30 May
2008
Dear
Colleague
In my
letter of 17 March 2008 and the ‘Burdekin Bites’
publication of that week I provided information based on our early
understanding of the Federal Government’s Caring for our
Country Programme (CfoC). A copy of that
letter is attached for ease of reference.
Since
that time we have gained a much better appreciation of the extent
of the difference between this new programme and previous National
Heritage Trust arrangements, and I would like to update you
regarding the impact of those changes on BDTNRM’s operational
capacity and its ability to deliver activities in
2008-2009.
Transition to the new
programme
As outlined in my previous letter, 2008-2009
is to be a transitional year in which BDTNRM will; finalise
delivery of NHT2 activities, receive a guaranteed minimum
allocation of CfoC funding, and be able to bid for further funding
from a ‘contestable’ component of the
programme. This latter component of the programme will
also provide the opportunity for non-government organisations,
regional bodies, Local Government and State, Territory and
Australian Government agencies to access a proportion of CfoC
programme funds to help achieve Government’s national
priorities.
In that regard, there has been a strong
message from Government to the effect that the level of partnership
and collaboration demonstrated will be an element of the assessment
of CfoC funding proposals. The importance of partnerships
has been borne out in the level of Australian Government support
for a collaborative approach to delivery of funding from the Reef
Rescue Plan component of CfoC. In that instance,
BDTNRM and the five other Reef Regional Bodies established a
partnership with Queensland’s Peak Agricultural Bodies and
the Australian Government for the purpose of delivering the Water
Quality and Healthy Partnerships components of that Plan. Further
information on the Reef Rescue Plan is available at
http://www.alp.org.au/download/071028___labors_reef_rescue_plan.pdf
Over the past 5 years BDTNRM has worked to
establish regional and cross regional partnerships, and we have
strengthened our capacity in a number of key NRM areas including
GIS, monitoring and evaluation, project management, communications,
finances and governance. We intend to continue building on
our strengths and work with our partners, neighbours and
stakeholders to secure funding to address NRM issues in this region
and achieve the best possible outcomes for that
investment.
Funding Levels for
2008-2009
Our
understanding is that CfoC transitional funding will be provided in
2008-2009 to all 56 Regional Bodies across Australia with the aim
of ensuring their financial viability and retention of capacity in
the short term, and to allow them to commence delivering against
the six national priority areas as they relate to the NRM
priorities for their Regions. There will also be an additional
component in 2008-2009 ($13.1m across the 56 Regions) to assist
transition to the new arrangements.
The Federal Government has said that in
2008-2009 it would be providing CfoC funding to each of the 56
Regional Bodies at 60% of historic funding levels and this was our
advice to you on 17 March. Since then we have learned that the 60%
allocation is based on the Federal component of NHT and NAPSWQ
funding provided into each of the 56 geographic Regions during the
past 7 years (i.e. it does not include any State
Government contribution to those programmes and is not directly
related to levels of funding to BDTNRM as a Regional
Body). Based on recent funding advice specific
to this region, the ‘60%’ allocation equates to
approximately 35% of the average annual levels of
funding to BDTNRM over the past 4 years.
State Government
participation
The Bligh Government's first State Budget has
provided $17.2 million in 2008-09 to continue regional natural
resource management programs across Queensland after federal
funding arrangements changed in March. Acting Natural Resources and
Water Minister Warren Pitt said that regional NRM bodies had gained
certainty for the future of their programs under the new
funding.
The federal Caring for our Country initiative
replaced the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality
and the Natural Heritage Trust programs, which cease on 30 June
2008. However, the Queensland Government will commit $17.2
million to an interim arrangement for continuing a regional NRM
program in 2008–09. The interim arrangements are designed to
provide certainty for staff and for ongoing management of contracts
and projects in the regions.
Mr Pitt said the Queensland Government was
committed to continuing in partnership with the Federal Government
to deliver regional NRM programs. The federal and state governments
will negotiate a bilateral agreement for co-operatively delivering
the new program in Queensland, together with a complementary
program of state investment, until the end of June 2013.
