This State of the Region (SoR) study of the Burnett, Kolan, Burrum and Mary River catchments has been undertaken for the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Incorporated (BMRG). BMRG has responsibility, as part of the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and National Heritage Trust 2 initiatives, for developing an integrated regional natural resource management plan to tackle salinity, improve water quality and promote regional biodiversity.
The primarily desk based SoR study was initially focussed on determining what is known of the natural resource condition of the region and what are the main drivers which will or have effected change to that condition. With a few notable exceptions, the majority of what is known is project or thematic type knowledge – information and assessments assembled for a specific limited purpose or place. As a result significant gaps do exist.
In the latter stages of this review the study team has focussed on existing planning arrangements – in an attempt to determine the type of planning framework which would be most appropriate for using the known information to firstly develop an NRM plan and to then implement, monitor and evaluate such a plan. Whereas knowledge of condition trends is relatively complete, major gaps exist in the understanding of process links between land use, land management condition and trend and ultimately NRM outcomes. Whilst much of the planning is able to identify desirable NRM outcomes (eg reduction in nutrient loads) translating these outcomes into intervention strategies that can be sustained at the land user level requires a clear understanding of process.
Until and unless the key process understanding gaps are filled, regional NRM interventions run the risk of being largely project and site specific based, focussing on the most obvious locations of degradation as opposed to the highest priority in terms of overall impacts.
The final stages of the study focussed on refining a planning framework and identifying potential stakeholder and partnership arrangements which will facilitate NRM plan development and implementation.