Natural Heritage - Number 25
The Journal of the Natural Heritage Trust
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia
Department of the Environment and Heritage, Spring 2005
ISSN 1440-7256
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About this document
Australia is the driest inhabited continent - even though some areas have annual rainfall of 1200 millimetres. Sunny days and clear skies are not necessarily a good forecast for our environment.
Drought has become a way of life. This edition of Natural Heritage shows how resilient Australians are in dealing with - and surviving - drought.
Near Harden, New South Wales, some 20 farmers invested Natural Heritage Trust funds in more than 13,000 trees and shrubs to replace those lost to drought.
In Tasmania’s Derwent and Fingal Valleys 147 landholders used $920,000 from the Natural Heritage Trust to help protect more than 19,000 hectares of dry hill country from erosion.
These actions are commendable given that during the long dry, those on the land feel it most. Agriculture can be hit hard and eventually, everyone feels the heat.
We all face depleted dams, rivers and lakes. For farmers, drought disrupts cropping programmes, reduces breeding stock and threatens the capital and resource base of farming enterprises.
There is a risk of serious environmental damage, especially through vegetation loss and soil erosion. Water quality suffers, land is degraded and native plants and animals are threatened. Other hazards to follow include bushfires and dust storms.
By accepting that droughts are a recurring natural hazard of the Australian environment, we can prepare. The National Water Initiative, signed by the Prime Minister and premiers of all State and Territory Governments in 2004, outlines the key areas that are critical to water reform. This includes the removal of institutional barriers to trade in water.Water trading systems will have the widest possible geographic scope and will not be restricted to within catchment areas.
In early 2002, the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council established the Living Murray in response to substantial evidence that the health of the River Murray system was in decline. Its first step is to return the River Murray to the status of a healthy working river. The Living Murray is an initiative of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and is a $500 million partnership of the Australian, New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian and ACT Governments.
A further investment by the Australian Government is the $2 billion Australian Water Fund, which will invest in water infrastructure, improved water management and better practices in the stewardship of Australia’s scarce water resources. As part of this investment, $200 million will be available over the next five years for community grants of up to $50,000 to save and protect water resources through practical on-the-ground work.
More recently, the Australian Government has announced the latest successful applicants in the $20 million special ‘Drought Recovery Round’ of Envirofund.
These successful projects will help protect our natural resources from the drought, assist with recovery preparations and attempt to prevent environmental damage when the drought ends.
Senator Ian Campbell
Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Peter McGauran
Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
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