About the Northern Rivers CMA
Who are we ?
The Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority (Northern Rivers CMA) is one of thirteen CMAs established under the Catchment Management Authorities Act 2003 and is is a statutory authority. In operation since January 2004, the Northern Rivers CMA has a Board composed of 7 members of the northern rivers community reporting directly to the Minister for the Environment and Climate Change. Established to engage regional communities in natural resource management, the CMA has a number of specific roles outlined under the CMA Act. It also has responsibilities under the Native Vegetation Act 2003 and Regulations 2005 and operates within a range of other relevant legislation.
How do we operate ?
The buisness of the Northern Rivers CMA is largely guided by the Northern Rivers Catchment Action Plan, a statutory, non-regulatory, plan that guides priorities and investment in natural resource management the northern rivers region.
The development and implementation of a 10-year Catchment Action Plan (CAP) for the region is a key responsibility of the CMA. The Northern Rivers CAP is a strategic document enabling community-based sustainable management of natural resources within our catchments. It contains targets that guide investment in natural resource management projects and activities by the Northern Rivers CMA and partner organisations.
A number of other strategic plans and guidelines also provide overall direction for the organisation's activities, including the New South Wales State Plan, Northern Rivers CMA Strategic Plan, Northern Rivers CMA 2007/08 Investment Strategy, a suite of organisational investment priorities and Principles, New South Wales Standard for NRM and State and Australian Government Financial Head Agreements.
What is our strategic direction ?
The Northern Rivers CMA Strategic Plan, developed in 2005, focuses on engaging with the community to foster awareness of, and interest in, natural resource management across the region. The Strategic Plan identifies a number of objectives for the Northern Rivers CMA in developing a relationship with the community and in delivering on its role and responsibilities under the Catchment Management Authorities Act, 2003. These include to:
- Build and maintain public trust
- Encourage community ownership of NRM
- Implement Investment Strategies through projects and partnerships and to monitor progress on Targets and Investments
- Develop new Investment Funding Opportunities
- Ensure financial, legal and regulatory accountability
- Promote optimal staff management practices and an ethos in the Northern Rivers CMA team of service to the Northern Rivers community
- Share knowledge and experience with other CMAs across the State and regional bodies nationally
- Implement other Government NRM related initiatives as identified by the Minister
Many of the strategies and actions of the Strategic Plan have been implemented, with a number forming an ongoing part of the Northern Rivers CMA operations.
What is our approach to business ?
The Northern Rivers CMA takes an innovative approach to the delivery of its business by:
- Specifically targeting the development of partnerships with community organisations and other agencies to deliver NRM outcomes
- Regularly brokering relationships and funding partnerships between external stakeholders to achieve
- regional NRM outcomes
- Outsourcing the majority of funded NRM activities under contract, creating a dynamic and versatile regional NRM industry and additional capacity within the community for ongoing NRM delivery
- Operating as a communication and advisory point for NRM information exchange between, organisations, agencies and the community in general through the funding of locally-based
- Community Support officers employed by community non-government organisations (NGOs)
- Providing financial incentives to the community to participate in NRM which will also strengthen the social fabric of the communities
What were our key achievements for 2007/08 ?
- $1.29M of additional competitive funding was secured to further support regional NRM
- $10M was expended on community-based NRM projects in the Northern Rivers region
- 397 community groups/ projects were assisted
- 224 collaborative arrangements were negotiated
- 15 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Local Government were continued or renewed, and important research linkages with Southern Cross University, University of New England and the NSW DPI undertaken
- 10 Board field trips were undertaken involving direct interaction with the community
- 19 Community Support Officer positions were funded in local communities
- 589 awareness raising events with an audience of 13000 were delivered , with 577 written products distributed to 55939 people
- 414 skills development events comprising 5967 participant days were delivered
- 87 education events in 12 local government areas, with 9500 students were completed
- 3 specific activities incorporating Indigenous knowledge values and involvement were undertaken
- 451 media/ multimedia opportunities were delivered.
