2005 - 2009 investment footprint

Our 2005 - 2009 investment ‘footprint' can be detected throughout 8.3 million hectares of the Avon River Basin and has left a legacy of environmental, cultural, economic and social improvements.

The location of Wheatbelt NRM on-ground investments are illustrated in maps and further details about these investments are outlined in the links below. The following information is an account to stakeholders of over $36 million of Australian and State Government investment via the Natural Heritage Trust and National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (2005-2009). Secondly, it supports an evaluation of progress against targets set by the community in the Avon Natural Resource Management Strategy (2005).

So what has been learnt from mapping and reflecting upon all this work? We can see that activity hotspots have emerged where threats to significant natural assets occur such as in the Wongan Hills, Dale, Tampu and Westonia ‘Ecoscapes'. Conversely, many hundreds of individuals have been supported to address widespread burdens on farm sustainability such as soil acidity and dryland salinity.

Above all it reinforces that behind every dot on the map there is a Landcare champion or dynamic community group guiding Wheatbelt NRM decisions to invest in their local patch. Those communities that are united in their willingness to adopt more sustainable land management practices have continued to attract the greater share of regional NRM investment.

What is not revealed in this report is that the Wheatbelt NRM contribution to sustainable land management is only a portion of the sustainability measures implemented in the region during the past five years. Many of our project are intended only to act as a seed, which, if nourished will grow and multiply without further government investment. For others, however public funding will continue to be allocated and the Wheatbelt NRM footprint will continue to grow.