement of the action, to further development of processes to address the action, to participating in the delivery of the action.

The Northern Rivers CMA recognises that NRM resourcing will fluctuate and be unpredictable throughout the life of CAP2, and that partners differ in their capacity to deliver NRM. As such, any commitment from delivery partners to participate in priority action delivery is contingent upon resource availability at a given point in time. The commitment provided by our delivery partners has given the Region’s NRM community confidence that priority actions will be implemented.

The strategic directions to be taken and the priority actions to be delivered over the next 10 years are presented in the tables that follow. The legend right details actual and potential CAP2 delivery partners.



STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ELEMENTS

S strategy

SD strategic direction

DELIVERY PARTNERS

Government

AbAf Aboriginal Affairs

AG Australian Government

Councils local councils in the Northern Rivers Region

NROC Northern Regional Organisation of Councils (representing local government)

MidGOC Mid North Coast Group of Councils (representing local government)

DPI Department of Primary Industries NSW

AgNSW Agriculture NSW (division of DPI)

BioNSW Biosecurity NSW (division of DPI)

CL Crown Lands (division of DPI)

FNSW Fisheries NSW (division of DPI)

ForNSW Forests NSW (division of DPI)

MPA Marine Parks Authority (operations delivered by DPI)

NOW NSW Office of Water (division of DPI)

DP&I Department of Planning and Infrastructure NSW

DPC Department of Premier and Cabinet NSW

OEH Office of Environment and Heritage (part of DPC)

EPA Environment Protection Authority

RDA-NR Regional Development Australia Northern Rivers

RDA-MNC Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast

RDA-NI Regional Development Australia Northern Inland

Northern Rivers CMA and our neighbours

CAP2IG CAP2 Implementation Group (will oversee delivery)

LHPA Livestock, Health and Pest Authorities

BRGCMA Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA

NbCMAs Neighbouring CMAs (i.e. Border Rivers-Gwydir, Hunter-Central Rivers and Namoi)

CSO Community support officers

AEPO Aboriginal extension project officers

partners from New England councils

Community and community networks

LH individual landholders and land managers

LN

Landcare networks, including:North Coast Regional Landcare NetworkNew England North West Landcare Networktheir member organisationscommunity volunteer groups such as Landcare, Coastcare, Dunecare

LALC Local Aboriginal land councils

NCT Nature Conservation Trust

NCEC North Coast Environment Council (and supporting member organisations)

NSWALC New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

NGOs regional non-government organisations, including: EnviTE (Environment Training Employment) and WetlandCare Australia

Regional pest networks

NEPAAC North-Eastern Pest Animal Advisory Committee

NRPAAC Northern Region Pest Animal Advisory Committee

Regional weed networks

NCWAC North Coast Weeds Advisory Committee

NCW Far North Coast Weeds

MNCWCC Mid North Coast Weeds Coordinating Committee

NIWAC Northern Inland Weeds Advisory Committee

NEWA New England Weeds Authority

Other

IUG industry and user groups

Uni universities and TAFE

Legend



S 1 Engage community: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

SD 1.1 Engaging with communities, agencies and industries in NRM

1.1.1Foster the ongoing development of NRM and conservation networks and alliances that support communities in their delivery of NRM in the Northern Rivers Region.

Partners: CMA, DPC, LN, OEH

1.1.2Develop and apply a suite of tools to support stakeholder engagement processes (e.g. engagement plans, education, incentives and stewardship agreements).

Partners: CMA, CL, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH

SD 1.2 Enhancing community capacity to undertake NRM activities

1.2.1Define a base level of community capacity required for the Region, and develop and implement a maintenance program (including improving access to NRM information and skills training) to sustain this level.

Partners: AbAf, CAP2IG, CMA, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, MPA, NOW, OEH, RDA-MNC, RDA-NR

1.2.2Develop and implement targeted SE Landscape capacity building programs (including access to NRM information and skills training) in priority areas.

Partners: AbAf, CAP2IG, CMA, LALC, LH, LN, FNSW, MPA, NOW, OEH, RDA-MNC, RDA-NR

1.2.3Increase the interest, engagement and drive of NRM stakeholders including newcomers interested in undertaking NRM activities.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, LN, RDA-NR

1.2.4Increase community participation in natural resource planning and project delivery to maintain and improve landscape and seascape health (e.g. riparian zone rehabilitation, marine debris clean-up programs).

Partners: CMA, CAP2IG, CL, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, MPA, RDA-MNC, RDA-NR

1.2.5Support and promote champions and innovators, to undertake and influence NRM through peer-to-peer NRM knowledge exchange.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, LALC, LH, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

1.2.6Increase capacity and frequency of communities accessing and hosting Connection to Country events conducted by qualified Aboriginal people, and recognise the connection between healthy Country and Aboriginal Peoples.

Partners: CMA, LALC, LN, RDA-MNC, OEH

1.2.7Increase Aboriginal ownership of, and the cultural appropriateness of NRM programs.

Partners: CMA, CAP2IG, LALC, LN, NOW, OEH

SD 1.3 Building, maintaining and coordinating NRM partnerships

1.3.1Tailor Aboriginal partnership building through engagement to suit local economic opportunities and needs.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, LALC, OEH

1.3.2Develop processes that ensure that NRM partnerships and relationships are based on collaborative platforms, in preference to competitive platforms.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, DPC, FNSW, LN, OEH, RDA-NR

1.3.3Work in collaboration with the other coastal CMAs and our neighbours to share ideas and understanding that can inform the management of the Northern Rivers Region’s natural resources.

Partners: CMA, CAP2IG, LN, OEH

1.3.4Increase the number of NRM partnerships and relationships operating across the Region.

Partners: CMA, CAP2IG, DPC, LN, OEH

goal 1.

Adaptable and responsive communities with a high capacity for maintaining their viability and identity

Strategy 1: Engage community

Engage and support the community to maintain and build community capacity and partnerships to manage natural resources



S 2 Manage landscapes and seascapes: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

SD 2.1 Integrating NRM at all spatial scales through effective planning and delivery to protect, conserve and enhance landscape function

2.1.1Develop and implement effective regional landscape and seascape planning processes that integrate NRM delivery across scales.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH

2.1.2Develop and implement a coordinated and integrated SE Landscape planning and delivery process that involves the community and enhances landscape and seascape function across all scales.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH

2.1.3Promote and implement sustainable land-use and sea-use resource planning tools (e.g. estuary and coastal zone management plans, industry best practice and environmentally sensitive design).

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, Councils, FNSW, LALC, LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

2.1.4Assess the need for a property-level NRM planning process that aligns land use to land capacity, assess current delivery processes, and where required implement additional delivery mechanisms through partnerships.

Partners: CMA, LH, LN, OEH

2.1.5Develop and implement extension and support processes that encourage integrated NRM landscape and seascape delivery across tenures and boundaries at a range of scales.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, LALC, LN, OEH

SD 2.2 Address existing and emerging threats to the Region’s soils, biodiversity, rivers, wetlands, groundwater, estuaries, and coastal and marine environments

2.2.1Promote and enhance the public and private protected area network.

Partners: CMA, CL, FNSW, LALC, LN, MPA, OEH, NGOs

2.2.2Implement strategic management to prevent entry of potential terrestrial and aquatic invasive species, and contain/eradicate new and emerging invasive species (i.e. pest animals, weeds and diseases).

Partners: BioNSW, Councils, CMA, LH, ForNSW, FNSW, LALC, LHPA, LN, MPA, OEH

2.2.3Implement strategic management of established high priority invasive species (i.e. pest animals, weeds, diseases).

Partners: BioNSW, Councils, ForNSW, FNSW, LALC, LH, LHPA, LN, MPA, OEH

2.2.4

Support implementation of national, state and regional invasive species (pest animals, weeds and diseases) species preparedness, planning and capacity building initiatives (i.e. Weeds of National Significance, NSW Invasive Species Plan, National Marine Pests of Concern, biodiversity priorities for widespread weeds, regional plans).

Partners: BioNSW, Councils, ForNSW, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, MPA, OEH

2.2.5Improve the extent, connectivity, linkages, function and condition of terrestrial, aquatic and marine native habitats and fauna communities.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, LH, Councils, FNSW, LALC, LN, MPA, NOW, OEH

2.2.6Improve catchment condition by addressing diffuse and point sources of pollution (e.g. litter, nutrients, acid soils and turbidity).

Partners: CMA, LH, Council, EPA, NOW, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH

2.2.7Address land degradation processes (e.g. soil loss, salinity, acid discharge) to improve landscape health and minimise impacts on adjoining environments, including marine environments.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, FNSW, LH, LN, OEH

goal 2.

Healthy, resilient, sustainable and ecologically functional landscapes and seascapes supporting vibrant and prosperous communities and viable natural resource–based industries


Manage landscapes and seascapes to maintain and improve natural resource health and function



S 2 Manage landscapes and seascapes: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

2.2.8Protect and restore stream-bed and stream-bank structure and complexity.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, MPA, NOW OEH

2.2.9Undertake strategic revegetation, weed control, stock management and establishment of effective buffer zones to improve the condition of the riparian zone and catchments.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, Councils, OEH

2.1.10Investigate and implement appropriate and sustainable environmental flow management to improve water quality, water quantity and aquatic habitats.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, NOW, OEH

2.2.11Improve the condition of vegetation that fringes wetlands through revegetation, strategic weed control, stock management, and establishing buffers.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, OEH

2.2.12Reinstate appropriate hydrologic regimes (e.g. through drain, barrier and floodgate modification) to improve water exchange and fish passage in floodplains, wetlands, back swamps, estuaries and groundwater dependent ecosystems.

Partners: CMA, Councils, FNSW, LH, LN, MPA, NOW, OEH

2.2.13Undertake strategic revegetation, weed control, human traffic management and establishment of effective buffer zones to improve coastal habitats.

Partners: CMA, LH, Councils, FNSW, LALC, LN, OEH

2.2.14Protect Aboriginal cultural landscapes which contain values that are significant to Aboriginal Peoples (e.g. resources, places, knowledge, stories, objects and landscapes).

Partners: CMA, Councils, LALC, MPA, NOW, OEH

SD 2.3 Managing the Region’s priority threatened species, populations, ecosystems and habitats

2.3.1Implement priority recovery actions in a collaborative manner for the Region’s priority threatened species, ecosystems and habitats.

Partners: CMA, Councils, FNSW, LH, LN, MPA, OEH

SD 2.4 Managing and mitigating the impacts of climatic variation and extreme climatic events on natural systems

2.4.1Ensure adaptation strategies and management options for climate variation and extreme climatic events are incorporated within landscape and seascape plan development and delivery.

Partners: CMA, Councils, LH, LN, NbCMAs, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR



S 3 Sustain livelihoods: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

SD 3.1 Promoting and enhancing the sustainable use of natural resources through best practice and innovation

3.1.1Identify and address key gaps in natural resource industry best practice and encourage innovation for those industries.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, FNSW, LH, LN, RDA-NR

3.1.2

Develop, implement and promote adoption of best practice and support processes that recognise the synergies between productive ecosystems and landscape/seascape health, and deliver socio-cultural, environmental and economic benefits for the Region.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, OEH, LH, LN, MPA, RDA-NR

3.1.3Support and facilitate extension to encourage uptake of current best practice and innovation from both industry and recreational resource use perspectives (e.g. fishers, boaters and divers).

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, FNSW, LALC, LH, LN, MPA, OEH

3.1.4Encourage other alternative mechanisms to achieving best practice outcomes, including industry initiatives.

Partners: CMA, LH, LN, RDA-NR

3.1.5Promote adoption of best practice to maintain ground cover and healthier plant–soil interactions with a focus on grazing (including dairy), cropping and horticultural industries.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA LH, LN

3.1.6Implement strategies to further enhance the sustainability of commercial, recreational and aquaculture fisheries through the use of best practice and the support of science and research.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, LALC, LH, MPA, RDA-NR

SD 3.2 Addressing existing and emerging threats that influence natural resource productivity and resilience, including land-use/sea-use change, climatic variation and extreme climatic events

3.2.1Ensure new land-use and sea-use planning decisions relating to new industry or development proposals take account of cumulative impacts and are supported by best available science and research.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DP&I, FNSW, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

3.2.2

Ensure applicable regional land-use and sea-use planning instruments, management plans and processes (including local environment plans and strategic land-use/sea-use plans) address the risks associated with current and emerging threats (including cumulative impacts) resulting from land-use and sea-use.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, Councils, DP&I, FNSW, MPA, NOW, OEH, RDA-NR

3.2.3Ensure regional land-use and sea-use best practice addresses the risks associated with new and emerging threats (including cumulative impacts) resulting from land-use/sea-use change to ensure the Region’s future productive capacity.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, MPA, OEH

3.2.4

Ensure adaptation strategies and management options for climate variation and extreme climatic events are incorporated within regional land-use and sea-use planning best practice (including disaster readiness, protection of potential for food and fibre production, and climate variability risk normalisation).

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DPC, DP&I, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

3.2.5

Ensure adaptation strategies and management options for climate variation and extreme climatic events are incorporated in best practice (including disaster readiness, industry monitoring, holistic conservation and production synergies, and climate variability risk normalisation).

Partners: CMA, LH, NOW, OEH

SD 3.3 Managing natural resource availability and security

goal 2.



Maintain and improve the natural resource base to deliver viable natural resource–based industries on land and in water




3.3.1Identify and address key availability, security and sustainability issues across regional natural resource–based industries.

Partners: CMA, ForNSW, LN, OEH, RDA-NR

3.3.2

Evaluate the success of current native vegetation plantation development across the Region to identify and capitalise on potential opportunities to sustain rural diversification and broader landscape-scale socio-economic and environmental outcomes through future plantation development.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, ForNSW, LN, OEH

3.3.3

Develop and encourage a farm forestry plantation establishment and management process to provide a range of socio-economic and environmental outcomes, including diversified production, improved viability and broader benefits such as longer-term timber security and socio-economic outcomes for rural communities.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, ForNSW, LALC, LH, OEH, RDA-NR

3.3.4Evaluate private native forestry across the Region and implement mechanisms that sustain rural diversification and broader landscape-scale socio-economic and environmental outcomes through future private native forestry operations.

Partners: CMA, OEH, RDA-NR

3.3.5Progress water sharing planning processes across the Region (both surface water and groundwater processes).

Partners: NOW

SD 3.4 Maintaining availability of agricultural land, commercial and recreational fishing grounds, and aquaculture waters

3.4.1

Identify and implement mechanisms to classify and incorporate productive lands and key commercial and recreational fishing grounds and aquaculture waters into planning instruments and management plans to maintain the Region’s food production capacity.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DP&I, FNSW, MPA, RDA-NR

3.4.2Implement integrated and coordinated regional land-use and sea-use planning processes under the NSW planning framework.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DP&I, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH

3.4.3Develop consultation and communication tools and implement mechanisms to minimise land-use and sea-use conflict across the Region.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DPC, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH

SD 3.5 Protecting and conserving ecological function in production landscapes and seascapes

3.5.1

Evaluate and implement effective landscape and seascape planning and extension processes across the Region that integrate production, conservation and cultural outcomes and enhance multi-scale outcomes (e.g. SE Landscapes, catchments and corridors).

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, FNSW, LH, LN, MPA, OEH

3.5.2Develop and implement appropriate support processes (including stewardship) which address private versus public good and encourage integration of production and conservation management across tenures and boundaries.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DPC, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

SD 3.6 Achieving mutually beneficial outcomes for sustainable NRM industries through appropriate and innovative policy

3.6.1Promote consistency in the application of native vegetation offset ratio standards and benchmarks across the Region in a manner consistent with state legislation and policy frameworks.

Partners: CMA, OEH

3.6.2Identify where policy could be enhanced and applied in an innovative way to promote mutually beneficial NRM outcomes, and implement mechanisms to achieve this.

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, DPC, LH, LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

3.6.3Develop and implement innovative policies and initiatives that address new and emerging NRM issues.

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, FNSW, LN, MPA, NOW, OEH

3.6.4Develop and implement mechanisms for integrating the Region’s critical natural infrastructure (e.g. remnant vegetation in production systems or natural landscapes) into public infrastructure investment and prioritisation processes.

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, DPC, FNSW, LN, OEH, RDA-NR



SD 3.7 Capitalising on new and emerging natural resource–based markets and initiatives which can deliver sustainable natural resource industries

3.7.1Enhance existing mechanisms to communicate new and emerging natural resource–based markets and initiatives to regional stakeholders.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DPC, LH, LN, RDA-MNC, RDA-NR

3.7.2Establish collaborative processes for capitalising on new and emerging natural resource–based market opportunities and innovation.

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, DPC, LH, LN, RDA-MNC, RDA-NR

3.7.3Increase all-of-government support for long-term, viable Aboriginal businesses and contracted NRM projects.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, DPC, OEH




S 4 Enrich lifestyles and culture: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

SD 4.1 Understanding the relevance of regional NRM to the values of the people of the Northern Rivers Region

4.1.1Identify and promote the relationship of regional NRM to the cultural values of the Region’s natural resource managers, natural resource user communities and local Aboriginal people, and capitalise on opportunities.

Partners: CMA, LALC, LN, MPA, NOW, OEH

4.1.2Establish and support mechanisms (e.g. place committees) to identify and promote the value and role of NRM to local communities’ sense of place.

Partners: CMA, LALC, LN, OEH

4.1.3Identify and promote Aboriginal NRM techniques to enhance regional and SE Landscape and seascape NRM.

Partners: CMA, LALC, MPA, OEH

SD 4.2 Promoting the regional NRM values that deliver community needs, identity, aspirations and sense of place

4.2.1Assist partners to promote the value of NRM as part of their business (e.g. nature-based tourism).

Partners: LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

4.2.2Capitalise on NRM opportunities that facilitate landscape and seascape ‘sense of amenity and place’.

Partners: CMA, LALC, MPA, LN, OEH

4.2.3Recognise and enhance the role of community strategic plans to capture community needs, identity, aspirations and sense of place in relation to NRM.

Partners: CMA, Councils, LALC, LN, MPA, OEH

SD 4.3 Improving resident and visitor amenity and recreation experiences through best practice

4.3.1Demonstrate best practice public land management in strategic public areas as a way of promoting success and showcasing the value of NRM.

Partners: CL, FNSW, LALC, LN, MPA, OEH

4.3.2Support appropriate local planning instruments and management plans (e.g. local environment plans and national park plans of management) and processes that protect ‘sense of amenity and place’.

Partners: CMA, DP&I, LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

goal 2.


Strategy 4: Enrich lifestyles and culture

Enhance the Region’s natural resource management profile to enrich community identity and strengthen sense of place



S 5 Manage for change: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

SD 5.1 Developing an integrated framework for adaptive governance and management

5.1.1Develop and implement an adaptive all-of-government and all-of-community model for CAP2 implementation, including structures for governance, delivery, performance assessment, and the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA with all-of-government and all-of-community partners

SD5.2 Implementing effective and collaborative processes to progress regional and SE Landscape planning, delivery and reporting

5.2.1Develop and coordinate a regional-level implementation group for CAP2 (the CAP2 Implementation Group) lead by Northern Rivers CMA.

