Our Catchment Our Communities
First Integrated Catchment Management strategy in Victoria 2016-19
The Victorian Government is continuing Action 3.3 from Water for Victoria – Invest in integrated catchment management. CMAs have engaged key partners, Traditional Owners and the community, finalising ten Regional Catchment Strategies (RCSs) across Victoria.
CMAs have also been delivering on the ground, improving stewardship for catchment health and resilience. Stewardship projects protect our environment including waterways, coasts, forests, and biodiversity at the catchment scale. This work demonstrates how good stewardship of our natural resources provides key services to the Victorian community especially as Victoria opens to visit places of natural beauty and our mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and beaches.
New projects commencing planning and engagement in June 2021 have already delivered 164 hectares of active stewardship in partnership with the catchment sector, Traditional Owners, and the community. This work includes changed land management practices, pest management, fencing and revegetation alongside other key environmental management actions across Victoria. Funding is also provided to continue to develop and support active partnerships and build capacity within agencies, industry, Traditional Owners, and the broader catchment community to develop and implement RCSs.
Integrated catchment management
Integrated catchment management recognises that land, water and biodiversity are all part of a connected environment that spans from the top of a catchment down to the coast and related marine environments. It acknowledges the intrinsic values of our environment and that healthy catchments underpin regional economies and provide social and recreational benefits for the community.
Our Vision
Healthy, sustainable and productive land, water and biodiversity maintained through integrated catchment management that is strongly community based, regionally focused and collaborative.
Our Goals and Actions
Through Our Catchment, Our Communities, we will work towards:
- Effective community engagement in catchment management
- Better connections between state, regional and local planning
- Strengthened implementation of regional catchment strategies
The strategy's 10 actions to achieve these goals:
- Strengthen the diversity and equity of community representation in the catchment and land protection advisory system
- Strengthen community engagement in regional planning and implementation
- Ensure alignment between state, regional and local plans that impact on land, water, biodiversity and regional catchment strategies
- Incorporate key improvements for integrated catchment management in the next round of Regional Catchment Strategies
- Implement an investment framework that supports the coordination and accountability for the delivery of regional catchment strategy priorities
- Improve regional investment processes to strengthen the engagement of regional partners in priority setting, allocation of funds and leveraging
- Improve accountability of catchment management partners
- Strengthen coordination between key catchment management partners
- Improve state and regional catchment reporting
- Ensure the evidence base, including research and development, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting, supports and informs planning and adaptive management.
Download a copy of the UPDATED Our Catchments Our Communities Strategic Directions Statement