Delivery

This page has been developed to describe some of the key mechanisms for delivery and will be updated as required, with information regarding progress including projects that are delivering on RCS priorities and outcomes.

Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) is place-based, collaborative, addressing multiple themes and the interactions between them. The Local Areas of this RCS complement the RCS Themes, describing local issues and opportunities, highlighting directions and outcomes of relevance, (copied from the theme pages) and these are intended to inform place-based ICM projects and programs to deliver this RCS. Strong partnerships and contributions from government and non-government partners, Traditional Owners, community-based groups and the broader community are needed to achieve the vision of the North Central RCS – ‘Working in partnership for a healthy catchment’.

Partnerships

North Central Catchment Partners Forum

The breadth of people and organisations involved in catchment management means that a collaborative approach to managing the landscape is vital. To encourage this collaboration, the North Central Catchment Partners Forum was convened, and comprises key catchment management partners working together for a healthier environment that supports better social and economic outcomes for our community. The Forum members currently include:

North Central CMA (facilitator)
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation
Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources
Environment Protection Authority
Coliban Water
Goulburn-Murray Water
Central Highlands Water
Trust for Nature
Parks Victoria
Local governments: City of Greater Bendigo Council, Buloke, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Hepburn, Loddon, Macedon Ranges and Mt Alexander shire councils.

The work of the Forum is undertaken in the context of the goals of Our Catchments, Our Communities (state-wide ICM strategy) to:

Identify regional priorities that need cross-organisational collaboration to be successfully implemented.
Account for legislative responsibilities, and describe and clarify policy implementation and regionally specific roles of partners.
Support development and implementation of the Regional Catchment Strategy and monitor progress.
Identify any relevant regional issues and develop options for resolving them.
Review new relevant government policies to identify those that will require cross-organisational cooperation and collaboration for implementation.
Ensure that all relevant partners may be signatories and are involved in all relevant issues, decisions and policy implementation in a timely and collaborative manner.

Regional Land Partnerships

Regional Land Partnerships (RLP) is the largest component of the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program investing in national priorities at a regional and local level, supporting a range of projects that contribute to environmental and sustainable agriculture outcomes. In the north central region current RLP funded projects for the period 2018-2023 include: Plains for Wanderers, Bringing Back the Bittern, and Regenerative Agriculture in the north central region. A condition of RLP investment is to prepare an NRM Plan. This RCS has been developed to meet that requirement. An addendum to the RCS, has also been prepared (refer below), which points to relevant parts of the RCS and provides more detailed information around process, specific RLP investment priorities and outcomes, to meet RLP requirements for the NRM Plan.

Click to read RLP Ad dendum

Many other formal partnerships are brokered between RCS partner organisations, Traditional Owners and community-based organisations to facilitate working relationships, and enable the projects/programs that will deliver on RCS outcomes.

Regional Strategies and Plans

Sub-strategies and plans that sit under the RCS and provide more detail for implementation include:

Other plans which apply to different parts of the region, include:

The Loddon Campaspe Irrigation Region Land and Water Management Plan 2020-30 (currently being renewed).

There is currently no regional biodiversity strategy or plan. The key outcome of DELWP’s regional Biodiversity Response Planning process in 2020, was a set of focus Landscapes and associated fact sheets. The fact sheets for each focus landscape include:

Outcomes of engagement including values, threats and species of interest identified by Traditional Owners, partners and community.
Outputs from the Strategic Management Prospectus (SMP) identifying species with >5% of their Victorian range in each landscape and maps showing the top 10% of cost-effective actions.

Parks Victoria’s state-wide Land Management Strategy (under development) will set the direction for Parks Victoria’s land management including nature conservation, cultural heritage management and visitor management and services. Parks Victoria is also developing Conservation Action Plans (CAP) for each of their landscapes across Victoria. So far there is a River Red Gum Park Landscape Plan and others are being developed for the Central Goldfields and Northern Plains and Riverina landscapes, which are all relevant to the north central region.

Bush Heritage Australia and Trust for Nature jointly developed the Kara Kara-Wedderburn Landscape Plan 2016–20 (soon to be renewed) to enable the local community to work together to reverse the decline of threatened species and to reconnect natural ecosystems of the Kara Kara-Wedderburn region. This area encompasses six priority biodiversity assets.

Some Landcare Networks in the north central region have developed strategic plans which outline directions and priority landscapes to guide action. Find your Landcare group and network via the Victorian Landcare Gateway.

Some Traditional Owners of the region have Country Plans. The RCS reflects and supports the aspirations of these Country Plans at a high level. The Country Plans should be referred for more detail.

At the time of writing BGLC and TLaWC were planning to refresh their Country Plans. A Healthy Country Plan developed by some Barapa Barapa people was reviewed but is not listed here because it is not publicly available. These links will be updated when new/renewed plans are available.

The Dja Dja Wurrung RSA involved transfer of six parks of the region’s parks to Aboriginal Title. In collaboration with partner organisations the Dhelkunya Dja Land Management Board developed a Joint Management Plan (JMP) for these six parks:

Greater Bendigo National Park
Hepburn Regional Park
Kara Kara National Park
Kooyoora State Park
Paddys Ranges State Park
Wehla Nature Conservation Reserve

Get Involved

There are many ways to get involved in caring for our region’s environment. Here are some of the ways:

Find your local Landcare group via the Victorian Landcare Gateway.

Become a citizen scientist, check out the following opportunities in the region:

Waterwatch – monitor the health of your local waterway.
Connecting Country – woodland bird monitoring.
Turtles Australia – events and fieldwork including nest protection and monitoring in Gunbower.

Tracking Progress

Each year Catchment Management Authorities report on the condition of the region’s environment through their Annual Reports against Water; Land; Biodiversity; Community; and Integrated Catchment Management themes.

The Catchment Condition report is structured in line with the statewide outcomes framework that align with regional outcomes sought by catchment communities, to the high-level policy outcomes of the Victorian and Australian Government. These statewide and policy outcomes are key components of the North Central Regional Catchment Strategy and one way to track RCS implementation.

Click to read the 2021-22 Annual Report Catchment Condition Case Studies

North Central