Partners: CMA with all-of-government and all-of-community partners

5.2.2Develop and coordinate CAP2 implementation processes for the Northern, Central, Southern, and New England Tableland SE Landscapes.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, DPC, LN

5.2.3Develop and implement a comprehensive regional reporting process that includes natural resource health, community capacity, engagement and partnerships, climate change and linkages to statewide and national reporting.

Partners: AgNSW, BioNSW, Councils, CMA, DPC, LN, OEH, RDA-NR

5.2.4Increase formal recognition of community representation in the Region’s NRM decision-making processes.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA, LALC, LN, OEH

5.2.5Implement the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy.

Partners: CAP2IG, CMA with all-of-government and all-of-community partners

SD 5.3 Integrating policy and strategic initiatives (including ‘climate ready’ thinking) into regional and SE Landscape planning, delivery and reporting processes

5.3.1Develop and implement a process for integrating policy and strategic initiatives (including climate ready thinking and planning) into regional and SE Landscape planning, delivery and reporting processes.

Partners: CMA, DPC, OEH, RDA-NR

5.3.2Enhance the capacity of the community to take advantage of new policy initiatives to improve NRM (e.g. carbon farming).

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, LN, OEH

5.3.3Enhance community understanding of the need to implement adaptation strategies to spread the risks associated with climate change.

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, LN, OEH

SD 5.4 Aligning knowledge and integrating research to support evidence-based NRM

5.4.1Develop a regional knowledge strategy through a consortium-style process to identify knowledge sources and address knowledge gaps.

Partners: AgNSW, BioNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, FNSW, LN, MPA, OEH, RDA-NR

5.4.2Support research and development into climate change impacts and adaptation options.

Partners: AgNSW, CAP2IG, CMA, FNSW, LN, MPA, NOW, OEH, RDA-NR

5.4.3Use best available science and research to inform management of potential new biosecurity threats.

Partners: CMA, FNSW, MPA

goal 3.

An adaptive Region with a high capacity to cope with change, shocks and uncertainty

Strategy 5: Manage for change

Manage for change within our Region to enable the community and government to effectively carry out NRM



S 5 Manage for change: strategic directions, priority actions and delivery partners

5.4.4Facilitate research and development to support the adoption of best practice.

Partners: AgNSW, CMA, DPC, FNSW, LH, LN, OEH, RDA-NR

5.4.5Review and refine understanding of regional and SE Landscape resilience and implement options for improving resilience.

Partners: CMA with all-of-government and all-of-community partners

5.4.6Update community capacity and natural resource health state and transition models and mapping using best available information captured from a range of sources including the community.

Partners: CAP2IG with all-of-government and all-of-community partners



41

4imPlemeNtiNg

CaP2



a systems aNd resilieNCe aPProaCh requires New imPlemeNtatioN ProCesses

The Northern Rivers CMA has taken a systems approach to the analysis supporting the development of CAP2. This linked, social-ecological systems approach will help communities understand how their landscapes work, and where and how they can best be involved to keep their landscape systems operating effectively.

Taking a systems and resilience approach has influenced CAP2 in a number of ways, including:

•thewaythatwesetpriorities

•thetypesofactionsthatmightbeimplemented

•thewaythatstakeholdersandthecommunity might be involved

•howweconsidernewandexistingplanning and policy

•thedeliverypartnersthatmightbeinvolved to pursue the best results

•thetypeofknowledgethatweshoulddraw on to analyse, understand and communicate how our landscapes and seascapes function

•howwemakedecisionsinthefaceofchange

•thetypesoftargetsthatCAP2contains.

Ultimately, this systems approach influences the processes that need to be put in place for ongoing effective implementation of CAP2 at regional, SE Landscape, District and property scales. These implementation processes are described in this section.

CaP2’s strategiC direCtioNs are our Priorities

CAP2’s 21 strategic directions sum up the Region’s strategic NRM priorities for the next decade. These directions are delivered by 85 priority actions. This large number of actions reflects the highly diverse nature of the Region’s natural resource assets, the issues that influence them, the extent of our all-of-government involvement in CAP2 implementation, and the breadth of activity already undertaken by our NRM community.

CAP2 implementation will commence with a focus on a core set of priorities that deal with our key drivers of change. These priorities will consolidate the platform that supports the delivery of CAP2 into the future:

1. developing and refining an adaptive all-of-government CAP2 implementation structure with the support of the community

2. building community capacity (guided by our maps of community capacity)

3. managing threats to increase landscape and seascape function, productivity and resilience (guided by our maps of natural resource health) and including managing threatened species and ecological communities

4. managing conflicts around land and sea resource availability, use and security

5. promoting best practice and innovation

6. supporting planning and management processes that protect lifestyle and cultural values

7. acquiring knowledge and applying new learning in an adaptive manner (including climate ready scenarios).

NortherN rivers Cma will lead CaP2 imPlemeNtatioN

The Northern Rivers CMA is both a leader and a partner in CAP2 implementation. Our roles include:

Regional leadership

•LeadandcoordinatetheCAP2Implementation Group which plans and delivers NRM programs to address CAP2 priority actions at regional, SE Landscape, District and local scales.

•ProvideNRMgovernanceandmanagement that set a foundation for learning and adaptation in the Northern Rivers Region.

•Cooperatewithandcontributetoissuesand policies of regional, state and national importance.

•Ensurethatpolicyisintegratedinregional NRM delivery.

•Setanddeliverinvestmentprioritiesthathave local, regional, state and national relevance.

•Buildandmaintainworkingrelationshipswith our delivery partners, including our neighbours.

•Promoteandsupportprogramsandtechnologies which either provide new opportunities or enhance natural resource–based industries.

•LeadandcoordinatethedeliveryoftheCAP2 Adaptation Strategy.

Deliver targeted NRM works

•Partnerorbrokerwithdeliverypartnersto deliver targeted and integrated NRM programs across the Region to:

− sustain livelihoods by enhancing adoption of best practice, particularly sustainable grazing, agricultural, fishing and aquaculture practices

− address terrestrial and aquatic invasive pests, diseases and weeds, biosecurity and land degradation processes



− maintain and improve riparian, estuarine, wetland, coastal and marine habitats

− maintain and improve biodiversity and enhance corridor connections

− address key threats to water quality and water security

− better understand marine environments in order to enhance their management.

Deliver targeted community capacity building

•Engagestakeholdersineffective,consolidated and targeted capacity building programs based on identified priorities and community needs.

Coordinate knowledge building

•Workwithtechnicalexpertstoupdateand improve our understanding of natural resource health and community capacity (including our knowledge base and mapping).

Facilitate learning and adaptation

•Establishanddelivercollaborativemonitoring, evaluation and reporting processes across the Region.

•Partnerwithstakeholders,includingkey research institutions, to make the Region’s NRM planning more climate ready.

regioNal aNd se laNdsCaPe goverNaNCe arraNgemeNts

Regional CAp2 Implementation Group

A Northern Rivers CMA CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee the early phase of the delivery of CAP2. Drawing on the experience gained during CAP2 development, the Implementation Group will initially act as a conduit and will facilitate the transition from the current CAP to the new planning, priority setting and delivery processes established under CAP2. Key roles for the Group will be brokering all-of-government and all-of-community involvement in CAP2 implementation, and facilitating collaboration and networking between stakeholders (including our neighbours). In this regard it will work closely with the North Coast and Western Regional Governance Framework (coordinated by the Department of Premier and Cabinet), including the Regional Leadership Group, Regional Manager Network and relevant regional Task Groups.

The Group, with all-of-government and all-of-community involvement, will put systems and processes in place to ensure that relevant local, state and federal policies and priorities, targets and other information continue to inform CAP2 delivery and the ongoing development of CAP2 through adaptation.

The Group will also ensure that current regional policy and planning are integrated, addressed through the CAP2 priority actions, and flow down into SE Landscape, SE District, subcatchment and property planning processes (see Figure 5).

The Group will oversee an all-of-government approach to the many facets of NRM delivery across the Region, including stakeholder engagement, collaborative priority setting, investment planning, evaluation and adaptation, and reporting. It will not have the authority to directly change or replace existing NRM

policies—that will remain the responsibility of local, state and federal agencies. The Group may, however, facilitate discussion on key NRM issues that have the potential to influence the Region.

CAp2 SE Landscape implementation processes

The SE Landscapes all have different social, economic and environmental characteristics (see Appendix D). The CAP2 Implementation Group will vary planning and delivery to best suit each of the four SE Landscapes as well as their SE Districts and local communities.

Key stakeholders and community members/groups will have a central role in these planning and delivery processes. They will also provide advice and recommendations to the CAP2 Implementation Group. This approach will support implementation of the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy discussed in Section 5.

Both Regional and SE Landscape implementation processes will:

•becapturedinimplementationbusinessplans

•workonacyclethatreflectsinvestmentschedules

•incorporateplanning,deliveryandmonitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement (MERI) functions.

The regional population growth that is expected to continue over the next 20 years will further expand the need and demand for government agencies at all levels to collaborate and coordinate their different functions, and to involve the community in a meaningful way. Putting CAP2 SE Landscape implementation processes in place allows us to meet this demand; ensure that we have integrated NRM governance, planning and delivery; and avoid duplication in the future.



figure 5.

Development and implementation of CAP2

Aust. Government legislation, policies & strategies

Strategies & plans of regional organisations & service delivery

partners

For example:•regionalstrategies•regionalactionplans•strategicregionalland-useplans•regionalconservationplans•watersharingplans•localgovtcommunitystrategicplans•localenvironmentplans•linkstoothersCAPs•regionalRDAplans•linkstootherNRMplans

State legislation, policies & strategies

Regional strategies &

plans

Community & agency

consultation

Expert advice, new science,

research

Northern RiversCatchment Action Plan 2013–2023

(CAP2)

Continuous information informs ongoing development & implementation

On-ground delivery

Socio-ecological Landscape implementation processes

New England Tableland SE Landscape

Northern SE Landscape

Central SE Landscape

Southern SE Landscape

Regional service delivery by service delivery

agencies e.g. OEH, DP&INorthern Rivers CMA

program deliveryOn-ground actions by landholders & broader catchment community

Provides overarching direction to

Which are operationalised through

Informs delivery of

Informs development of

Informs delivery of

The CA

P2

Adaptation Strategy guiding ongoing m

ulti-scale decision-m

aking & adaptive m

anagement



Our priorities will span multiple scales: regional, SE Landscape, SE District, subcatchment and property. Verifying priorities on the ground will be fundamental to the setting of priorities.

CAP2 maps (see Appendix B) provide an understanding of the health of our natural resources and the capacity of our communities to undertake NRM activities at a subcatchment scale at this point in time. These maps, along with local community input and other sources of best available information (see panel in Figure 6), are key tools in the setting of priorities.

The maps will be updated on a regular basis (and hence priorities will be refined as well) as new information becomes available through the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy that will be put in place (see Section 5).

Despite our limited understanding of how key drivers and shocks influence our systems (see Appendix B), they will be considered as part of the priority setting process as a way of ensuring that the risks and implications associated with unexpected change are considered.

Applying CAp2 investment principles

Different stakeholders have different NRM priorities. These priorities reflect different objectives and values and the different scales at which they operate. From each individual stakeholder’s perspective, their priorities are equally important as another stakeholder’s priorities. For example, a farmer’s need to restore their river bank is as important to them as the oyster industry’s need to have ongoing access to continually improving water quality.

SE Landscape implementation processes will need to find the right investment balance across values and scales—that is, between maintaining and encouraging general base-level NRM across the landscape, and targeting investment and interventions based on our rigorous prioritisation process.

The CAP2 investment principles (see panel in Figure 6) will be used to filter the identified priorities. These principles will ensure a targeted, logical, justifiable and transparent approach to making investment decisions in line with our priorities.

regioNal aNd se laNdsCaPe imPlemeNtatioN ProCesses

Our goal as an NRM community is to take a collaborative and coordinated approach to NRM in the Region. This is underpinned by how we work together as well as how we implement CAP2. The CAP2 principles (see Box) will guide us in both of these pursuits.

Three other interlinked processes will direct the implementation of CAP2:

•theCAP2prioritisationprocess(seeFigure 6)

•theapplicationofCAP2investmentprinciples (see panel in Figure 6)

•theidentificationofthescopeofdeliverypartner collaboration (see Figure 7).

The CAp2 prioritisation process

The Northern Rivers CMA CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee a prioritisation process to determine where best to invest within the Region, each SE Landscape, their Districts, and local areas. Priorities for investing in the maintenance and improvement of natural resource heath and community capacity will be based on a rigorous, repeatable and transparent process—the CAP2 prioritisation process.

The prioritisation process will be spatial in nature and founded on the state and transition models, health and capacity maps and other sources of information, including existing NRM plans, investor preferences, technical experts, new research and input from knowledgeable local communities (see Figure 6).

The identified priorities will be filtered according to a set of CAP2 investment principles (see panel in Figure 6).

The priority setting process will maximise the cost–benefit of investing in NRM outcomes by guiding investment towards highest values.

CAp2 principlesLearning

1. Learn from, and share knowledge and experiences with one another.

2. Base decisions on science and research and address knowledge gaps so that decisions can be made in a structured and transparent way.

Collaborating

3. Build and maintain a collaborative and cooperative NRM culture across the Region.

4. Communicate with delivery partners, investors and the community in a way that is meaningful, transparent and supportive.

5. Actively encourage and engage with the community and our partners, through appropriate communication strategies, to increase participation.

planning

6. Recognise that social, environmental and economic wellbeing are linked, and that we need to conduct our planning at the appropriate socio-ecological scale.

7. Assist each other to identify and consider risks so that we can be responsive to threats and proactive in addressing slower developing but significant threats.

8. Adopt a structured, dynamic, open and collaborative prioritisation process.

Adapting

9. Be adaptive to change, be open to the results of our ongoing learning, and use innovative approaches and results to guide improvement, ongoing decision-making, continuous planning and response to change.

10. Use ongoing monitoring and evaluation processes at a range of spatial, temporal and planning scales to review and evaluate performance to improve future delivery.



figure 6.

CAP2 prioritisation process

Primary considerations

1. Protect areas in higher health states & areas that have unique & irreplaceable natural resource values (e.g. keystone natural resource assets, critical ecosystem services).

2. Enhance areas in average health state.

3. Enhance areas in lower heath states if it provides a strategic advantage, need or outcome.

Secondary considerations

4. Invest in preventative interventions in preference to rehabilitation.

5. Give precedence to priorities during decision–making—invest in priority areas where we have adequate community capacity (knowledge, skills, social capital), but if capacity is lacking, invest in capacity building that ultimately allows us to address the priority.

6. Underpin investment with appropriate planning.

7. Secure previous & new investments in NRM through appropriate maintenance & community capacity support.

8. Invest where multiple benefits & outcomes across our resources can be achieved within appropriate cost–benefit ratios.

9. Target investment to deliver investor preferences/initiatives & provides greater leverage on investment.

10. Invest in areas where there are knowledge gaps & information limitations.

Existing planning

Best available information

CAP2 investment principles

S&T models

Local priorities

Investor preferences

Technical experts

New researchLocal community

knowledge

1. Identify high value subcatchmentsAssess each subcatchment’s capacity to deliver particular natural resource values using state & transition models, resource health maps & other best available evidence

2. Identify key threats to these valuesIdentify the drivers of change, potential shocks, the source of threats, & the likelihood of the impact degrading natural

resource values

3. Select priority subcatchmentsDetermine which high value subcatchments to target for

management, based on impact of the threat & potential loss of values

4. Apply investment principlesUse these principles to refine priorities for investment

5. Identify priority actionsDetermine which state & transition model priority actions &

CAP2 priority actions address key threats to high value assets

6. Identify the most appropriate mechanism & need for capacity building

Determine the best mechanisms (be it NRM coordination, planning, best practice, education, capacity building etc.) for achieving priority actions (including increasing community

capacity if required

7. Implement actionsGround-truth the need for action & then implement priority

actions in priority areas

8. Report & learn from performanceImplement MERI processes in line with the CAP2 Adaptation

Strategy (see Section 5)

Natural resource health maps

Community capacity maps


figure 7.

CAP2 process to identify the scope of delivery partner collaboration

1. What are the priorities?Identify which CAP2 NRM priorities are of concern to stakeholders & communities

2. Who might be involved?Identify how stakeholder & community policy, planning & investment priorities might

align with CAP2 priorities

3. Do priorities overlap?Apply CAP2 prioritisation process & identify whether CAP2 priorities align with

stakeholder & community investment priorities [see CAP2 prioritisation process]

4. What CAP2 priority actions are relevant?Use CAP2 priority actions (see Section 3) to guide the development of stakeholder &

community on-ground actions

5. What resources are available?Identify the levels of investment & capacity that stakeholders & communities can

contribute towards priorities & identify implementation timeframes

6. What is the scope of the collaboration?Identify the roles & responsibilities of stakeholders & communities, the scope of delivery,

& the potential contribution to CAP2 targets based on available resourcing & capacity




Tableland. These maps provide a critical input into the setting of New England Tableland SE Landscape priorities for investment and community involvement in CAP delivery and they will be available through each CMA’s CAP2 website.

The CMAs will align their priority actions and targets to guide CAP2 implementation across the SE Landscape.

Tableland partnerships

Partnerships with the tableland’s Landcare networks, local governments, industry groups, Aboriginal and community groups are critical to the success of the joint approach. Both CMAs will develop a joint implementation process for the New England Tableland, building on these existing NRM partnerships. Implementation will focus on:

•enablingcommunitycapacity(developing skills, resources and awareness of NRM issues)

•engagingtheAboriginalcommunityinNRM

•sequesteringsoilcarbon(throughcarbonfarming initiatives) and promoting land-use practises that improve groundcover and soil resource condition

•protecting,maintainingandimprovingwater resources (particularly river reaches, wetlands, groundwater and inflow water quality)

•improvingvegetationandhabitatconnectivity, riparian vegetation and stream habitat

•coordinatingintegratedweedandpestcontrol.

CAP2 delivery will be greatly enhanced by the CMAs, by:

•providingongoingsupportforthetableland’s Landcare networks and partnerships

•releasingincentivesfundingsimultaneously

•workingtogetherwithinanintegratedand collaborative governance framework.

All-of-government CAP2 implementation processes will also be put in place for the New England Tableland. These implementation processes would work in much the same way as the Northern

CAP2 investment principles will tighten the scope for investment, and focus on the critical priorities and areas where we stand to make the biggest gains. This is essential because we can’t invest in all priorities.

Identifying CAp2 collaborators

CAP2 has been developed using an all-of-government and all-of-community approach. CAP2 reflects the shared vision for NRM in the Northern Rivers Region. Our delivery partners are outlined in the priority actions in Section 3.

Defining the scope of delivery partner collaborative investment in CAP2 priorities across government and community will involve the broad steps shown in Figure 7. The CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee this process at both regional and SE Landscape levels.

CAp2 considers other NRM planning

The process for identifying collaborators will consider those policies and plans of potential collaborators that have the potential to align with CAP2 [see supporting information # 3]. CAP2 has been mindful of and is not inconsistent with these plans, policies and strategies.