Burdekin Dry Tropics Regional Investment
Strategy
The NRM
priorities for the Burdekin Region for 2008-2009 are set out in the
BDT Regional Investment Strategy (RIS). This RIS has
been developed over the past 3 months by the Operations Team in
close consultation with over 100 stakeholders.
The team held seven workshops attended by representatives of
over 45 organisations - including state and federal agencies,
industry, NRM groups, Traditional Owners, land managers, science
and research organisations.
The Joint
Australian and Queensland Government Steering Committee which
oversees Regional arrangements in Queensland commended
BDTNRM’s RIS and recommended our program logic based
consultative process as a model for other regional
bodies.
I would
like to take the opportunity to thank all those who participated
and helped make our RIS such a success.
Investment Focus
The focus of
CfoC on national priorities is another significant difference
between that and past funding programmes, which centered around
strategic investment in Regional level priorities as detailed in a
Regional Investment Strategy (RIS) approved by State and Federal
Government Ministers. We are fortunate in this region in that there
is strong alignment between the national priorities and many of the
16 sub programmes around which the Burdekin RIS is
structured. The six national Caring for our Country
priorities are:
§
a
national reserve system,
§
biodiversity and natural icons,
§
coastal environments and critical aquatic
habitats,
§
sustainable farm practices,
§
natural resource management in remote and
northern Australia, and
§
community skills, knowledge and
engagement.
BDTNRM’s RIS sub programmes (not listed in any rank
order)
-
Managing pest plants and animals
-
Threatened habitats and endangered species
-
Restoring and maintaining habitat connectivity
-
Sustainable coastal development
-
Healthy coastal and marine ecosystems
-
Building community capacity and engagement in coastal
management
-
Integrated groundwater management in the lower Burdekin
-
Sustainable grazing land management
-
Sustainable agricultural land management
-
Restoring native fish passage throughout the Burdekin
region
-
Rehabilitation of priority wetlands in the lower
Burdekin
-
Supporting an integrated monitoring response for the Burdekin
WQIP
-
Supporting an effective and resilient NRM community
-
Fostering community engagement & participation
-
Valuing and building capacity for Traditional Owner management of
Land and Sea Country
-
Core operations
Sourcing other
Investment
During the
RIS development process it became clear that the community and our
delivery partners have an expectation that BDTNRM will continue to
function as a bridge between the Region’s diverse NRM
interests, and that it will continue to perform its strategic
Regional level NRM planning and coordination role. It is becoming
increasingly apparent that if the organization is to fulfill those
roles, and fully deliver on the strategic Regional objectives
detailed in the RIS, it must work to source funds from a broader
range of sources, including corporate and other non-government
investors. The organization is committed to this
action, and has included the issue in a review of its Corporate
Strategic Plan scheduled for late June.
I believe
that the RIS development process and document will prove to be a
critical factor in securing additional investment into the Burdekin
Region.
Impact on
BDTNRM’s operational capacity
Given the expected significant reduction of
investment in NRM activity in 2008-2009 compared with previous
years (approx $5m in 2006-2007 and $13m in 2007-2008) the
organization is in the process of reviewing its operational
staffing model and other expenses. At this time the employment
contracts of seven current members of staff will not be renewed at
30 June, and it is our intention to reduce core business and
operational expenditure to bring it in line with
income.
RIS funded activity
in 2008-2009
The work plan and milestone schedules in this
one year RIS assume a start of 1 July 2008. However, the
transitional funding discussed above will not deliver significant
levels of activity on-ground and we have been advised by
Government/s that decisions on allocations from the contestable
component of Caring for our Country will not be made until at least
September this year.
BDTNRM will need to revisit that work
plan and schedules when there is more certainty around those
allocations and their timing.
As soon as
possible we will be making information about our RIS and
operational activity programme for 2008/09 available on our website
www.bdtnrm.org.au
I
remain committed to keeping you informed as soon as further details
of the new programme come to light in what can only be described as
a difficult transitional period as Government priorities are
consolidated – a not unreasonable situation. In the meantime,
please contact Bob Frazer (CEO) or Scott Crawford (NRM Operations
Manager) if you have any questions.
Yours
sincerely,
Mark
Stoneman
CHAIR