Natural Heritage - Number 31
The Journal of the Natural Heritage Trust
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia
Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Autumn 2007
ISSN 1440-7256
PDF file
About this document
Australia's environment benefits significantly from a network of people who work on the ground with communities and stakeholders to protect our natural resources.
These "facilitators" help Australians with a regional approach to protecting our land and water. Together we've moved from a grant-based system to one that operates on a national scale with regional partnerships and strategic planning. This is a world-first.
More often than not facilitators work in the background, forging new partnerships between stakeholders, connecting knowledge, people and programmes and helping others to turn policies into on-ground action.
The Australian Government supports a network of more than 700 facilitators and just as natural resource management activities are diverse in different parts of the country, so are our facilitators.
In Queensland's Torres Strait, Miya Isherwood (page 2) travels by dinghy or light aircraft to support work on the 17 inhabited islands, spanning culturally and geographically distinct communities.
Miya is one of 65 Regional Facilitators helping to deliver the $3 billion Natural Heritage Trust and $1.4 billion National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. Regional Facilitators work with regional bodies to take advantage of funding opportunities such as Community Water Grants and Envirofund, as well as assisting with activities to improve natural resources in their area.
Thirteen Indigenous officers are working to help Indigenous Australians to address their land management needs and contribute to national objectives.
Queensland's Cliff Cobbo (page 7) involves traditional owners and Indigenous interests in natural resource management. Within Cliff's area there are more than 100 traditional owner groups, each with diverse aspirations for what they want to do 'on country'.
Eight Local Government Facilitators - one based in each State and Territory - engage local governments in regional planning and activities to get the best natural resource management (NRM) outcomes for their area.
Another 30 Australian Government officers work at a State and Territory level on bush, land, coastal and river management. Their role is to help all those involved to understand the national vision for NRM and to provide feedback to policy makers.
Given Australia's 56 regions have different priorities and plans for what they want to achieve in NRM, facilitators play a vital role in the protection and sustainability of our natural resources.
Their success lies in strong communication, ensuring community ownership, recognising volunteers as partners and understanding cross-cultural issues. Their reward is enduring partnerships and on-ground results.
Malcolm Turnbull
Australian Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
Peter McGauran
Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
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