This has been achieved by partnering with other agencies involved in NRM and using an inclusive and consultative process involving the CAP2 Reference Group and Technical Reference Groups. These groups were involved in all stages of the development of the CAP2 strategic framework, including the setting of priority actions and targets.

All stakeholder organisations and community members involved in CAP2 development are generally supportive of working with the Northern Rivers CMA to ensure the outcomes of CAP2 are achieved.

Governance structures and processes will be put in place to ensure that actions are implemented in a manner consistent with achieving the goals of CAP2, whilst meeting the needs of delivery partners.

Note that the steps shown in Figure 7 will be refined once the CAP2 Implementation Group puts SE Landscape implementation processes in place in 2013.

workiNg with our NeighBours

New England Tableland

The Northern Rivers Region does not exist in isolation—we have neighbours to the north, south and west (see Figure 1). The Northern Rivers – Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA administrative boundary has little relevance to the New England Tableland community it divides, or the natural and production systems that span it.

While the administrative boundaries do not stop the tableland community from undertaking NRM activities, it creates a situation where those located near the border have to deal with potentially different approaches and often inconsistent CMA processes.

The people of the New England Tableland have long asked to be treated as a discrete community and to be provided with a single, consistent approach to NRM. Both CMAs have agreed to rectify this situation by taking a ‘whole-of-New England Tableland’ approach to the development of their new CAPs.

The Northern Rivers and Border Rivers-Gwydir CAps have common elements

The Border Rivers-Gwydir and Northern Rivers CMAs are committed to an integrated and collaborative approach to governance and CAP2 implementation. The CMAs have made significant progress towards a collaborative New England Tableland approach.

The CMAs have defined and mapped the spatial extent of the New England Tableland SE Landscape and the three SE Districts that it contains (see Appendix B). These areas will form the basis for collaborative CAP2 implementation in the future.

The CMAs will continue to refine base-level natural resource datasets and develop priority soil, biodiversity, river and wetland health and community capacity maps that cover the whole of the New England



Rivers CMA coastal SE Landscape implementation processes, apart from having joint Northern Rivers and Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA representation.

South-east Queensland, Namoi CMA and Hunter-Central Rivers CMA

The Northern Rivers CMA is also taking a consultative approach with our other neighbours in south-east Queensland (including Condamine and Queensland Border Rivers catchments), where we are working collaboratively to identify and implement projects that are beneficial to both regions, particularly in the Border Ranges area.

Similarly, we are working with both Namoi CMA and Hunter-Central Rivers CMA to identify common natural resource priorities with a view to implementing cross-border projects that are beneficial to all three CMAs.

The Northern Rivers and Hunter-Central Rivers CMAs have identified that their CMA boundary is also a socio-ecological system boundary which separates the Lower North Coast SE Landscape of the Hunter-Central Rivers from the Southern SE Landscape of the Northern Rivers.

Both CMAs have described the characteristics and drivers of change for their respective Landscapes and they are similar in many ways (e.g. populations, physical features, proximity to capital cities).

A joint analysis of natural resource priorities and mapping, and the drivers of change influencing the Landscapes will be the focus of collaboration between the CMAs. The CMAs will share ideas and information on a range of issues:

•maintainingandimprovingstrategiccorridors

•landdegradationbestpracticeforacidsulfate soils and sustainable agriculture

•coastalenvironmentmanagementandprotection

•monitoring,evaluationandreporting(MER) and adaptation approaches

•climatechangeadaptation

•buildingcommunitycapacitywithinSELandscapes

•sharedlocalgovernmentareas.

Coastal CMAs are collaborating on marine issues

The coastal CMAs will work collaboratively on a range of state-scale coastal, estuarine and marine issues, and have agreed to share information that will inform management directions, including:

•establishingbaselineinformationforsustainable management

•ecosystemmonitoring

•undertakingeducation,engagementandcapacity building relating to NRM values and management issues

•protectinghabitatsandconnectivity

•undertakingbestpracticeplanningandmanagement

•exploringoptionsforaddressingclimatechange issues, including managing for extreme natural events

•understandingandprotectingculturalvalues

•improvingthesustainabilityoffisheriesand aquaculture.



51

5adaPtiNg

to ChaNge



The Strategy addresses resilience at all levels of the Region’s NRM business: policy (overall resilience), program (regional resilience) and project (SE Landscape, SE District, subcatchment, local resilience).

Ongoing adaptive decision-making and continuous planning are at the heart of this approach which will ultimately see us shift our evaluation and improvement culture, thinking and practice from one of ‘Did it work?’ to ‘Is it working?’.

The Adaptation Strategy framework

Ongoing adaptive decision-making process

The framework for the Adaptation Strategy is presented in Figure 8. The processes in the framework are described below.

1. Multiple information inputs: Multiple lines of information feed into the Strategy via three pathways:

1a. Opportunistic information—New, unscheduled, opportunistic information which, for example, reveals a shift in policy, implementation of a new land-use/sea-use planning instrument, a change in commodity prices, or new scientific information.

1b. Community information—New, unscheduled, community-based information which, for example, reveals change in local threat status, a change in values, feedback on government policy.

1c. Scheduled MERI information—New, scheduled, structured monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement (MERI) information, for example, regional state of the environment reporting; state monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER); Northern Rivers CMA MERI reporting.

2. Detect the first signs of change: Using new information, a vigilance system detects the first signs of change. Detection triggers the gathering of preliminary information to confirm that the change should be investigated.

CaP2 suPPorts aCtive deCisioN-makiNg aNd CoNtiNuous PlaNNiNg

CAp2 will be in a constant state of update

Adopting a resilience-based approach will influence the way our stakeholders make decisions and engage the community in those decisions. Our adaptive approach to governance and decision-making will ensure CAP2 continues to be flexible and responsive.

The NRM policy, planning and delivery arena is a dynamic operating environment that will change throughout CAP2’s 10-year lifespan. In this timeframe there is a real risk that unplanned changes, drivers and shocks—be they social, environmental or economic in origin—will influence CAP2 and it could quickly lose its relevance as a plan that guides regional NRM activity.

To be adaptive to this change and to remain a live strategic document with ongoing relevance, CAP2 will manage change using an all-of-government approach that facilitates an adaptive management framework for planning and delivery. The framework will be aimed at continuous refinement of governance, management methods and approaches to integrated catchment management. This will require new strategic planning approaches and an increase in our capacity to undertake strategic planning.

the CaP2 adaPtatioN strategy

Evidence informs the need to adapt

CAP2 will be evidence-based. We will base our decision-making on the best available evidence and seek to improve our understanding when confronted with knowledge gaps. Knowledge gaps have not stopped us from developing the priority actions outlined in Section 3.

CAP2’s active approach to decision-making will be captured within the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy. The Northern Rivers CMA CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee implementation of the Strategy.

The Adaptation Strategy will provide for the ongoing vigilance that is required to detect new and emerging social, environmental and economic change. This change will be captured as new information or evidence. This evidence will be used to:

• test the assumptions and decisions that were made when CAP2 was developed

•assesswhetherthereisaneedforCAP2to adapt to that change

•modify how we deliver NRM across the Region and how CAP2’s decision-making processes are implemented.

The Strategy’s strengths lie in its ability to modify NRM delivery in response to changes or shocks that might impact our systems at a range of levels. For example, as communities and businesses increasingly comprehend the value of our natural resources and commence participating in NRM, CAP2 needs to recognise these new players, which may include, for example, financiers, insurers and energy providers. This example reflects the changing impacts of climate change and business patterns likely to occur within the 10-year time frame of CAP2.

The Adaptation Strategy will provide the mechanism for identifying new partners and updating implementation processes.


figure 8.

CAP2 Adaptation Strategy framework

1a. Opportunistic informationNew evidence,

unscheduled input

1b. Community informationNew evidence,

unscheduled input

1c. Scheduled MERI information

New evidence, structured input

2. Detect the first signs of changeEarly warning system

3. Understand the potential for system changeDevelop ‘change scenario’ & identify the risks

4. Add to the CAP2 Evidence & Adaptation DatabaseAdd to the information management system that supports a foundation of best available information

6. Identify adaptation optionsWhere are our options?

7. Refine the CAP2 strategic frameworkChoose the best change scenario option & update CAP2

8. Embrace the changeSpreading the culture of ‘Is it working?’

9. Update the CAP2 Adaptation RecordProvide an open account of the change scenario

5. Learn from the Triple LoopTest the impacts of the change scenario

1. PolicyIs our process for establishing objectives right?

Overall resilience

2. ProgramAre our objectives right?

Regional resilience

3. ProjectAre we meeting our objectives?

SE Landscape/subcatchment resilience

Ada

ptiv

e go

vern

ance

Adaptive m

anagement




3. Understand the potential for system change: New information is analysed to substantiate change. Identify the drivers, directions and reasons for change. Develop a ’change scenario’ profile (essentially a case study that describes the potential change and identifies any risks).

4. Add to the CAP2 Evidence and Adaptation Database: Add new information and the change scenario to a database—the CAP2 Evidence and Adaptation Database.

5. Learn from the ‘triple loop’: a process of organisational learning where we test the impacts of the change scenario against the policy, program and project assumptions and decisions that were made when CAP2 was developed (or last updated), by asking the following broad questions.

Adaptive governance

•Policy: ‘Are our processes for setting objectives right, given the change scenario?’A process of strategic learning where we test whether our all-of-government engagement and delivery frameworks are still right. Have we adhered to our principles? Is the process for how we do our business right? Are our approaches still valid?

Adaptive management

•Program: ‘Are our objectives right, given the change scenario?’

A process of learning where we test whether our business is right. Do we have the right state and transition models? Has our target audience changed?

•Project: ‘Are we meeting our objectives, given the change scenario?’

A process of learning where we test whether our state and transition conceptual models of change are right. Are our assumptions right? Have our drivers changed?

(Note that the Policy, Program and Project questions will consider the aspects of appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency and impact.)

6. Identify adaptation options: Identify how we might respond to the change scenario given the risks. What are the

•Program:

− Northern Rivers CMA MERI reporting

− regional state of the environment reporting (see below)

− stakeholder program evaluations

− statewide MER

− Regional Development Australia data

− Australian Bureau of Statistics data

− new science

− community feedback.

• Project

− individual stakeholder project progress reports

− feedback from stakeholders involved in project implementation and the lessons learnt

− community feedback.

(Note that these evidence sources will be refined during development of the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy.)

Evidence supporting decisions and assumptions made in development of CAP2 (in particular the state and transition models) can be found in the CAP2 Assumptions and Evidence Register in each model [see supporting information # 4].

regioNal meri

The performance of all stakeholders

The Northern Rivers CMA has adaptive learning and management approaches built into its MERI framework. This framework allows us to learn from the past and improve our future approaches and investment choices. This framework will continue to operate for CAP2.

Reporting to date has focused on the CMA’s performance and achievements. While progress towards the CAP targets has been significant, there is a need to better integrate the contribution and achievements of all stakeholders towards meeting the current CAP targets. Our shift towards a resilience-based approach will require further development and integration of our approaches.

scenarios? What are our options? What are the implications for CAP2 governance and the CAP2 strategic framework?

7. Refine the CAP2 strategic framework: Apply triple loop learnings and use the change scenario option to update CAP2 as part of the annual planning review and update.

8. Embrace the change: Inform the community of the change scenario and subsequent CAP2 update, and promote an active learning culture where we shift our thinking and practice from ‘Did it work?’ to ‘Is it working?’.

9. Update the CAP2 Adaptation Record: Add the change scenario to the CAP2 Adaptation Record. Provide an open and transparent account and report annually on change scenario events and adaptation achievements.

evideNCe systems

Systems present evidence challenges

Taking a system approach in CAP2 brings with it some major evidence challenges. Our failure to fully understand the complex nature of the interactions across our Region and within and between SE Landscapes means our system descriptions will never be fully complete; we only ever have a partial understanding of how things work.

There are major knowledge gaps, and the drivers and dynamics that influence systems are constantly changing, creating considerable uncertainty. The challenge is to identify the key pieces of evidence that allow us to reduce this uncertainty.

Testing assumptions as evidence becomes available

The evidence that will inform the triple loop adaptive decision-making process (Step 5 above) will be drawn from a range of sources.

•Policy:

− a regular scan of the regional political, policy and operating environment.

aligNiNg stakeholder meri systems

CAp2 makes a strong contribution

CAP2 targets and key indicators of success are linked to each of the five CAP2 strategies (see Table 1). CAP2 makes a strong contribution at both the state and federal levels. It contributes to a range of NSW 2021 targets and also the three sustainable environment and five sustainable agriculture national Caring for our Country priorities (Australian Government 2012).

The key indicators of success that support the CAP2 targets are not exhaustive. The intention is to provide a brief account of our progress towards CAP2 implementation. Additional and more prescriptive key indicators will be developed as part of the SE Landscape implementation process.

MERI best practice

As shown in the Adaptation Strategy framework (Figure 8), MERI processes will provide a critical input into CAP2 performance assessment. While processes have been developed to adopt a regional reporting approach, we will also ensure that we have a process for capturing SE Landscape performance.

In the first instance, the CAP2 Implementation Group will oversee the identification of the individual reporting requirements and MERI systems that stakeholders have in place to meet their own requirements. Synergies and opportunities for alignment will then inform the collaborative development of some MERI best practice rules that all stakeholders will work to, including Northern Rivers CMA. These will ultimately ensure that all stakeholders can contribute to reporting on CAP2 targets (see Table 1).

This process will provide some cohesion to performance assessment and reporting, which will occur on a yearly cycle. This cycle will match and inform the annual cycle for reviewing and updating CAP2.

Integrating CAp2 within the Regional SoE

CAP2, through its targets and key indicators of success, will generate information that will ultimately be integrated into the regional SoE and state of the catchments reporting. Some stakeholders will contribute to both of these reports through their contribution to CAP2 targets.

Strengthening reporting standards

The current regional environmental reporting frameworks that span the NSW north coast report independently of each other. These frameworks include:

•NSW Natural Resources Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Strategy 2010–2015 (MER Strategy), which reports across a range of themes across New South Wales

•stateofthecatchmentswhichreportsagainst catchment management authority regions

•NorthernRiversCMAwhichreportsannually on CMA investment, but does not currently consider the achievements of other NRM stakeholders (e.g. local governments)

•NSWstateoftheenvironment(SoE)reports which are prepared without any tangible links to local government SoE or CMA reporting.

CAP2 will support collaborative NRM reporting processes across various scales, including existing frameworks such as the NSW state of the catchments and SoE reporting, and the Region’s river health report card (Ecohealth). CAP2 can also support potential new developments including national environmental reporting.

The Regional SoE Report

To enhance the integration of environmental reporting in the Northern Rivers Region, councils, government agencies, the Northern Rivers CMA and the Local Government and Shires Association have undertaken a review of the current SoE reporting process.

This group has prepared an integrated and streamlined all-of-government ‘Regional state of the environment 2012’ (NRCMA 2012) report based on consistent indicators and transparent information sharing by all parties. The Regional SoE represents a vision for integrated reporting across a range of stakeholders [see supporting information # 5].





Goa

ls:

Aspi

ratio

nal s

tate

men

ts o

f wha

t we

wan

t CAP

2 to

ach

ieve

with

in a

10

-yea

r tim

efra

me

1. A

dapt

able

and

res

pons

ive

com

mun

ities

w

ith a

hig

h ca

paci

ty f

or m

aint

aini

ng t

heir

viab

ility

and

iden

tity

2. H

ealth

y, r

esili

ent,

sus

tain

able

and

eco

logi

cally

func

tiona

l lan

dsca

pes

and

seas

cape

s su

ppor

ting

vibr

ant

and

pros

pero

us c

omm

uniti

es a

nd v

iabl

e na

tura

l res

ourc

e–ba

sed

indu

strie

s3.

An

adap

tive

Reg

ion

with

a h

igh

capa

city

to

cope

with

cha

nge,

sho

cks

and

unce

rtai

nty

Stra

tegi

es:

Stat

emen

ts o

f wha

t we

are

goin

g to

do

to a

chie

ve o

ur g

oals

with

in a

5-y

ear t

imef

ram

e

1. E

ngag

e co

mm

unit

y2.

Man

age

land

scap

es a

nd s

easc

apes

3. S

usta

in li

velih

oods

4. E

nric

h lif

esty

les

and

cultu

re5:

Man

age

for

chan

ge

Key

indi

cato

rs o

f suc

cess

: Q

ualit

ativ

e m

easu

res

that

tell

us a

bout

the

succ

ess

of o

ur c

olle

ctiv

e pr

iorit

y ac

tions

and

whe

ther

we

are

mak

ing

prog

ress

tow

ards

our

goa

ls

KI 1

(a):

Enga

gem

ent p

lann

ing

is im

plem

ente

d at

reg

iona

l, SE

Lan

dsca

pe a

nd lo

cal s

cale

s,

supp

orte

d by

eng

agem

ent t

ools

.

KI 1

(b):

Cap

acity

, int

eres

t and

driv

e fo

r NR

M

is in

crea

sed

from

bas

e le

vel a

t reg

iona

l, SE

La

ndsc

ape

and

loca

l sca

les.

KI1

(c):

Opp

ortu

nity

and

par

ticip

atio

n (in

volv

emen

t) in

NR

M a

re in

crea

sed

acro

ss

regi

onal

, SE

Land

scap

e an

d at

the

loca

l sca

les.

KI1

(d):

Opp

ortu

nity

for A

borig

inal

par

ticip

atio

n in

N

RM

and

the

appl

icat

ion

of c

ultu

ral k

now

ledg

e is

in

crea

sed.

KI 1

(e):

Com

mun

ity-d

riven

NR

M p

rogr

ams,

kn

owle

dge

and

awar

enes

s ev

ents

are

incr

ease

d in

bo

th A

borig

inal

and

non

-Abo

rigin

al c

omm

uniti

es.

KI1

(f):

Effe

ctiv

e pa

rtne

rshi

ps b

etw

een

NR

M

stak

ehol

ders

and

age

ncie

s ar

e m

aint

aine

d or

in

crea

sed

in c

olla

bora

tive

and

coor

dina

ted

NR

M

proj

ects

/pro

gram

s.

KI 2

(a):

Effe

ctiv

e in

tegr

ated

NR

M p

lann

ing

is

impl

emen

ted

at r

egio

nal,

SE L

ands

cape

and

loca

l sc

ales

.

KI 2

(b)

: Sta

ndar

dise

d re

sour

ce c

ondi

tion

mon

itorin

g pr

otoc

ols

and

prog

ram

s ar

e es

tabl

ishe

d an

d im

plem

ente

d w

ith d

eliv

ery

part

ners

for t

he c

ompo

nent

s th

at c

ontri

bute

tow

ard

land

scap

e an

d se

asca

pe h

ealth

w

ithin

the

Reg

ion.

K2

(c):

Coo

rdin

atio

n an

d co

llabo

ratio

n in

add

ress

ing

thre

ats

to th

reat

ened

spe

cies

, eco

syst

ems

and

habi

tats

is

incr

ease

d.

KI2

(d):

Hea

lth a

nd fu

nctio

n of

the

Reg

ion’

s la

ndsc

apes

an

d se

asca

pes

(nat

ural

sys

tem

s) is

mai

ntai

ned

or

impr

oved

as

a re

sult

of th

reat

s ad

dres

sed.

