Communities in Catchments: Implications for Natural Resource Management

Abstract

Economic and social considerations in natural resource management include the need for community participation and a greater appreciation of social and economic processes in understanding environmental problems. It is anticipated that new frameworks will guide these inclusions and redirect planning and management activities to achieve environmental sustainability. This paper examines issues of participation and the nature of ‘community’ through an analysis of relevant natural resource management policy documents and a case study of a public drinking water supply catchment in Western Australia. The findings indicate that if NRM strategies are to be successful, then a much wider and more inclusive view of community is needed, one that fully captures the different stakeholder groups beyond farmers, such as town residents, indigenous people, and those involved in other land uses. We need strategies that can accommodate differences within and between communities.

Public policy, private landholders: Perspectives on policy mechanisms for sustainable land management

“…There is a danger that limited participation can fail to recognise the diversity of interests, values, social links, cultural norms and desires for active participation within a region and can result in favouring those in already dominant social positions (Broderick, 2005;Carr, 2002;Ewing, 2003;Itzstein-Davey and Conacher, 2001). Due to the restricted focus of the wider Land Stewardship project, there was no attempt to include environmental NGOs, the non-farming rural community, non-agricultural primary producers (such as foresters) and others with a legitimate entitlement to involvement in policy design (see, e.g., Broderick, 2005;Ewing, 2003). The limited focus of the stakeholder engagement reflects a policy environment that places primary responsibility for the management and remediation of rural lands on farmers and other private landholders.…”

Climate change adaptation in the Alpine Shire of Australia: a decision process appraisal

“…Much research has documented the importance of community involvement to achieve environmental outcomes (Curtis et al 1999;Gooch 2004) as well as the need for innovative strategies to engage the community (Broderick 2005;Lane and McDonald 2005;Pini and Haslam McKenzie 2006). In this case, engagement of the community in early, joint problem framing and an agreement to a common interest goal appears to be of primary importance.…”

NRM engagement between remote dryland communities and government agencies: Success factors from Australia

“…It is a form of participation with a high level of citizen involvement in decision making (Ross et al, 2002). The practical benefit of community engagement is reported as more effective implementation of NRM programs (Broderick, 2005). The topic of civic and community engagement has been widely embraced from a range of perspectives and disciplinary areas (Boxelaar et al, 2006;Leach et al, 2005).…”