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Quality Standard for Resource Management
The Standard for Quality Natural Resource Management was developed by the Natural Resources Commission in New South Wales for the NSW Government to provide a quality assurance standard for the management of natural resources.
Among other objectives, the Standard seeks to supply confidence to the public, government, and to natural resource managers themselves that investment in natural resource planning and management is cost effective, protects and improves high value natural resource assets and maximises benefits through actions which contribute to integrated outcomes at all scales.
The standard does this by establishing quality processes to deliver best practice natural resource management. At the recent Water Planners Forum, Commissioner John Williams suggested that this Standard, although designed more specifically for the whole-of-catchment management activities of regional authorities, could have direct application for the assessment and continual improvement of water planning and water reform across the country.
The Standard addresses required outcomes, guidance and evidence requirments for 7 key areas of resource management:
- Using best available knowledge
- Determining appropriate scale
- Collaboration
- Community engagement
- Risk management
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Information management
About the Standard
The Standard provides a quality assurance framework and clear goals to ensure that the investments of the NSW and Australian Governments and others in the activities of catchment management authorities are cost effective, protect and improve high value natural resource assets, and maximise integrated NRM outcomes from the property scale to the state scale. The Standard and targets support flexible and innovative regional planning, investment and decision-making while ensuring consistency, rigour and accountability for NRM in NSW. In the development of this Standard, the NRC consulted widely with NSW Catchment Management Authorities, state and Australian Government natural resource management agencies, stakeholders in natural resource management including land managers and environmental interest groups, research organisations and consultants working in natural resource management.
About the NRC
The NRC was created by the New South Wales Natural Resources Commission Act 2003 to establish a sound scientific basis for the properly informed management of natural resources in the social, economic and environmental interests of the State. The NSW Government has adopted the NRC recommended Standard, as well as the state-wide targets for NRM. The targets now form a priority within the NSW Government’s State Plan.
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