KI 3

(a):

The

num

ber o

f ind

ustri

es

and

part

icip

ants

ope

ratin

g to

an

NR

M

sust

aina

bilit

y co

de is

incr

ease

d.

KI 3

(b):

Con

tem

pora

ry p

rodu

ctio

n la

nds

and

com

mer

cial

and

rec

reat

iona

l fis

hing

gro

unds

are

sec

ured

via

pla

nnin

g in

stru

men

ts.

KI 3

(c):

Abor

igin

al a

nd n

on-A

borig

inal

em

ploy

men

t, w

ith a

ll-of

-gov

ernm

ent

supp

ort i

n na

tura

l res

ourc

e–ba

sed

indu

strie

s is

incr

ease

d.

KI 3

(d):

Bio

dive

rsity

is a

ctiv

ely

man

aged

in p

rodu

ctio

n la

ndsc

apes

and

se

asca

pes

thro

ugh

appl

icat

ion

of b

est

prac

tice

to p

rom

ote

mut

ually

ben

efit

outc

omes

.

KI 3

(e):

Land

-use

and

sea

-use

pl

anni

ng, p

roce

sses

, pol

icie

s an

d in

dust

ry c

odes

sup

port

sus

tain

able

N

RM

.

KI 4

(a):

Reg

iona

l rec

ogni

tion

of th

e re

leva

nce

of N

RM

to th

e pe

ople

of t

he N

orth

ern

Riv

ers

Reg

ion

is in

crea

sed.

KI 4

(b)

Bes

t pra

ctic

e pu

blic

land

m

anag

emen

t has

enh

ance

d ap

prec

iatio

n of

the

sign

ifica

nce

of N

RM

.

KI 4

(c)

Appr

ecia

tion

(val

ue)

for

NR

M, a

nd th

e ne

ed fo

r it,

at th

e lo

cal a

nd S

E La

ndsc

ape

scal

e is

in

crea

sed

with

in th

e N

orth

ern

Riv

ers

com

mun

ity.

KI4

(d)

Stan

dard

ised

mon

itorin

g pr

otoc

ols

for s

ocia

l ana

lysi

s ar

e es

tabl

ishe

d an

d im

plem

ente

d w

ith d

eliv

ery

part

ners

.

KI 5

(a):

A re

gion

al-le

vel C

AP2

impl

emen

tatio

n gr

oup

is

oper

atio

nal.

KI 5

(b):

SE L

ands

cape

im

plem

enta

tion

proc

esse

s ar

e w

orki

ng e

ffect

ivel

y.

KI 5

(c):

The

CAP2

Evi

denc

e an

d Ad

apta

tion

Dat

abas

e is

ope

ratio

nal a

nd th

e Ad

apta

tion

Stra

tegy

is

impl

emen

ted.

KI 5

(d):

A fu

lly in

tegr

ated

re

gion

al r

epor

ting

proc

ess

(bas

ed o

n 'R

egio

nal s

tate

of

the

envi

ronm

ent r

epor

t 201

2’)

is im

plem

ente

d.

CA

P2

subt

arge

ts:

Qua

ntifi

able

mea

sure

s th

at re

pres

ent t

he c

ombi

natio

n of

our

prio

rity

actio

ns a

nd re

flect

pro

gres

s to

war

ds th

e na

tura

l res

ourc

e he

alth

and

com

mun

ity c

apac

ity e

lem

ents

of o

ur g

oals

w

ithin

a 2

- to

5-y

ear t

imef

ram

e

1(i):

NR

M c

omm

unity

soc

ial c

apita

l is

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

1(ii)

: NR

M c

omm

unity

ski

lls le

vels

are

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

1(iii

): N

RM

com

mun

ity a

cces

s to

NR

M

info

rmat

ion

and

know

ledg

e ex

chan

ge is

m

aint

aine

d or

impr

oved

in p

riorit

y su

bcat

chm

ents

by

201

8.

1(iv

) N

RM

com

mun

ity p

artn

ersh

ips

are

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed b

y 20

18.

2(i):

Soi

l hea

lth is

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

2(ii)

: Bio

dive

rsity

hea

lth is

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed in

pr

iorit

y su

bcat

chm

ents

by

2018

.

2(iii

): R

iver

hea

lth is

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

2(iv

): W

etla

nd h

ealth

is m

aint

aine

d or

impr

oved

in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

2(v)

: Est

uarin

e he

alth

is m

aint

aine

d or

impr

oved

in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

2(vi

): C

oast

al h

ealth

is m

aint

aine

d or

impr

oved

in

prio

rity

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

2(vi

i): M

arin

e he

alth

is m

aint

aine

d or

impr

oved

in

prio

rity

mar

ine

subc

atch

men

ts b

y 20

18.

taB

le 1

.

Rel

atio

nshi

p of

CAP

2 ke

y in

dica

tors

of s

ucce

ss, s

ubta

rget

s an

d ta

rget

s to

rel

evan

t sta

te t

arge

ts a

nd n

atio

nal p

riorit

ies


Stra

tegi

es:

Stat

emen

ts o

f wha

t we

are

goin

g to

do

to a

chie

ve o

ur g

oals

with

in a

5-y

ear t

imef

ram

e

1. E

ngag

e co

mm

unit

y2.

Man

age

land

scap

es a

nd s

easc

apes

3. S

usta

in li

velih

oods

4. E

nric

h lif

esty

les

and

cultu

re5:

Man

age

for

chan

ge

CA

P2

targ

ets:

Qua

ntifi

able

mea

sure

s th

at re

pres

ent t

he c

ombi

natio

n of

our

prio

rity

actio

ns a

nd re

flect

pro

gres

s to

war

ds th

e na

tura

l res

ourc

e he

alth

and

com

mun

ity c

apac

ity e

lem

ents

of o

ur g

oals

with

in a

2-

to 5

-yea

r tim

efra

me

1: C

omm

unity

eng

agem

ent a

nd c

apac

ity to

un

dert

ake

NR

M a

ctiv

ity is

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed

in p

riorit

y su

bcat

chm

ents

by

2018

.

2: L

ands

cape

hea

lth a

nd fu

nctio

n (to

tal h

ealth

) ar

e m

aint

aine

d or

impr

oved

in p

riorit

y su

bcat

chm

ents

by

2018

.

3: T

he p

rodu

ctiv

e ca

paci

ty a

nd

sust

aina

bilit

y of

the

Reg

ion’

s in

dust

ries

that

are

dep

ende

nt o

n na

tura

l res

ourc

es

are

mai

ntai

ned

or im

prov

ed b

y 20

18.

4: C

omm

unity

iden

tity

with

re

gion

al N

RM

and

the

sens

e of

pla

ce w

hich

it c

reat

es is

in

crea

sed

by 2

018.

5A: A

n in

tegr

ated

gov

erna

nce

fram

ewor

k is

ope

ratio

nal t

o im

plem

ent C

AP2

by 2

014.

5B: S

E La

ndsc

ape

impl

emen

tatio

n pr

oces

ses

are

wor

king

effe

ctiv

ely

by 2

015.

Rel

evan

t N

SW 2

021

targ

ets:

The

asp

iratio

nal t

arge

ts o

f the

NSW

Gov

ernm

ent a

s de

scrib

ed in

NSW

202

1–a

plan

to m

ake

NSW

num

ber

one

•in

crea

sev

olun

teer

ing

•in

crea

sec

omm

unity

par

ticip

atio

n(b

oth

goal

24

)

•in

crea

seth

enu

mbe

rofA

borig

inal

com

mun

ities

th

e st

ate

gove

rnm

ent i

s pa

rtne

ring

with

to

impr

ove

loca

l out

com

es

•su

ppor

tAbo

rigin

alc

ultu

re,C

ount

rya

ndid

entit

y(b

oth

goal

26)

•pr

otec

tand

rest

ore

prio

rity

land

,veg

etat

ion

and

wat

er

habi

tats

(go

al 2

2)

•m

anag

ew

eeds

and

pes

ts

•pr

otec

tand

con

serv

ela

nd,b

iodi

vers

itya

ndn

ativ

eve

geta

tion

•pr

otec

triv

ers,

wet

land

san

dco

asta

lenv

ironm

ents

•pr

otec

tloc

ale

nviro

nmen

tsfr

omp

ollu

tion

(goa

l22)

•m

inim

ise

the

impa

cts

ofc

limat

ech

ange

inlo

cal

com

mun

ities

(go

al 2

3)

•m

aint

ain

prep

ared

ness

tod

ealw

ithb

iose

curit

yth

reat

s (g

oal 2

8)

•pr

otec

tand

res

tore

prio

rity

land

,ve

geta

tion

and

wat

er h

abita

ts (

goal

22

)

•m

anag

ew

eeds

and

pes

ts

•pr

otec

tand

con

serv

e,la

nd,

biod

iver

sity

and

nat

ive

vege

tatio

n

•pr

otec

triv

ers,

wet

land

san

dco

asta

len

viro

nmen

ts

•pr

otec

tloc

ale

nviro

nmen

tsfr

om

pollu

tion

(goa

l 22)

•pr

otec

tstra

tegi

cag

ricul

tura

llan

dan

d im

prov

e ag

ricul

tura

l pro

duct

ivity

(g

oal 3

)

•pr

otec

tand

res

tore

prio

rity

land

, veg

etat

ion

and

wat

er

habi

tats

(go

al 2

2)

•m

anag

ew

eeds

and

pes

ts

•pr

otec

tand

con

serv

e,la

nd,

biod

iver

sity

and

nat

ive

vege

tatio

n

•pr

otec

triv

ers,

wet

land

san

dco

asta

l env

ironm

ents

•pr

otec

tloc

ale

nviro

nmen

ts

from

pol

lutio

n (g

oal 2

2)

•im

prov

eou

rsen

seo

fco

mm

unity

(go

al 2

4)

•in

crea

seth

ede

volu

tion

of d

ecis

ion-

mak

ing,

fu

ndin

g an

d co

ntro

l to

grou

ps a

nd in

divi

dual

s fo

r loc

al e

nviro

nmen

tal

and

com

mun

ity a

ctiv

ities

, in

clud

ing

catc

hmen

t m

anag

emen

t and

Lan

dcar

e

Rel

evan

t na

tiona

l prio

ritie

s: T

he n

atur

al re

sour

ce m

anag

emen

t prio

ritie

s of

the

Aust

ralia

n G

over

nmen

t as

desc

ribed

in C

arin

g fo

r ou

r Co

untr

y –

an o

utlin

e fo

r th

e fu

ture

201

3–2

018

Sust

aina

ble

envi

ronm

ent s

trea

m

•en

hanc

edc

apac

ityo

fInd

igen

ous

com

mun

ities

to

con

serv

e an

d pr

otec

t nat

ural

res

ourc

es•

mai

nten

ance

ofe

cosy

stem

ser

vice

s,in

clud

ing

ecol

ogic

al a

nd c

ultu

ral v

alue

s, n

ow a

nd in

to th

e fu

ture

•pr

otec

tion

ofo

urc

onse

rvat

ion

esta

te

Sust

aina

ble

agric

ultu

re s

trea

m

•sk

illed

and

cap

able

Lan

dcar

eco

mm

unity

•su

stai

nabl

epr

oduc

tion

offo

od

•in

nova

tion

inA

ustra

lian

agric

ultu

re

and

fishe

ries

prac

tices

•re

duce

dim

pact

ofw

eeds

and

pes

ts

on a

gric

ultu

re

•im

prov

edm

anag

emen

tofa

gric

ultu

re

and

fishe

ries

and

the

natu

ral

reso

urce

bas

e




59

aPPeNdix a:the CaP2

develoPmeNt ProCess



CAP2 has been developed with our NRM community using extensive, open consultation and engagement processes. Public feedback was sought on the following discussion papers, two technical papers, an achievements paper and the Draft CAP2. This feedback has informed CAP2 development.

• A Review of Northern Rivers CAP achievements was undertaken by the Northern Rivers CMA Board, CMA staff and the CAP2 All-of-government Reference Group. This informed the scoping of new CAP2 directions for inclusion in Discussion Paper No. 1. This was undertaken between October 2010 and February 2011.

•Discussion paper no. 1: Achievements and opportunities – new directions for the Northern Rivers CAP

This paper presented the CAP achievements and potential new CAP2 opportunities and directions. Public feedback was sought via a survey. Released for public comment October 2011.

•Discussionpaperno.2:IssuesandValues – what’s important to you?

This presented a survey of local community values and issues as a way of capturing local information. Public feedback was sought via a survey. Released for public comment October 2011.

•Discussionpaperno.3:Newdirectionsfor CAP2

This paper presented a consolidated account of the new directions to be taken in CAP2, CAP achievements and potential new CAP2 opportunities and directions. Public feedback was sought via a survey. Released for public comment June 2012.

•Technicalpaperno.1:Systems,resilience,modelsandmaps–thenewapproaches for CAP2 in the Northern Rivers Region

Technical paper 1 presented a detailed account of the state and transition models used to understand community capacity, and the health of our soils, biodiversity, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, coasts and marine resources. Released for public comment June 2012.

•Technicalpaperno.2:Estimationofnatural resource health and community capacity for the subcatchments of the Northern Rivers Region

Presented a detailed account of the spatial and analytical processes used to map community capacity and natural resource health. Released for public comment June 2012.

•Technicalpaperno.3:Ananalysisofthe Socio-ecological Landscapes of the Northern Rivers Region

Presented a detailed account of the spatial and analytical processes and evidence used to identify the Socio-ecological Landscapes of the Northern Rivers Region. Released for public comment October 2012.

•EvaluationoftheNorthernRiversCatchment Action Plan – a synthesis of findings from an internal review andevaluationoftheappropriateness,effectiveness,efficiencyandimpactofthe Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan (CAP) targets and programs

This paper captures the detail of these preceding papers, modified according to public feedback.

•DRAFTNorthernRiversCatchmentActionPlan2013–2023

This paper presented the DRAFT CAP2 and provided the foundation for this final version of CAP2. Released for public comment October 2012.


aPPeNdix B:CaP2 New

aPProaChes & CoNCePts




a systems-Based aPProaCh

There has been a fundamental shift in our approach to NRM in the Region over the last 30 years. We have evolved from focussing on individual threats in the late 1980s (e.g. vegetation loss and soil erosion), to more integrated catchment management in the 1990s (e.g. biodiversity decline, acid sulphate soils and water quality), to a more holistic focus on providing ecosystem services in the early 2000s (e.g. maintaining clean water, productive soils and habitat connectivity).

Now our focus is on understanding whole systems. These systems can be social, environmental or economic in nature, and they can be a combination of any or all of these components. They can also be defined at multiple scales (e.g. bioregion, region, landscape or property). As such, a system can be a regional community, small town, catchment, subcatchment, farm, forest or wetland.

A systems-based approach requires an understanding of the complex and dynamic relationships between people and the natural environment, and the ways we can maintain and improve the resilience of these systems to change so that they continue to deliver ecosystem services in an ever-changing world.

CAP2 responds to this new focus in NRM by adopting a systems-based approach, moving us away from our traditional ‘natural resource silos’ and compartmentalised thinking.

Socio-ecological Landscapes

In CAP2 our focus is on social-ecological systems. Socio-ecological systems generally share more key characteristics compared with adjacent areas, and thus can be used as a basis for future planning, engagement, decision-making and on-ground action.

Socio-ecological systems: those systems that encompass areas with consistent and unique combinations of social and ecological characteristics (e.g. social structure and dynamics, land form, vegetation and land uses).

We have identified four landscape-scale socio-ecological systems—or Socio-ecological Landscapes (SE Landscapes)—in the Northern Rivers Region. These are: Northern, Central, Southern (including Lord Howe Island) and New England Tableland (see Figure 1 in CAP2). These ‘landscapes’ encompass the seascapes in the Region (i.e. waters out to three-nautical miles).

We have also identified smaller-scale Socio-ecological Districts (SE Districts) that sit within these broader Landscapes (see Figure B.1 in this appendix). Appendix D describes these Landscapes and Districts in more detail and supporting information # 6 describes how they were identified.

Aboriginal Peoples are major landholders within the Socio-ecological Landscapes. Integral to these Landscapes are Aboriginal cultural landscapes which contain values that are significant to all people within the Landscape (e.g. resources, places, knowledge, stories, objects and landscapes).

These Socio-ecological Landscapes will make it easier to implement NRM activities that have the most relevance to communities.

a resilieNCe aPProaCh

Resilience is a characteristic of a system. Resilience relates to a system’s ability to cope with changes and shocks (be they social, economic or environmental) while retaining essentially the same structure and function.

A resilience approach focuses on understanding the dynamics and connections between people and their natural environment and how these connections change in response to each other and to external influences such as drivers and shocks and the local opportunities and threats these create.

CAP2 considers resilience from several perspectives:

•theoverall resilience of the Region

•theresilienceofourSELandscapesandDistricts

•theresilienceofoursubcatchments.

Drivers of change create opportunities and threats

Drivers of change and shocks originate from outside of the Region.

Drivers are unpredictable, slow, pushing forces that we have little control over (e.g. climate change, changes to government policy).

Shocks are a fast-acting form of drivers, with sudden unpredictable forces that we have little control over (e.g. floods, bushfires, global financial crisis etc).

There are a suite of drivers (see Box over page and Appendix D) that have the potential to influence the overall resilience of the Region.


figure B.1.

Socio-ecological Districts of the Northern Rivers Region




drivers of ChaNge aNd the Nature of their iNflueNCe oN the regioN

population demographics

Changes in the size, growth rate, density and distribution of populations can influence the way that a community functions. These changes influence a community’s workforce capacity, social networks, sense of place, successional planning and access to natural resources (e.g. water supply).

Two examples of how extremes in population change can influence the way community functions include: an increase in the size of Tweed Heads and Coffs Harbour because of urban settlement and an influx of retirees and tree and sea changers; and a decrease in the size of Old Bonalbo because of declining agriculture.

Farm viability (a function of 4 components)

1. Farmer succession Changes in ownership away from the tradition of ‘family farms’ is occurring because younger people are leaving the Region and sons and daughters are not replacing their retiring farmer parents (e.g. cattle farmers on the tablelands). New farm owners don’t necessarily come from the Region, nor have knowledge of or sense of attachment to the Region or local area. Farm aggregation can be the result of this lack of succession.

2. Farm aggregation Changes in land ownership brought about by the purchase of land by corporations or locals which subsequently results in fewer, larger, multiple-property farms being managed as single businesses by fewer farmers. Farm aggregation is made possible by improved farming practices (fewer people, more mechanisation) which bring efficiencies and economies of scale. Farm aggregation is happening on the tablelands and on the coasts (e.g. dairy).

3. Land-use diversification and intensification Changes in land use are brought about, for example, by urban expansion, peri-urban development, or shifts towards different or more intensive and diverse production (e.g. blueberries, macadamias and coffee). These changes can significantly shift the social, economic and environmental base of an area.

Diversification spreads the risk through the growing of several products (e.g. vegetables, vineyards and grazing), or embarking on multiple enterprises that focus not only on production but also other sectors (e.g. dairy processing, manufacturing and marketing, or farm tourism).

