The new year has started with a hive of activity at NRM South as we work on delivering a suite of new and ongoing projects. Our work will continue to contribute to the restoration, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in southern Tasmania and we look forward to keeping you up to date with our progress. While we can’t provide full updates on our new projects yet, here’s a taster of what’s to come.
Protecting our Priority Places and supporting Tasmanian Aboriginal people to manage, access and heal Country
Southern Tasmania is a home to a wealth of important landscapes and through our 2030 NRM Strategy we have identified actions we will be taking to help ensure they thrive. These priority places can be important for cultural reasons, contributing to our economy, providing vital ecosystem services, or be key biodiversity hotspots. We will continue our work with partners to protect and restore these places by supporting actions such as feral cat control, cultural burning and weed management. As part of our Bruny Island extension project to June 2024, we have been supporting predator control and we are looking into approaches to ensure the progress we have made is maintained.
Supporting key research and conservation interventions
An important component of many of our projects is supporting science-informed best practice that will ensure our management efforts are strategic and effective. We often need to know more about what a particular plant, animal or landscape needs so that we can apply the best strategies to improve its situation. We will be supporting project partners to carry out important research including baseline and evaluation surveys, population viability analyses and mapping. This information will be used to develop targeted management approaches for species and landscapes.
Looking after our threatened species
Through the Strategy, we have prioritised a number of important species that are in decline. We will be continuing to work with partners on ongoing conservation initiatives for key species, including one that we will be working on for the first time – watch this space!
Supporting sustainable production
NRM South’s Land Program is providing systems-based solutions for landscapes dominated by agricultural production. We expect to have an increased focus on Climate Smart solutions for productive landscapes, helping farmers to access, use and understand emerging tools that help support climate resilience. Our ongoing projects are helping landholders to improve soil health, deliver innovations to improve decision making and help them to develop solutions to address climate resilience, water retention and water quality – particularly in drought-prone regions.
NRM and emerging markets
Consumer demand for carbon neutral and nature positive supply chains is on the rise and the Australian Government is designing market mechanisms to encourage development in environmental markets, which can be especially valuable for land managers. Not only can they provide economic return for good farm and land management practices, but good land management practices can lead to considerable co-benefits for biodiversity, productivity, efficiency and reduced carbon emissions. We are contributing to a pilot study on biodiversity projects on production land and we are looking into developing opportunities for projects within the context of the emerging nature repair market.
Want to keep up to date with what we’re doing in 2024? Join our mailing list and keep an eye on our socials channels.