Tamar Region NRM

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

Tamar NRM in northern Tasmania is an independent not-for-profit natural resource management group which brings together a wide range of community, landcare, education, business, Local and State Government representatives. Tamar NRM is built upon a strong history of landcare and grass-roots involvement in environmental and agricultural issues in the Tamar Region. Tamar NRM is recognised nationally as being at the forefront of the maturing community-NRM and landcare sector.

Formed in 1998 to prepare the Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy (1999, updated 2001 and 2007) it was a case-study for the development of a regional approach to natural resource management in Tasmania. Encompassing the Launceston City, West Tamar and George Town municipalities Tamar NRM plays an active role in encouraging, supporting, promoting and managing a wide range of activities aimed at ensuring our Tamar Valley is an attractive and prosperous place to live and work based on a healthy environment.

Addressing the priority issues and actions defined in the NRM Strategy our focus is on co-ordination, pooling of resources and working together. Our activities are principally aimed at enhancing rural and urban community involvement in natural resource management and forming positive community, government, business and industry partnerships in a pro-active, non-confrontational and non-political manner. This includes practical activities in the areas of ecological sustainable development, agricultural sustainability, environmental management and community capacity building.

Since the end of 2000 Tamar NRM has attracted nearly $6M of funding into the Region to implement a range of projects. Some projects are directly managed by Tamar NRM or as part of a consortium.

This includes activities in the areas of:

On-ground landcare works;
Community and landholder education, awareness and training;
Knowledge (resource condition studies and management planning);
Co-ordination, management, monitoring and evaluation; and
Support to the wider NRM network in the Northern Tasmanian region.

OUR FUTURE

With the three Councils of the Tamar Region resourcing Tamar NRM’s operations and key staff until at least 2005, Tamar NRM look’s forward to a bright future. Our future and that of community Landcare and NRM in the Tamar, lies in forming ongoing partnerships between the community with all levels of Government, private industry and the business community (the private sector).

As such a Corporate Plan is currently in development to help facilitate our future directions, activities and resourcing and a move to a more professional business-like approach.

Tamar NRM’s mission is

" To deliver practical Natural Resource Management solutions and partnerships for the Tamar Community based on sound information"

Our Mission is defined by our organisational objectives of

Tamar NRM operates with leadership within regional NRM processes in Tasmania and Australia;
Tamar NRM is a mentor for community landcare and NRM groups in our region;
Tamar NRM delivers NRM services for the regional community, Government, institutional and industry partners; and
Tamar NRM implements an effective and co-ordinated package of actions to address regional priorities and to achieve outcomes consistent with the community’s vision for the Tamar Region.

Recent changes to the way the Australian and Tasmanian Governments deliver natural resource management funding and programs mean that the Tamar Region now forms both a geographic sub-region and is a member of the larger Northern Tasmanian Regional Natural Resource Management Association or NRM North (click in the LINKS page for more information).

Consistent with our organisational objectives, Tamar NRM is supporting the Northern Tasmanian Regional NRM Strategy process and will continue to advocate for and support the Tamar community in this process.

OUR CURRENT MEMBERSHIP

The Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy Reference Group Inc. currently includes up to 40 representatives from the stakeholder groups listed below. The role of the Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy Reference Group Inc. (known as Tamar NRM) is to "oversee the development and implementation of the Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy."

Representation on the Reference Group is drawn from:

Launceston City Council
George Town Council
West Tamar Council
Landcare Groups of Tasmania
Tertiary Education Institutions
Private Forests of Tasmania
Education/Schools
Business and Industry
Department of Primary Industries and Water
Department of Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts, Parks and Wildlife Service
Launceston Environment Centre
Tamar Valley Branch of TFGA
Local Residents, Community Members and Other Organisations

The business and affairs of organisation are overseen by a Management Committee of 13 with an independent President. The Management Committee members are:

Mr Ian Sauer, President and Local Residents, Community Members and Other Organisations Representative
Mr Ian Dickenson, Vice-President and Local Residents, Community Members and Other Organisations Representative
Ms Sarahjane Lee, Interim George Town Council Representative
Mr Ian Abernethy, Treasurer and Launceston City Council Representative
Mr Michael Purves, West Tamar Council Representative
Mr Arthur Lyons, Secretary and Private Forests of Tasmania Representative
Mr Brett Hooper, Tamar Valley Branch of the TFGA Representative
Ms Donna Stanley, Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of Tourism, Heritage Parks and the Arts) Representative
Mr Howard Nichol, Launceston Environment Centre Representative
Mr John Pitt, Business & Industry Representative
Dr Greg Unwin, Tertiary Education Institutions Representative
Mr David Keast, Local Residents, Community Members and Other Organisations Representative
Mr Brian Baxter, Landcare Groups of Tasmania Representative

WORKING GROUPS

A number of priority issue working groups have operated since the development of the Strategy. They meet as need arises to examine relevant NRM issues, formulate actions and projects and to provide recommendations and oversee actions and projects to implement the Strategy. Importantly the Working Groups provide a means for allowing wider community member and expert input into the implementation of the Strategy.