Diversification can also be a complete change in land use (e.g. local Aboriginal land councils are changing from farming and development to investing in environmental restoration projects). Changing land use generates competition for land, increases land prices, changes social and community structure (e.g. a shift in emphasis from production/livelihood towards lifestyle values), and changes how natural resources are used and managed (e.g. water), including how we manage new and emerging threats.

4. Market forces The viability of small farms, small business enterprises and natural resource–based industries is dependent on traditional agricultural commodities driven by market forces. Market forces include commodity price changes, changes in market policy, the day-to-day costs of running a farm (e.g. fuel, fertiliser, labour costs and water allocation), and changes in land values.

Industry viability

The viability of natural resource–based industries is reliant on the adequate supply and security of resources (e.g. water) and a market that drives demand. The slow decline in private native forestry is an example where industry viability has declined in response to a reduction in wood supply, reforms to the industry and changes to harvesting practices.

Community values and expectations

Community values and expectations have a significant influence over the structure of communities, businesses and how natural resources are used. People have a sense of how they want their community to be, and to varying degrees will defend that sense of identity and subsequently have a significant influence on activities within their community. The recent rallying of communities to oppose coal seam gas extraction in the far north coast is a good example of communities expressing their expectations/aspirations for extractive industries in their area.

Climate change and variability

Changes and extremes in climate can have a devastating impact on natural resources. Climate change and increased climate variability in the Region are likely to result in more frequent and more intense floods, disease outbreaks, storms, droughts and fires. Temperatures will increase and the Region will be drier. Predicted impacts include changes to agricultural industries, and changes in the types and densities of pests and weeds.

Invasive species

New and emerging invasive species (i.e. weeds, disease and pest animals) and disease introduced from outside of an area change the function and productive capacity of natural systems. Examples include cat’s claw creeper, tropical soda apple, gloriosa lily, bell miner associated dieback, black striped mussel.

Infrastructure and technology

Improvements in infrastructure and technology such as road networks and the National Broadband Network will increase people’s access to places of work and leisure, information, and critical social resources such as social media. This will increase the speed, efficiency and ease with which people can conduct business, recreate and communicate with others in and outside of the Region.

Government directions and policies

Changes in government direction and policy can have a significant impact on responsibilities and directions for managing our natural resources. The introduction of the carbon market is an example where a shift in government policy has had an impact on options for managing land at a local scale.





Drivers create local opportunities and threats that act more quickly and directly on our landscape, livelihood and lifestyle values. Due to their nature, we can’t influence drivers directly—we can only adapt to the conditions they create, or influence them indirectly by managing the threats they create, or taking advantage of the opportunities they create. In response, CAP2 has developed management interventions (i.e. priority actions) that focus mostly on the local threats created by drivers.

Drivers are complex in their origins; they interact, and are in a constant state of near-unpredictable change. They operate differently and to varying degrees across our SE Landscapes and create different issues across the Region. Embracing a new systems-based approach grounded in a resilience framework allows us to deal with and manage for this uncertainty.

We do not fully understand the dynamics of drivers, and predicting how drivers can influence our systems is difficult. Nevertheless, CAP2 considers the impact of these drivers and how they influence the landscape, livelihood and lifestyle and cultural values of the Northern Rivers Region.

In the 10 years since the catchment blueprints and the first CAP were developed, the Region has been impacted by various drivers and the threats they create (see Box). These have shaped and will continue to shape the Region’s social, environmental and economic structure.

Identifying the impacts of these drivers will allow us to accommodate and ensure resilience by being very specific when we develop and deliver our NRM activities.

modelliNg Natural resourCe health aNd CommuNity CaPaCity

Understanding systems

Building or maintaining the resilience of our SE Landscapes and Districts requires an understanding of how the Region’s systems function, and their limits to absorb disturbances before they change their identity or state.

An all-of-government panel of technical experts developed state and transition models to better understand the complexity, function and limits of the Region’s environmental, economic and social systems.

State refers to the current status of a system, be it the current health of a natural resource (e.g. lower or higher health), or a community’s current capacity to undertake NRM (e.g. lower or higher capacity).

Transition refers to the local threats that push a system from a more desirable state to a less desirable state, and the NRM priority actions (i.e. management interventions) that push the system back the other way.

These state and transition models developed for CAP2 explore and define the characteristics of:

•thehealthdynamicsofournaturalresources (i.e. soils, biodiversity, rivers, wetlands, estuaries and coastal and marine environments) in each of the 217 subcatchment in the four SE Landscapes (including 205 within the Region)

•thedynamicsofthecommunity’scapacity to undertake NRM activity with respect to knowledge, skills, social capital and resources, in each of the 217 subcatchments.

Appendix C provides background information on state and transition models (e.g. what they are, how they were created, how they will be used); and uses the biodiversity model to illustrate the depth and technical complexity inherent in all our models.

Note that groundwater systems underpin many of the ecological and productive systems of the Region. Ecosystems that are fully or partially reliant on groundwater to maintain ecosystem function are known as groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs). There are limited data to assess the health of specific GDEs. It has been assumed that the wetland and river state and transition models incorporate and reflect the majority of GDEs in the Region.

Mapping capacity and health states

Maps of the state of natural resource health and community capacity for each subcatchment in the Region were developed using the state and transition models and available spatial information. These maps inform the CAP2 targets (see Section 3) and implementation processes (see Section 4).

Maps of health were developed for soil; biodiversity; wetland; river, estuary and marine; and coastal health (these are shown in Figures B.2–B.6 respectively); and for community capacity and Aboriginal community capacity (see Figures B.7 and B.8 respectively). For higher resolution maps see supporting information # 7. Appendix C provides an outline of how resource health and community capacity maps were developed, and supporting information # 8 provides more detail.

The maps provide relative estimates of natural resource health and community capacity. They will be interpreted and used to develop priorities at property, subcatchment, SE Landscape and regional scales (i.e we have adopted a nested planning framework). Capacity and health estimates will be critical inputs into the development of regional and SE Landscape NRM priorities.



These maps will be used in conjunction with other information sources to help us determine:

•wheretoinvestforthebesthealthgains

•whichsystemsareclosetomovingtoalower health or capacity state

•whatcapacityactivitiesweneedtoinvest in to maintain current community capacity

•whereweneedtoimprovecapacity

•whatpriorityactionsarerequired

•howcommunitiescancontribute.

Identifying local threats

Local threats are ultimately the result of drivers of change acting on the Region. The threats broadly comprise habitat loss, habitat degradation, invasive aquatic and terrestrial species (pests, weeds and diseases), and climate change and variability. The threats that our SE Landscapes experience are described more fully in individual state and transition models [see supporting information # 4].

Ongoing refinement and testing of the assumptions made in the development of our state and transition models (and in particular our understanding of thresholds) will be a feature in the CAP2 Adaptation Strategy discussed in CAP2 Section 5.

All state and transition models developed for the Northern Rivers Region are included in supporting information # 4.

Understanding the four elements of community capacity

In CAP2, community capacity is defined by the degree to which a community can undertake best practice NRM activities. Maintaining and improving the capacity of our NRM community to carry out on-ground works is a pillar of CAP2 implementation.

In CAP2 we recognise four measurable elements that collectively give us an estimate of capacity.

Knowledge: an awareness and understanding of NRM principles and issues

Skills: practical experience in NRM activities

Social capital: family, community, other social networks and support services

Resources: time, money and opportunity.

Communities with a high level of capacity have the knowledge, skills, social capital and resources to undertake NRM activities efficiently and effectively. Willingness and motivation to participate in NRM activities are also elements of capacity, but they are currently difficult to measure. Exploring options for measuring these elements will feature in the improvement of the community capacity state and transition models in the future.

We have been able to map community capacity across the Region. Our deeper understanding of the four capacity elements will inform which capacity building activities to invest in and where to invest. Capacity building will ultimately improve the resilience of communities to future change.

Aboriginal Peoples have a cultural, spiritual, social and economic connection to Country and its natural resources. They are major landholders and have the responsibility of looking after their cultural landscapes and seascapes. Aboriginal Peoples have special knowledge, rights and interests in the way natural resources are managed and used. As such, CAP2 also identifies Aboriginal community capacity across the Region which will inform which capacity building activities to invest in and where to invest.

our Natural resourCe health aNd CommuNity CaPaCity maPs are a work iN Progress

Despite being based on best available information, the strength of our knowledge varies between our state and transition models and needs improving. They present a snapshot in time and will always be a work in progress. They show our intention relating to the processes we will use in the future for setting and further refining priorities.

The maps and models provide a relative measure of health and capacity. The assumptions we made when developing the models need verifying. As such, the maps of community capacity and natural resource health scores are indicative only—scores will be verified on the ground and new information will be incorporated as it becomes available.

Maps will be considered along with other information sources to set priorities (e.g. community input, new research) see CAP2 Figure 6. The maps provide an understanding of regional, SE Landscape, SE District and subcatchment priorities. They do not capture within-subcatchment health and capacity priorities—these will be identified through other processes that involve local information and community input. Our mapping will be updated in the near future with a view to setting a benchmark with which to measure CAP2 performance.



figure B.2.

Soil health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region



figure B.3.

Biodiversity health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region




figure B.4.

Wetland health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region


figure B.5.

River, estuary and marine environment health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region




figure B.6.

Coast health state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region


figure B.7.

Community capacity state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region




figure B.8.

Aboriginal community capacity state in each subcatchment of the Northern Rivers Region



aPPeNdix C:outliNe of

state aNd traNsitioN model & maP develoPmeNt



overview

This appendix provides background information on state and transition models (S&T models), including what they are, how they were created, their limitations and how they might be applied.

The biodiversity model is used to illustrate the depth and technical complexity inherent in all our S&T models.

This appendix also provides information on how natural resource health and community capacity maps were developed. Detailed technical information on the modelling and mapping processes is available in a number of supporting documents:

•‘Technicalpaperno.1:Systems,resilience, models and maps – the new approaches for CAP2 in the Northern Rivers Region’ [see supporting information # 8]. Provides an overarching view of modelling and mapping processes.

•‘Technicalpaperno.2:Estimationofnatural resource health and community capacity for the subcatchments of the Northern Rivers Region’ [see supporting information # 9]. Provides a detailed technical account of the analytical and spatial processes used to develop models and maps.

•‘Technicalpaperno.4:Naturalresourcehealth and community capacity state and transition models of the Northern Rivers Region’ [see supporting information # 4]. Provides the actual CAP2 S&T models for natural resource health and community capacity.

For CAP2, the S&T models and natural resource health and community capacity maps were developed for:

•theRegion’snaturalresources—soils,biodiversity, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and coastal and marine environments

•thefourelementsofbothcommunitycapacity and Aboriginal community capacity (hereafter referred to as community capacity)—knowledge, skills, resources and social capital

•anoverallcommunitycapacitymodelthat captures the key features of the four elements.

Note that the coastal and biodiversity health models and maps overlap geographically. While they share similar characteristics, they differ greatly in focus. The biodiversity model focuses on the health of broader landscapes for biodiversity, while the coastal S&T model allows us to focus closely on the interface between the terrestrial, aquatic and marine environments. It facilitates a focus on the impacts of climate change–induced sea level rise and the intensity and extent of impacts from development, population pressure, pollution and invasive species in the coastal zone.

Groundwater systems underpin many of the ecological and productive systems of the Region. Ecosystems that are fully or partially reliant on groundwater to maintain ecosystem function are known as groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs). With very limited data to assess the health of specific GDEs it has been assumed that the wetland and river S&T models incorporate and reflect the majority of GDEs in the Region.

state aNd traNsitioN models

What are they?

A working tool for exploring resilience

State and transition models (S&T models) are diagrammatic representations of the health of our natural resource systems, and the capacity of our communities to undertake NRM activities. They provide a working tool for exploring resilience with an emphasis on understanding the dynamics of health and capacity, the influence of drivers of change and threats, and how to manage for their impacts.

S&T models capture the relative state of resilience and health of our natural resource systems and capacity of our communities, and the threats and priority actions that cause these to transition from one state to another. The models are underpinned by assumptions made during their development, which are supported by evidence assessments and references.

Natural resource health describes the ability of a system to provide the full range of ecosystem services. It is measured using ‘characteristics’ that relate in some way to resource composition, structure or function. Broad health ‘states’ (higher, average or lower) are the units of measure for health in CAP2.

What do the S&T models include?

Figure C.1 provides a highly simplified illustration of the main components in an S&T model, using biodiversity as an example.

The S&T models include:

1. Three relative states of resource health or community capacity: higher, average and lower. States are therefore the unit of measure for natural resource health and community capacity.

2. Characteristics of health or capacity that define the state a system is in (i.e. the main variables defining a state).

3. Threats that cause a system to transition to a lower health/capacity state. Priority actions address threats produced by drivers of change and shocks (see Appendix B for explanation of drivers and shocks).

4. Priority actions that support and improve health, thus preventing systems deteriorating to a poorer state or enabling their return to a healthier state.

5. Thresholds of potential concern that if crossed will result in permanent degradation and significant change in the state and function of a system (for better or worse).

Who developed the models?

The role of experts

S&T models were developed by whole-of-government technical and community reference groups. Group members were all experts in their fields. Landcare and Community Support Officers also assisted with the development of community capacity models.

The five coastal CMAs (Northern Rivers CMA, Southern Rivers CMA, Sydney Metropolitan CMA, Hawkesbury-Nepean CMA, Hunter-Central Rivers CMA) also collaborated on the development of



statewide S&T models. This process helped with the identification and confirmation of our regional processes and models.

What information did we use?

While the development of our models was based on sound evidence using best available information, the strength of our knowledge varies between models and needs improving. The assumptions made in developing CAP2 S&T models and capacity and health maps and the evidence that supports these assumptions can be found at supporting information # 4.

Some of our assumptions are not supported by evidence and so need verifying. As such, the maps of community capacity and natural resource health scores are indicative only—scores need verifying in the field through on-ground assessment.

on the premise that habitat health and functional predator–prey relationships are key determinants of landscape health for biodiversity. This does not mean they are the only determinants.

The characteristics that are used to describe each state of biodiversity health are:

•habitatextent

•habitatconnectivity

•habitatdiversity

•habitatcondition

•faunaassemblages.

In describing a ‘higher’ health state, this model is not describing what landscape state is needed to support all species, nor is it describing a pristine state. The model is attempting to describe the minimum landscape condition needed to support all generalist species, and the majority of other species.

figure C.1.

A simplified illustration of a biodiversity S&T model

Biodiversity s&t model as aN examPle

Biodiversity includes all life forms, the ecosystems of which they are part, their interactions and the processes that support them. Biodiversity is the foundation for healthy, functioning ecosystems. This section focuses on terrestrial biodiversity. All biodiversity is interrelated, but for our purposes here, soil, riverine, estuarine, marine and wetland biodiversity are covered in separate health models.

Characteristics

The biodiversity S&T model is a model to describe ecologically functional landscapes (see Figure C.2). It is based

Threats Threats

Priority actions Priority actions

Higher biodiversity health state

Characteristics: Landscapes are relatively intact, undisturbed &

well connected.

Average biodiversity health state

Characteristics: Modified landscapes are fragmented & less

well connected

Lower biodiversity health state

Characteristics: Highly modified landscapes in poor condition.



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lth s

tate

(3+

4 hi

gher

hea

lth

stat

e)

c. T

roph

ic r

egul

atio

n ou

t of b

alan

ce

(Cha

ract

eris

tic 5

- lo

wer

sta

te),

othe

rwis

e re

lativ

ely

inta

ct (

2, 3

, 4 -

re

lativ

ely

high

er h

ealth

sta

te).

Con

ditio

n ca

tego

ries

‘a’ &

‘c’ a

bove

are

pr

obab

ly e

asie

r to

retu

rn to

a h

ighe

r he

alth

sta

te th

an c

ateg

ory

‘b’.

The

se

are

the

resu

lt of

diff

eren

t thr

eats

& if

so

me

of th

ese

cond

ition

s ar

e fu

nctio

nally

qu

ite d

iffer

ent

they

cou

ld b

e re

flect

ed

in s

epar

ate

stat

es a

s ou

r kno

wle

dge

impr

oves

.

T10:

Lar

ge-s

cale

frag

men

tatio

n (c

lear

ing)

(1

, 2)

T11:

Sys

tem

sho

cks

- Ex

tens

ive

wild

fire

follo

wed

by

wid

espr

ead

inva

sive

spe

cies

(3

, 4, 5

)

Eco

logi

cally

Fun

ctio

nal L

ands

cape

–

LOW

ER H

EA

LTH

STA

TE

GEN

ERA

L D

ESC

RIP

TIO

N

Hig

hly

mod

ified

land

scap

es w

here

th

e pr

imar

y fo

cus

is o

n pr

oduc

tion

&

urba

nisa

tion.

Th

e pr

ospe

ct o

f rec

over

y is

low

, if n

ot im

poss

ible

& b

iodi

vers

ity

cons

erva

tion

relie

s m

ostly

on

poor

ly

conn

ecte

d pa

tche

s. I

nvas

ive

plan

ts

are

typi

cally

wid

espr

ead

& s

prea

ding

&

intro

duce

d fa

una

play

a s

igni

fican

t ro

le w

ith tr

ophi

c pr

oces

ses

wel

l out

of

bala

nce.

CH

AR

AC

TER

ISTI

CS

of th

e La

ndsc

ape

(mai

n va

riabl

es)

1. H

abita

t Ext

ent:

<30

% o

f orig

inal

ha

bita

t ext

ent p

rese

nt (

i.e. n

ativ

e ve

geta

tion

cove

r, op

en w

etla

nds

etc)

.2.

Hab

itat C

onne

ctiv

ity: h

ighl

y fra

gmen

ted,

pat

ches

of h

abita

t ge

nera

lly s

mal

l, >

1.1k

m a

part

, &/o

r in

poor

con

ditio

n. T

rees

in a

gric

ultu

ral

land

scap

e ge

nera

lly >

100

m a

part

.3.

Hab

itat D

iver

sity

: mos

aic

of o

rigin

al

vege

tatio

n ty

pes

& g

row

th s

tage

s lo

st

thro

ugh

fragm

enta

tion.

4. H

abita

t Con

ditio

n: <

30%

of t

he

habi

tat e

xten

t is

in h

ighe

r hea

lth

cond

ition

(for

cur

rent

gro

wth

sta

ge).

5. F

auna

Ass

embl

ages

: tro

phic

pro

cess

es

& p

reda

tor –

prey

rel

atio

nshi

ps o

ut o

f ba

lanc

e.

