COMMUNITY GRANTS
KNOWLEDGE, CAPACITY & ENGAGEMENT
Natural resource management draws on diverse types of land management knowledge, including scientific, Indigenous and community-based knowledge.
The major threat to Indigenous knowledge is that it will be lost if not actively used. Various factors can prevent the transfer of knowledge including lack of support and appropriate funding for outstation living and back to country trips. Because of the size of the Territory and the limited resources available, community action is fundamental to NRM. Valuing and utilising all forms of community knowledge is a direct way of empowering communities and engaging them more actively in NRM.
GOAL
Within ten years, all regions within the Northern Territory have an active group of NRM stakeholders who at least once a year review, analyse and adapt their work.
Capacity for NRM also depends on there being healthy communities and industries to provide a capable workforce with knowledge, skills, resources and motivation. The challenges in the NT include a small population base, great distances, lack of infrastructure and resources and climatic extremes. There are also issues in building and maintaining capacity because of stop-start funding, short-term projects and high turnover of personnel. Pastoral landcare groups have been central to assisting pastoralists to undertake conservation planning and management and provide access to information and networks. These groups operate under precarious funding arrangements. Overall capacity for NRM in the NT is limited by available funds as the NT receives a small proportion (relative to land managed) of the nation’s investment in natural resource management.
Approaches to NRM must recognise the interconnectedness of land, sea, coasts, freshwater systems, their biodiversity, their people and associated land uses. Working across tenures, across issues, jurisdictions and across different organisations is essential to success in tackling NRM issues. This program aims to build linkages and partnerships between the different sectors managing across the environment.
WHAT WE NEED TO DO
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Develop greater landscape and regional level direction to integrate and collaborate NRM activities and to strengthen networks and partnerships through regional forums and joint plans of action
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Secure ongoing and diversified resources supporting long-term and multi-tenure approaches aiming to strengthen Landcare and NRM networks promoting community and industry responsibility of NRM issues
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Support land managers to record and utilise TEK, scientific research and pastoral knowledge in NRM planning and activities through various knowledge exchange activities
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Conduct an ongoing review of NRM outcomes facilitating more rigorous assessment of NRM priorities leading to greater adaptive management in NRM and publish annual report card type documents based on multi-stakeholder review processes
HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS
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Number of landscape-scale multi-stakeholder workshops and impact of these on regional collaboration and partnerships in NRM
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Amount, diversification and duration of funding for NRM should be securing more long-term approaches to tackle long-term NRM issues
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Secured ongoing funding and participation levels in Aboriginal ranger and pastoral Landcare groups leading to permanent and sustainable structures tackling long-term landscape-scale NRM issues
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Number of stakeholders and level of engagement in NRM adaptive management and review workshops including researchers, decision-makers, land owners and land managers
REGIONAL PLANS FOR KNOWLEDGE, CAPACITY & ENGAGEMENT
There is a different emphasis relevant to its people, environments and industries for the four major regions in the Northern Territory.
Click on your region to see your regional plan for knowledge, capacity & engagement.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
The following are examples of key achievements and positive trends within the NRM sector towards achieving the goals in the NT NRM Plan.
Continued expansion of the Indigenous land and sea management programs.
Increase in the number of volunteer urban and pastoral Landcare groups in the Northern Territory.
Indigenous ecological projects contributing to intergenerational sharing of knowledge.