The Australian Government will invest billions of dollars in conservation, land management and the Great Barrier Reef following the federal budget announcement, made by Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week.
While exact program details are yet to be made public, we know that funding has been allocated through the Natural Heritage Trust, and specifically to programs focussed on threatened species, World Heritage sites and Ramsar wetlands, Indigenous Protected Areas, Landcare Rangers, sustainable agriculture, the Saving Native Species program, and urban rivers and catchments.
Queensland’s NRM sector is ready to deliver on these priorities.
Chris Norman is the CEO of NRM Regions Queensland and he said the return on investment from government funding of natural resource management is significant.
“We know that for every dollar of state funding in Queensland, we leverage another $4.20. Return on investment for federal government funding is no different.”
“The fact we are able to leverage such a high return on investment is testament to the strong community support we have for our programs, as well as the commitment our communities have to the regional natural resource management plans they helped develop.”
“Investing in natural resource management is good for the planet and good for society,” Chris said. “So I applaud the strong investment in protecting the natural environment made in this budget.”
“Queensland’s 12 regional NRM organisations are focussed on improving the natural assets that underpin our quality of life,” Chris said. “We do this work by collaborating with landcare groups, the agricultural sector, and with governments at all levels.”
“We know that the work we do is having an impact, as well.”
“We’ve improved land condition over 314,933ha; and vegetation condition over 158,168ha in Queensland – and that’s just through one State funding program. Improving land and vegetation condition has a huge impact on the sustainable production of our food, on our precious plants and animals, on soil health and on our climate.”
“Recent data collected by EY shows that the benefit cost ratio for investing in on-ground environmental works through regional NRM organisations is high,” Chris said.
“Every dollar invested in managing weeds returns between $2.30 and $24.60 to society. For habitat creation, the return per dollar is $5.60.”
“Queensland’s regional NRM organisations have runs on the board and we are ready to deliver immediate outcomes for the Australian Government’s conservation and sustainable agriculture programs,” Chris said.