PR

IOR

ITY

AC

TIO

NS

P6: I

dent

ify &

pro

tect

pin

ch p

oint

s -

last

rem

ains

of c

orrid

ors

at th

e lo

cal s

cale

- th

e cr

itica

l po

ints

for l

oss

of c

onne

ctiv

ity (

2, 1

) P8

, 5, 4

, 3: B

road

-sca

le s

usta

inab

le g

razi

ng p

ract

ices

with

faci

litat

ed r

ecru

itmen

t of t

rees

&

acce

lera

ted

recr

uitm

ent o

f hol

low

s (1

, 2, 4

)P6

, 2: S

trate

gic

plan

tatio

n es

tabl

ishm

ent w

ith m

ixed

spe

cies

to s

uppo

rt c

onne

ctiv

ity &

incr

ease

fu

nctio

nal h

abita

t (1,

2, 3

)P6

: Im

prov

e co

nnec

tivity

bet

wee

n ad

join

ing

land

scap

es (

2)P2

, 6: B

uild

ing

on e

xist

ing

func

tiona

l hab

itat e

lem

ents

to im

prov

e co

nnec

tivity

(suc

h as

tra

velli

ng s

tock

rou

tes

& r

ipar

ian

area

s on

the

Tabl

elan

ds w

ith a

djoi

ning

bio

dive

rsity

-frie

ndly

m

anag

emen

t) (

2, 1

)P2

, 16:

Con

serv

e &

rep

air k

eyst

one

biod

iver

sity

ass

ets

in th

e la

ndsc

ape

mos

t lik

ely

to c

ontin

ue

to fu

nctio

n (3

, 4)

P5, 4

, 3: F

acili

tate

nat

ural

land

scap

e re

cove

ry in

cor

ridor

s &

acc

eler

ated

rec

ruitm

ent o

f hol

low

s &

oth

er h

abita

t fea

ture

s in

‘cle

ared

’ are

as (1

, 2, 3

)

Eco

logi

cally

Fun

ctio

nal L

ands

cape

– A

LTER

NAT

E H

EA

LTH

STA

TE(s

)

GEN

ERA

L D

ESC

RIP

TIO

N

For h

ighl

y m

odifi

ed la

ndsc

apes

a r

ange

of p

ossi

ble

alte

rnat

e st

ates

exi

st d

epen

ding

on

the

exte

nt o

f mod

ifica

tion

&

land

scap

e ch

arac

teris

tics

mos

t affe

cted

. Po

ssib

le a

ltern

ate

stat

es in

clud

e:-

con

tribu

tion

to c

onne

ctiv

ity b

etw

een

heal

thie

r lan

dsca

pes

- im

prov

ed b

iodi

vers

ity s

tew

ards

hip

for t

he a

gric

ultu

ral l

ands

cape

s (m

anag

emen

t of c

ultu

re &

hab

itat e

lem

ents

) -

bui

ldin

g on

stru

ctur

al h

abita

t rat

her t

han

repl

icat

ing

full

habi

tat

su

ppor

ting

the

resi

lienc

e of

1 o

r 2 k

ey a

sset

s in

the

land

scap

e hi

ghly

sig

nific

ant t

o bi

odiv

ersi

ty in

the

Reg

ion.

THR

EAT

S

Pat

ch s

cale

impa

cts

less

impo

rtan

t

* T1

: Clim

ate

chan

ge (

2, 3

, 4, 5

)T2

: Hab

itat l

oss

& fr

agm

enta

tion

(1, 2

, 3)

T3: N

ew &

em

ergi

ng w

eeds

est

ablis

hing

(4

)T4

: Lan

d m

anag

emen

t pra

ctic

es

over

larg

e ar

eas

with

out a

dapt

ive

man

agem

ent (

3, 4

)T5

: Ina

ppro

pria

te la

nd-u

se la

ws

&

polic

ies

(1, 2

)T6

: Wee

d sp

read

mod

ifyin

g ke

y ha

bita

t or

beg

inni

ng to

ove

r lar

ge a

reas

(3, 4

)T7

: Com

petit

ion

for k

eyst

one

habi

tat

reso

urce

s (3

, 5)

T8: D

isea

se a

ffect

ing

prio

rity

habi

tat o

r sp

ecie

s w

ith k

ey fu

nctio

nal r

oles

(4, 5

)T9

: Pre

dato

r–pr

ey r

elat

ions

hips

im

bala

nced

(5)

PR

IOR

ITY

AC

TIO

NS

* P6

: Coo

rdin

ated

cor

ridor

man

agem

ent

(2)

P8: S

usta

inab

le la

nd m

anag

emen

t (2,

3,

5)

P9:

Coo

rdin

ated

land

man

agem

ent (

3,

4, 5

)P1

2, 1

1: N

ew &

em

ergi

ng w

eeds

el

imin

ated

/ co

ntai

ned

(4)

P16,

14:

Inva

sive

faun

a af

fect

ing

habi

tat

reso

urce

s co

ntro

lled

(5, 4

)P1

5: P

reda

tor–

prey

rel

atio

nshi

ps r

e-in

stat

ed (5

)P1

3: S

trate

gic

man

agem

ent o

f es

tabl

ishe

d w

eeds

(3, 4

)P7

: Bio

dive

rsity

-frie

ndly

land

-use

pl

anni

ng &

effe

ctiv

e po

licy

(1, 2

)

THR

EAT

S

Pat

ch s

cale

impa

cts

beco

me

mor

e im

port

ant

T12:

Hab

itat l

oss,

deg

rada

tion

&

fragm

enta

tion

(1, 2

, 3)

T13:

Gra

datio

n &

frag

men

tatio

n (1

, 2 ,3

)T1

4: P

erm

anen

t los

s of

hab

itat &

nat

ural

fe

atur

es (1

, 2, 3

, 4, 5

)T1

5: T

rend

tow

ards

poo

rly m

anag

ed

‘mon

o-cu

lture

s’ (3

, 4, 5

)T1

6: L

arge

-sca

le u

nsus

tain

able

m

anag

emen

t pra

ctic

es (

3, 4

)T1

7: P

reda

tor–

prey

rel

atio

nshi

ps fa

iling

(3

, 5)

T18:

Die

back

(1, 2

, 3, 4

)T1

9: H

abita

t mod

ifica

tion

by w

ides

prea

d w

eeds

(3, 4

)T2

0: D

isea

se a

ffect

ing

keys

tone

spe

cies

or

wid

espr

ead

(4, 5

)

PR

IOR

ITY

AC

TIO

NS

P8, 1

0: B

road

-sca

le p

ositi

ve c

hang

es in

la

nd m

anag

emen

t pra

ctic

e (2

, 3, 4

) P2

: Stra

tegi

c pl

anta

tion

esta

blis

hmen

t w

ith m

ixed

spe

cies

to s

uppo

rt

conn

ectiv

ity &

inc

reas

e fu

nctio

nal

habi

tat (

1, 2

, 3)

P5, 4

, 3, 2

: Fac

ilita

te n

atur

al la

ndsc

ape

reco

very

in c

orrid

ors

& o

ther

key

are

as

(1, 2

, 3)

P17:

Stra

tegi

c ac

tion

on d

ieba

ck

may

not

be

a re

turn

pat

h fo

r som

e

fig

ur

e C

.2.

Bio

dive

rsity

Sta

te a

nd T

rans

ition

mod

el*

Num

bers

in b

rack

ets

(num

bere

d 1-

5) id

entif

y w

hich

of t

he in

divi

dual

‘Cha

ract

eris

tics’

with

in e

ach

‘Hea

lth S

tate

’ are

influ

ence

d by

the

‘Thr

eats

’ and

‘Prio

rity

Actio

ns’



Some species have very specific needs, very limited ranges, or are, in some other way, especially vulnerable. For these species, localised or particular conditions can still lead to a serious decline regardless of overall ecosystem health. For this reason our modelling and mapping does not have regard for specific species and threatened ecological communities (TEC).

Species or TECs not adequately covered by actions under the biodiversity S&T model will be addressed separately through implementation of high priority Northern Rivers Regional Biodiversity Management Plan (DECCW 2010) actions and Priority Action Statement 2 projects (when completed) in consultation with partners.

Threats and alternate states

The biodiversity S&T model identifies a suite of key threats (e.g. habitat loss, establishment of new weeds) that can push a landscape from a higher health to an average health state, and a different suite of key threats (e.g. weed infestation, disease) that can push a landscape from an average to a lower health state. The model also identifies an alternate landscape health state that can exist if the key threats (e.g. wildfire) that act on an average health landscape result in the loss of elements (e.g. all forest growth stages) that are critical to average health landscape function.

priority actions

Priority actions can improve landscape health from an average to higher state (e.g. corridor management, weed eradication). A different suite of actions can improve landscape health from lower to average health (e.g. changes to land management practices). However, in many situations, it is not practically possible to return a landscape from a state of lower to average health due to the time and resources needed to reinstate elements critical to that landscape’s function. Priority actions (e.g. improving connectivity) in this instance will shift a landscape with lower health to an alternate average health state.

Priority actions were developed by the Technical Reference Groups as part of the S&T model development process.

Owing to the large number of actions (in all models, not just biodiversity), abridged

provide an adequate picture of differences in the spatial distribution of health and capacity at a regional level, and can be easily ‘scaled up’ to give a picture of capacity and health at the broader catchment or SE District, SE Landscape and regional scale (i.e. we have a nested planning framework). They are also used by other agencies for describing resource health.

CAP2 recognises that there are local areas of higher health and capacity that might otherwise sit within a subcatchment that has lower health or capacity (see Figure C.3). Identification of these areas is critical to setting priorities for undertaking NRM activities and building capacity. In this regard, we need to use additional information sources to gain an understanding of the priorities that sit within subcatchments (e.g. existing planning, technical experts, community knowledge). See Figure 6 in CAP2 for more detail.

How were the natural resource maps developed?

Each S&T model includes a description of each health/capacity state and the key characteristics used to describe each state. Health characteristics were chosen based on the contribution they make to our understanding of health, and whether they can be mapped.

For natural resources, spatial data to depict the state of these characteristics was sourced from partner agencies and organisations. Table C.2 provides an indication of the various spatial data layers used in the development of maps.

These data layers were analysed with respect to one another in a spatial, multi-criteria analysis software package (Multi Criteria Analysis Spatial Shell, or MCAS-S) to develop composite subcatchment health scores during the expert workshops [see supporting information # 9]. The natural resource health maps are found in Appendix B and higher resolution versions are found in supporting information # 7.

consolidated versions of the S&T model priority actions have been included in the priority actions tables in CAP2 Section 3.

Relationship of CAp2 actions to existing plans

The S&T model priority actions have been cross-referenced to the objectives and outcomes identified in the Northern Rivers Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP). Two other BMPs relevant to the Northern Rivers CMA region—the Lord Howe Island and Border Ranges Rainforest BMP’s—were not included in this assessment simply because the Northern Rivers BMP covers the Northern Rivers CMA Region and the vast majority (if not all) of these other BMP’s actions relevant to a landscape scale.

Table C.1 provides a summary of the alignment between S&T model priority actions and BMP objectives/outcomes. However, inclusion doesn’t indicate complete alignment and other BMP actions/outcomes not listed in the table may also be relevant. Actions under the listed BMP outcomes would also be considered in planning and implementation of biodiversity model priority actions, as many BMP actions are relevant to operational delivery or provide further guidance on project development.

Please note that the action number in Table C.1 relates to the action number in Figure C.2, not the action numbering in CAP2 Section 3.

health aNd CaPaCity maPs

The characteristics used to define the health/capacity states within the S&T models were used as the basis for the development of the natural resource health and community capacity maps. Note that high resolution PDF versions of all maps are available at supporting information # 7.

What scale are the maps?

Subcatchments are our planning units

Subcatchments provide the minimum area for describing and mapping capacity and health. Subcatchments are a size that has some relevance to local communities,



How were the community capacity maps developed?

Community capacity maps were developed for the general community and the Aboriginal community in the Region. To develop the maps, a panel of experts scored each subcatchment in the Region with respect to its community’s level of knowledge, skills, social capital and resources. Scoring of the four elements was based on set criteria that defined each capacity state (i.e. higher capacity through to lower capacity).

Examples of the criteria used in each model are included in Table C.3. Scoring against set criteria ensured that the assessment was as objective as possible. The community capacity maps are found in Appendix B.

How were health & capacity scores mapped?

Dealing with uncertainty

For most subcatchments there is uncertainty regarding:

•whetherhealthandcapacityareincreasing or decreasing in each subcatchment

•thequantitativethresholdsortippingpoints between states

•howclosetoathresholdasubcatchmentmight be.

We have countered this uncertainty around thresholds by using five categories on our maps to define the range of capacity and health in each subcatchment (knowing that most S&T models only describe three health/capacity states).

Subcatchments are scored as having either higher health/capacity (i.e. category 1), average health/capacity (i.e. category 3) or lower health/capacity (i.e. category 5). These subcatchments are those where health/capacity is relatively stable (unlikely to change quickly).

Subcatchments with a health/capacity score of 2 or 4 represent transitions between the more stable states (i.e. 1, 3 and 5). Subcatchments in states 2 or 4 have the greatest chance of transitioning to healthier states 1 or 3 through NRM investment and implementation of priority

A work in progress

Ongoing refinement of modelling and mapping

S&T models and mapping provide a relative measure of health and capacity that will serve as a benchmark and the basis for setting priorities and measuring performance over time. They show our intention in relation to the processes we will use in the future for setting and further refining priorities.

With this intent, each S&T model and map of natural resource health and community capacity is an ongoing work in progress. Ongoing refinement will address the following challenges to our modelling and mapping approaches:

•Theypresentastatic snapshot in time and so measurements need repeating to accommodate changing conditions.

•Whilebasedonbestavailableinformation, the completeness and strength of our knowledge varies between models and needs improving.

•Theassumptionswemadewhendeveloping the models and maps need verifying with new evidence [see supporting information # 4 for assumptions and evidence].

•Themapsofcommunitycapacityandnatural resource health scores are indicative only—scores will be verified on the ground and new information will be incorporated as it becomes available.

•Themapsprovideanunderstandingofregional, SE Landscape, SE District and subcatchment health and capacity. They do not capture within-subcatchment local priorities—these will be identified through other processes (e.g. community input, new research, existing planning, technical experts). See Figure 6 in CAP2.

actions. Conversely they are also the subcatchments that are at most risk of moving to a lower health/capacity state as a result of threats.

The final scores for each subcatchments community capacity were calculated by adding the individual subcatchment scores for knowledge, skills, social capital and resources, with each of the four elements having equal weighting.

how will models aNd maPs Be used?

One part of decision-making

Capacity and health estimates will be critical inputs into the development of regional and SE Landscape NRM priorities (see Figure 6 in CAP2). They will be used in conjunction with other information sources to help us determine:

•wheretoinvestinNRMactivitiesthatwill maintain or improve health

•whichsystemsareclosetomovingtoalower health or capacity state

•whatcapacityactivitiesweneedtoinvest in to maintain current community capacity

•whereweneedtoimprovecapacity

•whatpriorityactionsarerequired

•howcommunitiescancontribute.

Figure C.3 highlights our nested approach to planning and demonstrates how the biodiversity S&T model will be applied at a range of scales. Real/actual data are presented in Figure C.3 and they show the importance of the interplay of the characteristics to the final determination of the health of an area. For example, despite the Northern Rivers CMA Region having 71% vegetation cover (which is characteristic of the higher health state), the Region has an average health rating. In this instance, the habitat connectivity, condition and diversity scores are low enough that the overall health score falls within the average health state.


taBle C.1.

Alignment of the biodiversity S&T model priority actions with the objectives identified in the Northern Rivers Regional Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP)

Model priority action No.

Priority Actions for Ecologically Functional Landscapes How these actions relate to Obj/Outcomes in the NRBMP

Threat - Climate Change Relates to BMP Obj 1

P1 Improve the resilience of ecosystems and landscapes to the effects of climate change

obj 1 verbatim

Threat - Habitat loss and fragmentation Threat - Permanent loss of habitat and natural features Threat - Inappropriate land-use laws and policies

Relates to BMP Obj 1, 2, 3 and 10

P2 Improve the extent and condition of native habitat through habitat restoration and protection strategies

1.3.2, 1.3.3.

P3 Engage and support more landholders in having land-use support the habitat value of adjoining remnants

3.4.7

P4 Recruitment of habitat features to assist recovery of landscape health, priority habitat or priority species

3.5.4, 3.5.9

P5 Education and awareness for land managers on the value of retaining habitat features such as older, hollow-bearing trees, fallen timber and hollow logs for biodiversity

3.5.9

P6 Coordinated cross-tenure management to maintain and improve connectivity of habitat

1.1, 1.2, 2.1.2, 3.3.7, 3.4.3, 3.4.4, 3.4.6, 10.1.2, 10.3, 12.1.3, 12.1.4

P7 Partnership with the community, industry, NGO's and local and state government, to incorporate biodiversity principles in planning controls and policies

2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 3.3

Threat - Inappropriate land use Threat - Land management practices over large areas without adaptive management Threat - Land management leading to habitat simplification and loss of diversity Threat - Trend towards poorly managed 'mono-cultures'

Relates to BMP Obj 1, 2, 4, 7, 13 and 19

P8 Work with relevant stakeholders to incorporate sustainable land management in primary production activities to reduce habitat simplification and loss of diversity

13.1.1, 13.1.4, 13.1.8

P9 Develop and support a coordinated cross-tenure (landscape) approach for managing disturbance to maintain habitat diversity

2.1.2, 7.1.1, 7.1.2

P10 Promote a coordinated approach to ecological fire management and implementation of appropriate fire regimes to improve habitat diversity and management

direct combination of 4.1, 4.2

Threat - New and Emerging weeds establishing Threat - Weed spread or pest animals modifying key habitat or habitat over large areas Threat - Habitat modification by widespread weeds Threat - Land Mgt leading to Habitat Simplification and loss of diversity

Relates to BMP Obj 5, 8 and 11

P11 Implement strategies to prevent potential new weeds, pest animals and diseases entering the Northern Rivers

5.1, 5.3, 6.1 and 6.3

P12 Rapid response to new and emerging weeds, pest animals and diseases with the aim of eradication or containment

5.3 and 6.3

P13 Strategic management of established and widespread weeds, pest animals and diseases where impact on environmental assets is high or to address broadscale habitat simplification

5.4, 6.4 and 6.5

P14 Support implementation of priority actions from key invasive species strategies in order to minimise degradation of key regional habitats

5.1, 6.1

Threat - Predator–prey relationships imbalanced Threat - Competition for keystone habitat resources

Relates to BMP Obj 6 and Outc 17.5

P15 Identify appropriate predator–prey relationships and strategic actions to address any imbalances

17.5 and parts of 6.5

P16 Strategic management of invasive animals where impacting on essential habitat resources

Threat - Disease affecting priority habitat or species with key functional roles Relates to BMP Obj 8 and 11

P17 Collaboration with key partners on strategy and actions to manage dieback 8.1 and 8.2




fig

ur

e C

.3.

The

biod

iver

sity

sta

te a

nd t

rans

ition

mod

el is

und

erpi

nned

by

real

spa

tial d

ata

and

wor

ks a

t a

rang

e of

sca

les

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taBle C.2.