Current active working groups include:

Air Quality – Chaired by Dr Jim Markos
Weeds – Chaired by Hugh Mackinnon
George Town Coastal Management Plan – Chaired by Alternate Chairperson
Smart Living – Chaired by Sue Zichy-Woinarski

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy ?

The Tamar Region Natural Resource Management (NRM) Strategy encompasses the principles and commitment of natural resource management on a regional level. The Strategy was developed by the Tamar Region NRM Strategy Reference Group in 1999 and updated in 2001 after broad consultation within the Region.

The Tamar Region NRM Strategy identified the priority issues identified in the Tamar Region. Goals, actions and activities to address these issues also form part of the Strategy. The priority issues identified in the Strategy are:

water quality
Lack of knowledge, research & education about biodiversity
Nuisance fauna & flora
Loss of native vegetation
Adverse sedimentation impacts on the Tamar Estuary & North Esk River
Unsustainable land use
Conflicting demands for water & seasonal variations in water availability
Habitat loss, modification & isolation & its impact on biodiversity
Particulate & gaseous emissions
Solid waste management

During 2000 the stakeholders of the region developed action plans for each priority issues and we are now undertaking activities and further developing our community-government partnerships in project development.

There are a variety of means to implement the strategy which includes activities such as: on ground works, compilation of existing data and studies, education and awareness, integration of priority issues into Council and State Government strategic planning processes, operational plans and budget allocations.

The main focus is based on co-ordination, pooling resources and working together to ensure that the Strategy will deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to the Region, the underlying principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development.

How was the Tamar Region NRM Strategy formed?

The Tamar Region NRM Strategy was formed in 1999 as an outcome of a Case Study in sustainable natural resource management for Tasmania. In June 1998 expressions of interest were sought from Local Councils, State Agencies, Community Groups and Industry to nominate a suitable multi-council area.

Following a rigorous selection process against the selection criteria, the Tamar Region was selected as the case study area. The Tamar Region is represented by the Municipal areas of Launceston City, West Tamar and Georgetown Councils.

A Reference Group was established to oversee the development and implementation of the Strategy. The group played a vital role in ensuring integration and coordination of NRM activities. The Reference Group role was to provide the Region with a forum for discussion and information exchange about important natural resource issues; to provide opportunities to work co-operatively towards meeting agreed objectives and to provide for an integrated consensus-based approach to potentially divisive environmental issues. The Strategy was produced after wide consultation with the community to identify issues of concern, group these issues and finally rank priority issues affecting the Tamar Region. Once the priority issues were agreed, goals, actions and activities where developed at a Public Workshop and via Working Groups. The first edition of the Tamar Region NRM was published in 1999. A second edition including more detailed Action Plans was published in May 2001.

How were the priority issues established?

One hundred and eighty six natural resource management issues were identified through the issues paper, community consultation and comments received. These were further grouped into 72 issues under the five themes: Atmosphere, Inland waters and Wetlands; Land; Coastal, Estuarine & Marine and Biodiversity identified in the State of the Environment Report 1996.

The 72 issues obtained through the issues paper, community consultation and comments received were consolidated by the Reference Group at a workshop. The goal of the workshop was to reduce the list of 72 issues to around 20 or less for the prioritisation process.

While the five themes of the State of the Environment Report was a useful starting point, many issues such as water quality and weeds cut across multiple thematic areas. In cases such as this, issues were grouped under the heading "common to all themes". It was important that the issues were not trivialised or lost through the grouping process. It became evident during the process that many single issues were expressed in a variety of different ways.

The method used for grouping the issues were:

Break into small groups of not more that eight people
Provide each group with a list of issues
Ask the group to combine any similar issues and in so doing reduce the number of overall issues to a manageable number
It is important during this process to ensure that no single issue is lost
Each issue must be described and defined
It is essential that everyone has the same understanding of what the issue is, its meaning and how it affects the Region.

Following this grouping the 72 issues were then grouped into 17. These 17 were then ranked by environmental, economic and social ratings, which determined the top 10 priority issues for the Region.

Who are the Stakeholders of the Tamar Region NRM and what is their role?

The Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Reference Group Inc comprises up to 40 members of the Tamar Region. The role of the Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy Reference Group is to:

" Oversee the development and implementation of the Tamar Region Natural Resource Management Strategy."

The Tamar Region NRM Strategy which was first published in May 1999 identified an NRM vision for the Region as:

" An attractive and prosperous place to live and work based on a healthy environment."

Refer to the Our Strategy section for more information.

How is the Strategy being implemented?

Since 2000 the priorities and key actions of the Strategy are being implemented via a range of projects and activities involving Tamar NRM, the community and various other project partners. Projects are undertaken in the key areas of On Ground Works, Knowledge, Education & Awareness and Co-ordination & Management. Other organisations and institutions are often responsible or have a role to play in implementing some of the actions identified in the Strategy, e.g. local and State Governments and in this case Tamar NRM’s role is to encourage, support and monitor their progress. For more information refer to the PROJECTS page.

How can I become involved?

Individuals, groups and stakeholders can be involved with the implementation of the Tamar Region NRM through: on ground project activities, membership in working groups of each priority issue; via Reference Group membership, attending educational activities and monitoring of natural resource issues such as biodiversity and water quality monitoring.