Data used in natural resource health maps

Characteristic What the data depicts Units of measure

SoilsGroundcover Groundcover on agricultural land

Land & soil used beyond capability / Risk of land being degraded

Classed according to the mean groundcover of agricultural land in each subcatchment (e.g. 70% [class 1]; 50 – 70% [class 2]; 30 – 50% [class 3]; 15 – 30% [class 4]

Risk index (sustainable to very significant risk) with consideration for major landscape or soil limiting factor (eg. mass movement) & the landuse

BiodiversityNative vegetation cover Woody & non-woody vegetation, native grasslands Percentage cover in each subcatchment

Habitat connectivity Patch sizeHabitat for terrestrial flora & faunaConnectivity between habitat patches (through stepping stones)

Effective habitat area (assumes min. 10 ha needed for habitat to be effective and takes into account condition)Local connectivity (10 ha & 100 m gap between stepping stones & paddock trees respectively)

Habitat diversity Diversity of terrestrial flora & fauna habitat across the landscape

Percentage of existing vegetation groups compared to pre-European predicted vegetation

Habitat condition Condition of terrestrial flora & fauna habitat Percentage of vegetation cover that is residual or modified

RiversPhysical form RiverStyles © river recovery potential. Considers the

future trajectory of change a river reach is likely to take and, given limiting factors & pressures in the catchment, the likelihood the adjustments will occur

Classified by the dominant recovery potential of streams in each subcatchment, where the recovery potentials are: •conservationrecoverypotential(class1)•rapidorconservationrecoverypotential(class2)•conservation,rapidorhighrecoverypotential(class3)•conservation,rapid,highormoderaterecoverypotential (class 4) •conservation,rapid,high,moderateorlowrecovery potential (class 5)

WetlandsWetland health Function of conservation status & threat status Average wetland health (lowest to high)

EstuariesEutrophication Degree of nutrient enrichment Chlorophyll a index

Turbidity indexFunctional ecology Change in extent of surrogate species Change in area of seagrass, mangrove & saltmarsh index

Fish assemblages Species diversity & composition, species abundance, nursery function & trophic integrity (food web)

Fish indicator index

Catchment pressure Degree of modification to the floodplain Pressure index

Marine environmentsCatchment of influence condition

Poor conditions within the influencing catchment Estuary subcatchment health assessment rating (from above)

Functional ecology Biodiversity & connectivity within the marine environmentSite monitoring change in surrogates

Marine zone index (molluscs, fish richness, total debris load)

Water quality Sites that have exceeded ANZECC trigger values Marine zone index (chlorophyll a ratings & Beachwatch ratings)

Coastal systemsBiodiversity Habitat diversity of coastal flora or fauna, especially

those highly endemic to the coastEffective habitat area (local habitat condition & connectivity)

Urban pressures Carrying capacity for sites is being managedDegree to which the land use adjacent to the coastal zone is sympathetic to coastal processes

Disturbance index of land use & vegetation change pressure

Pests & weeds Degree of pest & weed invasionManagement of biological key threatening processes

Proportion of exotics to native species




taBle C.3.

Criteria used to map community capacity

Characteristic No. of criteria Capacity criteria examples

Community capacity

Knowledge 7 The degree to which the community seeks relevant, accurate, consistent, up to date and easily understood information to convert to NRM knowledge

The degree to which the community actively engages with the scientific community on NRM knowledge generation

Skills 5 The community’s skill level relevant to implementing best management NRM practices

The community willingness and ability to generate practice change in peers, i.e. champions and innovators

Social capital 7 The degree to which the culture of the community is supportive of good NRM

Whether social networks are accessible and functional for all community members

Resources 7 Whether the community is financially functional (diversity, regularity and reliability of income)

The degree to which the community has access to investment funds for NRM


aPPeNdix d:soCio-eCologiCal

laNdsCaPes of the NortherN rivers regioN




Ongoing assessment will enhance our understanding of the relationships within and between drivers, and the influences they have on SE Landscape identity. This will in turn inform NRM in the Northern Rivers Region. The Adaptation Strategy will provide the mechanism for this learning and adaptation process.

The impacts of these drivers of change are ultimately addressed by the strategies and priority actions detailed in CAP2 Section 3.

Our changing population

The Northern Rivers Region is characterised by highly variable rates of population growth and decline. Growth is occurring, but mostly in the larger cities and towns and along the coast. This puts pressure on the availability and quality of our natural resources (e.g. water). The inland coastal and tableland areas are more sparsely populated and are stable to declining in certain areas. Some rural centres and their surrounds are growing as landholders move from their farms into towns.

The Region’s population is also ageing as more retirees move to the Region, younger people leave and farmers retire. We are slowly losing a wealth of experience in dealing with the vagaries of social, economic and environmental change—experience that is fundamental to understanding the sustainability needs of our future generations.

Our NRM workforce is changing and volunteers are increasingly more important to the delivery of our NRM activities.

Lifestylers make a difference

People are moving to the Coastal Landscapes, primarily for lifestyle reasons. These ‘lifestylers’ move to enjoy the Region’s amenity—its climate, the coastal way of life, the rich diversity of people and cultures, our natural places and wilderness areas.

Newcomers tend to move into our major towns and satellite towns, or to peri-urban areas. As small block holders, they are more concentrated on our floodplains and often supplement income with off-farm employment in one of the regional centres.

distiNCt systems

There are two fundamentally distinct socio-ecological systems in the Northern Rivers Region: the tablelands and coastal lands. The two systems have markedly different social and ecological characteristics, and they are physically separated by a north–south running escarpment.

This escarpment serves as a divide between the cool, dry woodland highlands and the warm, wet coastal lowlands; a divide between the stable, historic towns of the New England and the expanding towns, seaside villages and ports along the coastal fringe; a divide between traditional, grazing industries and new intensive horticultural industries; and a divide between the elevated upper reaches of the Region’s nine major rivers and their coastal floodplains and estuaries.

The New England Tableland SE Landscape encompasses the whole of the Northern Tableland, and straddles the Northern Rivers and the Borders Rivers-Gwydir CMA regions and parts of the Namoi and Hunter-Central Rivers CMAs.

While the tablelands are relatively homogenous at the subregional scale, within the coastal area there are three distinct socio-ecological systems: the Northern, Central and Southern SE Landscapes (or ‘Coastal Landscapes’).

Like the New England Tableland SE Landscape, these Coastal Landscapes are defined predominantly through proximity and accessibility of communities and townships within them. They are defined by east–west physical barriers of forests that separate them, and the roads that provide linkages/connections within them. Road movement between the Coastal Landscapes is largely restricted to the eastern seaboard.

The four SE Landscapes in the Region were identified by local communities [see supporting information # 6]. In practice, the boundaries between our Socio-ecological Landscapes are ‘fuzzy’ and overlapping. It is impossible, and indeed undesirable, to define ‘hard’ lines between SE Landscapes.

Instead, we have identified areas that generally share more key characteristics compared with adjacent areas.

We acknowledge there are commonalities between different Landscapes, particularly the three coastal landscapes, and also that there are significant differences in socio-ecological characteristics within individual SE Landscapes.

As such, a number of Socio-ecological Districts provide a finer scale of variation within each SE Landscape (see Appendix B). The 10 SE Districts and their local communities have their own unique suite of landscape, livelihood, lifestyle and cultural values which gives them their own identity.

The SE Landscapes and Districts provide a meaningful and locally relevant framework for delivering this community-based CAP2. CAP2 tailors management interventions and on-ground activities to each SE Landscape or SE District (see CAP2 Section 3).

Each SE Landscape is influenced by the drivers of change in different and complex ways. This section briefly considers the characteristics of each SE Landscape from a landscape, livelihood and lifestyle perspective. The differences in characteristics and identity are often subtle and difficult to describe because of their complexity and interactions. Understanding their characteristics will be an ongoing priority action as part of CAP2 implementation.

The information that supports the breakdown of the identity of our SE Landscapes is found in supporting information # 6.

drivers of ChaNge

Current understanding

The potential influence of drivers of change (see Appendix B) on SE Landscape identity over the life of CAP2 is presented in Table D.1. This assessment is based on the current trends in drivers and the intensity of their influence.



Lifestylers are often drawn into local NRM activity through their desire to be involved in landscape conservation, and so have an important part to play in the Region’s NRM efforts.

Population growth, while creating market demand, may also result in crowding, urban expansion and development which can all increase competition for prime agricultural land and natural resources (e.g. water availability). This competition has increased land prices, which has subsequently contributed to a shift in the viability of some agricultural enterprises.

Land and sea use is changing

Over the past three decades the Region has been undergoing a significant employment transition, from its traditional agricultural base—including beef cattle grazing, fine wool production, dairy farming, forestry, bananas and sugar and feed crop industries—to high levels of employment in health and community services, tourism and hospitality, education, retail and construction. Some light manufacturing and food processing industries, horticulture, mining, and conservation and tourism industries/sectors are increasing in the coastal areas. The NRM and conservation industries are becoming large employers and significant contributors to the regional economy in their own right.

Declining terms of trade in agriculture and an ageing farmer base have seen a steady decline in employment in the sector. Employment is highest in the inland parts of the Coastal Landscapes, and on the New England Tableland where it is steady or growing very slowly.

The New England Tableland SE Landscape, while more traditional in its approach, is also innovative. The tablelands predominantly support beef and sheep grazing and fine wool production, with limited cropping. New jobs will be required to accommodate our growing regional population, but it is not anticipated that the agriculture sector will provide opportunities for large-scale job creation in the near to mid future.

The Region has a high demand for fresh seafood, however, wild-caught products are impacted by various factors that

threaten the commercial fishing industry, including industry rationalisation, declining stocks, competing imports, diesel costs and habitat degradation. Commercial estuarine and ocean fisheries are a major sector, and aquaculture is experiencing limited growth.

Growth will have many forms

New government policies and new industries are set to have a significant influence on the Region’s communities and natural resources.

The Far North Coast and Mid North Coast Regional Strategies outline priority areas for growth and settlement across the Region until 2031. Although seeking to minimise impacts, this growth will no doubt affect the natural and production environments of the Northern Rivers Region.

Carbon farming is a new industry for the Region but its success is dependent on favourable market conditions. Similarly, other new and emerging industries (e.g. wind farms and coal seam gas) also have the capacity to generate significant markets, but some exploitative industries will face significant concern and scrutiny from the Northern Rivers NRM community.

producers are adapting

Changes to agricultural viability are driving shifts in traditional farming practices. Difficult terms of trade, the vagaries of commodity prices, increasing land prices, the day-to-day costs of running a farm and the advantages that come with economies of scale are resulting in:

•farm‘aggregation’,whichbringsefficiencies and economies of scale

•farmingmoreintensively,inanefforttomaximise returns

•enterprisediversification,whichspreadsthe risk

•diminishingpropertysizes,primarilyonthe coast and where there is an increase in the number of lifestylers occupying blocks.

Infrastructure influences population change

Infrastructure development will have a significant impact on natural resources,

population growth, transport costs and farm/industry viability of the Region over the next decade.

Ease of access and distance from major population centres (e.g. Brisbane and Sydney) play a large part in explaining the differences in the identities of the three Coastal Landscapes.

The Northern SE Landscape has the greatest potential influence from population growth and development because of its close proximity to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The north-east corner of the State is an attractive option for Queenslanders looking to move for lifestyle reasons.

The Northern Landscape also has the lowest transport to market costs for primary industries. These are significant markets and so the area is a focus for establishing new farming enterprises. With this comes farm diversification and intensification, however, this brings competition for land, increasing land prices, and impacts on natural resources (e.g. water) and amenity.

The Coastal Landscapes are at different points along a growth continuum. While the Central and Southern SE Landscapes are also growing, the rate at which they are growing is less than that of the Northern Landscape. They are in ‘transition’ towards an SE Landscape identity that might have similar characteristics to that of the Northern Landscape. In terms of development, the Northern Landscape is quite possibly a couple of decades ahead of the Central landscape, which is in turn ahead of the Southern Landscape.

The ongoing upgrade to the Region’s road networks will make it significantly easier for people to move in, around, and out of the Region. Major improvements to transport corridors between Sydney and Brisbane are completed, planned or underway. These will undoubtedly facilitate the movement of lifestylers, primary producers and other business sectors to the Region, and into the Central and Southern Landscapes. Growth of local and regional economies along this route will follow.

The topography of the hinterland and escarpment areas precludes the development of major highways and roads that would allow high speed travel and/or public transport. This limits



taBle d.1.

Lowest influence

Average influence

Highest influence

Community capacity and natural resource health are provided for additional comparisons.Key: SEL = Socio-ecological Landscape. ‘District(s)’ refers to Socio-ecological Districts (see Appendix B)Potential influence is assessed at three levels and is relative across the SE Landscapes.

Driver of change Northern SE Landscape Central SE Landscape Southern SE Landscape Tableland SE Landscape

Population demographics

Increasing, more so towards the coast. The exception is Kyogle District where growth is static as people are moving from farms into towns. Growth due to lifestyler movement is highest for this SEL, & in the Murwillumbah & Lismore Districts.

Increasing, more so towards the coast. Grafton District growth is lower than Coffs Harbour District. Growth due to lifestyler movement is average for this SEL, & higher for the Coffs Harbour District.

Increasing, more so towards the coast. Kempsey District growth is lower than Port Macquarie District. Growth due to lifestyler movement is average to lowest for this SEL, & higher for the Port Macquarie District.

Increasing with the exception of Glen Innes District where growth is static. Growth due to lifestyler movement is lowest for this SEL, & higher for the Armidale District.

Farm viability1. Farmer succession

Static, except for the Kyogle District where succession is decreasing as people move from farms into towns.

Decreasing primarily because of declining succession in the Grafton District where people are moving from farms into towns.

Decreasing primarily because of declining succession in the Kempsey District where people are moving from farms into towns.

Decreasing across all Districts.

2. Farm aggregation

Increasing whereby farms are getting larger heading away from the coast towards hinterland areas. Aggregation is in pursuit of improved cattle grazing & timber production. The exceptions are sugar cane & dairy which are aggregating closer to the coast, while horticulture is increasing in area as the number of farms increases.

Increasing whereby farms are getting larger heading away from coast towards hinterland areas. Aggregation is in pursuit of improved cattle grazing & timber production. The exceptions are sugar cane & dairy which are aggregating closer to the coast, while horticulture is increasing in area as the number of farms increases.

Increasing whereby farms are getting larger heading away from coast towards hinterland areas. Aggregation is in pursuit of improved cattle grazing & timber production. The exception is dairy which is aggregating closer to the coast, while horticulture is increasing in area as the number of farms increases.

Increasing whereby farms are the largest size in the Region & getting larger in pursuit of improved cattle & sheep grazing.

3. Land use diversification & intensification

Is the highest in the Region & is increasing towards the coast (& highest for the Murwillumbah & Lismore districts) with the development of more diverse, small acreage & multiple-enterprise businesses.

Is average for the Region & is increasing on the coast with the development of more diverse, small acreage & multiple-enterprise businesses.


Is average for the Region (but is high for the Tenterfield District) & is increasing with the development of more diverse, traditional forms of agriculture (based on irrigated fruit & vegetable production), but with less multiple enterprise.

4. Market forces Has the lowest impact on this SEL because of high industry diversification, cheaper transport costs, closer proximity to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane).

Has a medium impact on this SEL because of relatively less industry diversification, expensive transport costs, further distance to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney).

Has a high impact on this SEL because of relatively less industry diversification, more expensive transport costs, further distance to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney).

Has the highest impact on this SEL because of relatively less industry diversification, more expensive transport costs, further distance to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney). Tenterfield District is the exception because it is close to Brisbane.

Industry viability Viability is highest in this SEL & increasing given high farm numbers & farm viability, particularly in the Murwillumbah & Lismore Districts.

Viability is average & increasing given average farm numbers & farm viability.


Viability is lowest in this Landscape & static to increasing given average farm numbers & farm viability. Note that the Tenterfield District has the highest industry viability which corresponds with its higher farm viability.

Community values & expectations

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, mining, private native forestry, climate change impacts—e.g. sea level rise).

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, mining, private native forestry climate change impacts—e.g. sea level rise, floods).

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, mining, private native forestry, climate change impacts—e.g. sea level rise, floods).

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, windmill farms, mining, private native forestry, climate change impacts—e.g. wildfire, floods).

Climate change & variability

The negative impacts are increasing, in particular on the coast (e.g. storm surge, floods). Potential impacts also include an influx of people moving to avoid more extreme climates, & producers moving towards more favourable production environments.



The negative impacts are increasing (e.g. drought, wildfire) but are less severe owing to the absence of coastal impacts. Potential impacts also include an influx of people moving to avoid more extreme climates, & producers moving towards more favourable production environments.

Invasive species Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have the highest risk of invasion given the number of high risk pathways; high rural population; high transport from outside the SEL; moderate movement of rural machinery; increasing volume of commercial and recreational vessel movements (including recreational fishing and tourism), many high value natural assets; & good climate for weed growth.

Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have a high risk of invasion given the mix of dense & sparse high risk pathways; moderate to high transport frequency; moderate movement of rural machinery; recreational and other commercial equipment (including between waterways), high diversity of land uses; significant remote areas.

Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have a high risk of invasion given the mix of dense & sparse high risk pathways; moderate to high transport frequency; moderate movement of rural machinery, recreational and other commercial equipment (including between waterways); high diversity of land uses; significant remote areas.

Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have a high risk of invasion given the medium density of high risk pathways; high movement of stock, fodder, farm equipment, recreational and other commercial equipment (including between waterways), produce; more modified land providing seed source & opportunity for weed establishment.

Infrastructure & technology

Is increasing with significant improvement to transport routes providing greater accessibility to the SEL, with the exception of the Kyogle District.

Is increasing with significant improvement to transport routes providing greater accessibility to the SEL & the imminent introduction of NBN.

Is increasing with improvement to transport routes providing greater accessibility to the SEL.

Is increasing with the newly introduced NBN providing easier & faster communication with the outside world for business & social purposes.

Government directions & policies

Is significant given that there is existing & new policy that relates to the SEL’s growth & development (e.g. coastal settlement, sea level rise policy, carbon market).



Is significant given that there is existing & new policy that relates to the SEL’s growth & development (e.g. carbon market, wind farms).

Community capacity

Overall has average capacity, & higher capacity for the Kyogle & Murwillumbah Districts (trends to be determined).

Overall has average capacity, & higher capacity for the Grafton District (trends to be determined).

Overall has average capacity (trends to be determined). Overall has average to lower capacity, & higher for the Guyra District (trends to be determined).

Natural resource health

Overall has lower health that is declining, but aquatic health is higher & increasing.

Overall has higher health that is declining, but higher compared with the other SELs for rivers, estuaries, biodiversity, coastal & marine.

Overall has average health, with high biodiversity health, low marine health, & average health for estuaries, rivers, soils, wetlands & coastal environments.

Overall has higher health that is increasing. Soil, river & wetland health are increasing, while biodiversity health is static.

Preliminary assessment of the potential influence of drivers of change on SE Landscape identity given current trends in driver direction and intensity

Driver of change Northern SE Landscape Central SE Landscape Southern SE Landscape Tableland SE Landscape

Population demographics

Increasing, more so towards the coast. The exception is Kyogle District where growth is static as people are moving from farms into towns. Growth due to lifestyler movement is highest for this SEL, & in the Murwillumbah & Lismore Districts.

Increasing, more so towards the coast. Grafton District growth is lower than Coffs Harbour District. Growth due to lifestyler movement is average for this SEL, & higher for the Coffs Harbour District.

Increasing, more so towards the coast. Kempsey District growth is lower than Port Macquarie District. Growth due to lifestyler movement is average to lowest for this SEL, & higher for the Port Macquarie District.

Increasing with the exception of Glen Innes District where growth is static. Growth due to lifestyler movement is lowest for this SEL, & higher for the Armidale District.

Farm viability1. Farmer succession

Static, except for the Kyogle District where succession is decreasing as people move from farms into towns.

Decreasing primarily because of declining succession in the Grafton District where people are moving from farms into towns.

Decreasing primarily because of declining succession in the Kempsey District where people are moving from farms into towns.

Decreasing across all Districts.

2. Farm aggregation

Increasing whereby farms are getting larger heading away from the coast towards hinterland areas. Aggregation is in pursuit of improved cattle grazing & timber production. The exceptions are sugar cane & dairy which are aggregating closer to the coast, while horticulture is increasing in area as the number of farms increases.

Increasing whereby farms are getting larger heading away from coast towards hinterland areas. Aggregation is in pursuit of improved cattle grazing & timber production. The exceptions are sugar cane & dairy which are aggregating closer to the coast, while horticulture is increasing in area as the number of farms increases.

Increasing whereby farms are getting larger heading away from coast towards hinterland areas. Aggregation is in pursuit of improved cattle grazing & timber production. The exception is dairy which is aggregating closer to the coast, while horticulture is increasing in area as the number of farms increases.

Increasing whereby farms are the largest size in the Region & getting larger in pursuit of improved cattle & sheep grazing.

3. Land use diversification & intensification

Is the highest in the Region & is increasing towards the coast (& highest for the Murwillumbah & Lismore districts) with the development of more diverse, small acreage & multiple-enterprise businesses.



Is average for the Region (but is high for the Tenterfield District) & is increasing with the development of more diverse, traditional forms of agriculture (based on irrigated fruit & vegetable production), but with less multiple enterprise.

4. Market forces Has the lowest impact on this SEL because of high industry diversification, cheaper transport costs, closer proximity to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane).

Has a medium impact on this SEL because of relatively less industry diversification, expensive transport costs, further distance to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney).

Has a high impact on this SEL because of relatively less industry diversification, more expensive transport costs, further distance to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney).

Has the highest impact on this SEL because of relatively less industry diversification, more expensive transport costs, further distance to markets, production & marketing centres (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney). Tenterfield District is the exception because it is close to Brisbane.

Industry viability Viability is highest in this SEL & increasing given high farm numbers & farm viability, particularly in the Murwillumbah & Lismore Districts.



Viability is lowest in this Landscape & static to increasing given average farm numbers & farm viability. Note that the Tenterfield District has the highest industry viability which corresponds with its higher farm viability.

Community values & expectations

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, mining, private native forestry, climate change impacts—e.g. sea level rise).

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, mining, private native forestry climate change impacts—e.g. sea level rise, floods).

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, mining, private native forestry, climate change impacts—e.g. sea level rise, floods).

Is increasing across the SEL in response to a range of existing & emerging environmental issues (e.g. coal seam gas extraction, windmill farms, mining, private native forestry, climate change impacts—e.g. wildfire, floods).

Climate change & variability




The negative impacts are increasing (e.g. drought, wildfire) but are less severe owing to the absence of coastal impacts. Potential impacts also include an influx of people moving to avoid more extreme climates, & producers moving towards more favourable production environments.

Invasive species Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have the highest risk of invasion given the number of high risk pathways; high rural population; high transport from outside the SEL; moderate movement of rural machinery; increasing volume of commercial and recreational vessel movements (including recreational fishing and tourism), many high value natural assets; & good climate for weed growth.

Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have a high risk of invasion given the mix of dense & sparse high risk pathways; moderate to high transport frequency; moderate movement of rural machinery; recreational and other commercial equipment (including between waterways), high diversity of land uses; significant remote areas.

Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have a high risk of invasion given the mix of dense & sparse high risk pathways; moderate to high transport frequency; moderate movement of rural machinery, recreational and other commercial equipment (including between waterways); high diversity of land uses; significant remote areas.

Are increasing in distribution & abundance & have a high risk of invasion given the medium density of high risk pathways; high movement of stock, fodder, farm equipment, recreational and other commercial equipment (including between waterways), produce; more modified land providing seed source & opportunity for weed establishment.

Infrastructure & technology

Is increasing with significant improvement to transport routes providing greater accessibility to the SEL, with the exception of the Kyogle District.

Is increasing with significant improvement to transport routes providing greater accessibility to the SEL & the imminent introduction of NBN.

Is increasing with improvement to transport routes providing greater accessibility to the SEL.

Is increasing with the newly introduced NBN providing easier & faster communication with the outside world for business & social purposes.

Government directions & policies




Is significant given that there is existing & new policy that relates to the SEL’s growth & development (e.g. carbon market, wind farms).

Community capacity

Overall has average capacity, & higher capacity for the Kyogle & Murwillumbah Districts (trends to be determined).

Overall has average capacity, & higher capacity for the Grafton District (trends to be determined).

Overall has average capacity (trends to be determined). Overall has average to lower capacity, & higher for the Guyra District (trends to be determined).

Natural resource health

Overall has lower health that is declining, but aquatic health is higher & increasing.

Overall has higher health that is declining, but higher compared with the other SELs for rivers, estuaries, biodiversity, coastal & marine.

Overall has average health, with high biodiversity health, low marine health, & average health for estuaries, rivers, soils, wetlands & coastal environments.

Overall has higher health that is increasing. Soil, river & wetland health are increasing, while biodiversity health is static.





connectivity with the coastal hinterlands and tablelands. There are only a very few places in the Region where Coastal Landscapes are connected by major roads to the New England Tableland SE Landscape (see CAP2 Figure 1).

The installation of the National Broadband Network (NBN) has commenced in Coffs Harbour, and will be fully operational in Grafton in around three years time. The Network is currently available in Armidale. This technology will allow for a faster and more efficient information exchange; allowing greater business and social networking. The NBN will be a significant drawcard for those wanting to run a business away from a major regional centre.

Community capacity varies

Community capacity to undertake on-ground NRM activities (e.g. weed removal, riverbank restoration etc.) is critical to maintaining the resilience of natural resources. Our community capacity maps (see Appendix B) capture the patchy distribution of capacity across the Region and within the four SE Landscapes.

The Northern, Central, Southern and Tableland SE Landscapes have fairly similar community capacity. Enhancing the capacity of local communities to cope with change is fundamental to influencing the transformation of SE Landscape identity.

A Region of exceptionally high natural value

The character of the Northern Rivers Region has evolved in response to the environmental and economic development influences over the past 150 years. From the early timber getting and agricultural beginnings to the more recent alternative lifestylers and sea/tree changers, the environment has always been a major influence on the communities and economy of the Region.

The Northern Rivers Region is the most biologically diverse region in New South Wales and the third most diverse in Australia. Each landscape encompasses a variety of significant natural values and features.

Northern SE Landscape

•MtWarningcalderaandBorderRangessupporting World Heritage rainforest. Volcanic ranges and plateaus supporting remnants of the Big Scrub rainforest and culturally significant places.

•MajorriverbasinsincludingtheTweed,Brunswick, Richmond and upper Clarence.

•CapeByronMarinePark.

Central SE Landscape

•OneofthefewplaceswheretheGreatDividing Range and Great Escarpment connect to the coastal plain. Dorrigo Plateau and associated World Heritage rainforest, New England Wilderness and rich basaltic soils.

•MajorriversystemsincludingtheLowerClarence (the largest system in coastal NSW), and the Bellinger/Kalang system.

•SolitaryIslandsMarinePark.

Southern SE Landscape

•LimeburnersWildernessAreaonthecoast north of Port Macquarie—the only coastal wilderness area in the Region.

•WerrikimbeandOxleyWildRiverswilderness areas and other reserved areas contributing to a third of the Landscape being in the protected area network.

•LordHoweIslandMarinePark.

Tableland SE Landscape

•Montanelakesandlagoons,includingLittle Llangothlin Ramsar wetland.

•Rollingwoodlandhillsandpocketsof productive, basaltic agricultural landscapes.

Declining natural resource health

Despite its exceptional natural values, the Region’s biodiversity is at risk. It suffers from a suite of threats—historical land clearing for agriculture, timber harvesting, increase in fishing efforts, infrastructure and urban development, inappropriate fire regimes. It is now threatened by the impacts of high population growth, development pressures, climate variability and extreme events, invasive species (both terrestrial and aquatic) and inappropriate land management practices.

These threats have had a significant impact on catchment condition and production sustainability which is reflected in the health of our soils, biodiversity, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and coastal and marine environments. The legacy of past practices will remain for some time despite a major emphasis on uptake of sustainable land practices in more recent times.

Invasive species are generally increasing across the Region. The risk of invasion is increased due to our highly favourable climate for weed growth; our large number of high risk pathways (e.g. roads, rivers and sea); our large rural population; the high frequency of transport from outside the Region (by road and sea); and moderate movement of rural machinery, vessels and vehicles. We have many high value natural assets and so the consequences of invasion can be catastrophic.

While a significant portion of the Region is within protected areas (i.e. national parks, marine parks and nature reserves), not all vegetation communities, types and ecological processes are well represented in the reserve system. For many threatened species and communities, significant habitat areas occur on private land.

Protected areas on their own cannot conserve all of our biodiversity, habitats and ecosystem services or maintain landscapes and seascapes in an ecologically functional state. Private land conservation makes a significant and vital contribution to maintaining the health of our ecosystems. The role of private land conservation will become increasingly more important as climate change challenges our biodiversity and the significance of connectivity and resilience increases.

Climate variability and extreme climatic events

Climate variability will impact the whole Region, and extreme weather events and natural disasters in recent years (e.g. Tenterfield floods) highlight our vulnerability to the projected increase in more-intense climatic events including droughts, storms, floods, bushfire, storm surge, sea level rise and disease outbreaks.

The Coastal Landscapes are in the frontline in terms of dealing with coastal hazards



such as sea level rise, shoreline recession, beach erosion, flooding along urban streams, and coastal and marine waters inundation.

Sea level rise is virtually certain to have a substantial impact on estuarine and foreshore ecosystems. Sea level rise, increased temperatures and changes in hydrology and fire regimes are likely to have a substantial impact on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Vulnerable ecosystems include saline wetlands, low-lying coastal ecosystems and fragmented forests and woodlands in the hinterland.

Temperature rise is likely and the Region is likely to be drier, which might also result in an influx of people to the coasts in an effort to move away from more extreme events. Similarly, the importance of the Northern Rivers Region as a ‘food bowl’ may increase as the production potential of other regions declines in the face of climate change.

A Region of villages and strong expectations

The Northern Rivers Region is a highly valued place to live, a place for lifestyle change and retirement. Much of the Region’s population lives on the coast in villages, smaller communities, hamlets and rural areas, characterised by lifestyle diversity.

The people of the Region have a strong sense of place driven by our enjoyment of the beautiful coastline, natural and rural landscapes, wilderness areas and the coastal and rural towns and villages that we live in. We appreciate and value the variety of people who live in our area and the variety of views and opinions they hold.

Our vibrant culture, combined with our diversity of land uses and the outstanding natural values attracts domestic and international travellers. The Northern SE Landscape has the strongest international tourism industry in the Region.

The Aboriginal communities in the Coastal and Tableland Landscapes are increasingly moving towards self-sustaining communities, partly through their connection to Country and their increasing involvement and interest in NRM and land management and ownership. CAP2 will

contribute to this move by consolidating ongoing support structures and programs to assist Aboriginal engagement in NRM.

Our communities, with their strong attachments to their SE Districts have clear perceptions and high expectations of what industries and NRM activities should occur within their Districts. They are protective of the places in which they live, their lifestyles and the values that their Districts hold. They are strongly focussed on maintaining and improving landscape qualities.

One example are those communities in areas potentially affected by coal seam gas exploration and extraction that have clearly expressed their concerns about potential changes to biodiversity, amenity and water quality values associated with non-renewable resource production.

resilieNCe of the se laNdsCaPes

The resilience of the Region overall and of the four SE Landscapes to the drivers of change is related to a suite of attributes that cut across our NRM community. These attributes include the ability to:

•selforganise,showleadership,succession plan, coordinate activities and utilise social networks

•respondtoashort-termcrisis

•makedecisionsandmeasuretheoutcomes at appropriate scales and times

•exploreoptionsandbeinnovative

•takeadvantageoftheoptionsprovidedby the diversity of social, cultural, economic and ecological systems

•takeadvantageofoverlapsinadministrative and governance systems and processes.

A preliminary assessment of these attributes for the Region and SE Landscapes reveals that the resilience of our NRM community has increased across the Region over the years, however, this resilience varies across our SE Landscapes. Note that this resilience does not include the capacity of our communities to

undertake NRM activities. The trends suggest that:

•allSELandscapeshavecapacitytodealwith change

•resiliencewillincreaseacrossallSELandscapes in the future

•theNewEnglandTablelandandNorthern SE Landscapes have higher resilience to cope with change than that of the Central and Southern SE Landscapes.

Improving understanding of our capacity for self reflection will be a key element of the Adaptation Strategy.

se laNdsCaPe ideNtity

A suite of key traits provide an understanding of how the SE Landscapes vary and help define their identity. The comments on community capacity and natural resource health below are based on information contained within Technical paper no. 1 [see supporting information # 8].

Northern

Traits that set the Northern SE Landscape apart include:

•higherandsignificantpopulationgrowthwhich is largely driven by lifestyler movement suggesting that it is a higher amenity SE Landscape

•higherproductionandfarmviabilitycharacterised by intensification, aggregation and diversification of land use

•highlyconnectedtosouth-eastQueensland and its services

•higherlandpricesbecauseofcompetingland uses and proximity to Gold Coast and Brisbane

•smallertownstothewestindecline

•naturalresourcesareforthemostpartinlower health and declining, but aquatic health is higher and increasing

•averagecommunitycapacitytoundertake NRM activities

•higherresiliencetocopewithchange.



Central

Central SE Landscape traits include:

•averagegrowth,particularlyonthecoast which is largely driven by lifestyler movement

•averageproductionandfarmviabilitycharacterised by more traditional agricultural and forest industries

•averageconnectiontosouth-eastQueensland and its services, but improving in the near future

•averagelandpricesbecauseoffewercompeting land uses

•smallertownstothewestindecline

•naturalresourcesareforthemostpartinhigher health and declining, but higher compared with the other SE Landscapes for rivers, estuaries, biodiversity, and coastal and marine environments


•averageresiliencetocopewithchange.

Southern

The traits that describe the identity of the Southern SE Landscape include:

•averagegrowth,particularlyonthecoast which is largely driven by lifestyler movement

•lowerproductionandfarmviabilityinline with the grazing industries

•lowerlandprices

•naturalresourcesareforthemostpartin average health, with high biodiversity health, low marine health, and average health for estuaries, rivers, soils, wetlands and coastal systems.


•averageresiliencetocopewithchange.

New England Tableland

The traits that identify the New England Tableland SE Landscape include:

•lowertostaticgrowthasthepopulationgets older and younger people leave

•averageproductionandfarmviabilitydriven by higher aggregation but lower diversification

•lowerlandprices

•naturalresourcesareforthemostpartinhigher health that is increasing; soil, river and wetland health are increasing, while biodiversity health is static

•averagetolowercommunitycapacitytoundertake NRM activities

•higherresiliencetocopewithchange.


aCroNyms

CAP catchment action plan

CAP2 Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan 2013–2023

CMA catchment management authority

MERI monitoring, evaluation, reporting, improvement

MER monitoring, evaluation and reporting

NBN National Broadband Network

NRM natural resource management

SE Landscape Socio-ecological Landscape

SE District Socio-ecological District

SoE state of the environment




list of suPPortiNg doCumeNtatioN

# 1 CAP2 All-of-government Reference Group

# 2 Evaluation of the 2005 Northern Rivers CAP

# 3 NRM plans and policies relevant to CAP2

# 4Technical paper no. 4: Natural resource health and community capacity state and transition models of the Northern Rivers Region

# 5 Northern Rivers ‘Regional state of the environment report 2012’

# 6‘Eco-civic’ optimisation: A nested framework for planning and managing landscapes (Brunckhorst, Coop & Reeve 2006)

# 7 High resolution PDF versions of the health and capacity maps

7a General community capacity

7b Aboriginal community capacity

7c Combined landscape health

7d Biodiversity health profile

7e Coastal health profile

7f Rivers, estuaries and marine health profile

7g Soil health profile

7h Wetland health profile

7i Socio-ecological Landscapes

# 8Technical paper no. 1: Systems, resilience, models and maps – the new approaches for CAP2 in the Northern Rivers Region

# 9Technical paper no. 2. Estimation of natural resource health and community capacity for the subcatchments of the Northern Rivers Region

# 10 Technical paper no. 3. An analysis of the Socio-ecological Landscapes of the Northern Rivers Region


maP disClaimer

refereNCes

For a detailed technical report on the processes used to develop the maps see supporting information # 9. It is important to note that while the maps of subcatchment health scores and community capacity scores are based on best available information, they are indicative only. Scores need verifying in the field using on-ground assessment processes.

Note that these maps can only be used as indicators of capacity at this point in time. The intention is to periodically update these maps.

All maps in this catchment action plan have been compiled from various sources and the publisher and/or contributors accept no responsibility for any injury, loss or damage arising from their use, or errors, or omissions therein. While care is taken to ensure a high degree of accuracy, users are invited to notify the Information Sciences Manager, Office of Environment and Heritage, and Catchment Officer Data Analysis, Northern Rivers CMA of any map discrepancies.

© Copyright New South Wales Government All Rights Reserved. No part of these maps may be reproduced without written permission. These maps have been compiled from data supplied by the Office of Environment & Heritage, NSW.

© Base cadastre data supplied by NSW Department of Lands. Includes material © CNES 2004/2005, reproduced under license from Spot Image, all rights reserved.

The coordinate system on these maps is the Map Grid of Australia zone 56, using the Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94). Some published topographic maps still use the map datum AGD66. Coordinates on this map (GDA94) will be in a different location on a published AGD66 topographic map.

Australian Government 2012, Caring for our Country – An outline for the future 2013–2018, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Brunckhorst, D.J., Coop, P. and Reeve, I. 2006, ‘Eco-Civic’ Optimisation: A Nested Framework for Planning and Managing Landscapes, Landscape and Urban Planning, 75: 265-281.

Department of Premier and Cabinet 2011, NSW 2021 – A plan to make NSW number one, NSW Government, Sydney.

Natural Resources Commission 2005, Guide to using the standard for quality natural resource management – A guide for CMAs, Natural Resources Commission, Sydney.

Natural Resources Commission 2012, Framework for assessing and recommending upgraded catchment action plans, Natural Resources Commission, Sydney.

NRCMA—see Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority.

Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority 2012, 'Regional state of the environment 2012', Northern Rivers CMA, Grafton.

Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority 2005, Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan, Northern Rivers CMA, Grafton.


www.northern.cma.nsw.gov.au

NortherN rivers

CatChmeNt aCtioN PlaN

2013–2023

CAP2

APRIL 2013

SETTING THE DIRECTION FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN RIVERS REGION

northern rivers catchment action plan...

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