preamble

foreword

All land in our Region is part of the catchment, and all residents in the Region play a part in the catchment's health. Others help too. The Regional Catchment Strategy is really a statement of how those residents collectively say our catchment should be managed.

To adequately comprehend a Region of such size (1.3 million ha); such diversity (coastal, Otways, lakes, plains, highlands); such populations (330,000); and such rapid changes in land use (dairying, cropping, forestry, urban expansion), the Strategy inevitably displays a corresponding diversity of detail. There is much to read, and much more in the various supporting strategies.

In the end, though, it all boils down to what can be done on each paddock, or each farm, or each stretch of creek or river, in each household, in each settlement, town or city. All residents can and already do play a part - and external help can be available where the required task is beyond what the individual can afford or properly justify.

Individuals have made huge contributions to the development of the Strategy. Over 500 interested individuals and group representatives have participated in some 70 workshops, and over 100 written submissions have been made on earlier drafts. Thanks are due to all and we here undertake to honour their inputs by continuing the community participation process during the coming implementation phase.

That commendable community input builds on equally valuable contributions by our partners in government, including: shires, water and coastal authorities, Victorian and Australian agencies, especially the Victorian Departments of Primary Industries, and Sustainability and Environment, the Australian Departments of Environment and Heritage, and Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Australia. We acknowledge particularly the funding contributions of Natural Heritage Trust, National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, and Second Generation Landcare.

The Strategy also builds on its 1997 predecessor, which was reviewed in the present process. All but one of the earlier Strategy's aims were acted upon over the last six years, which gives some confidence that the present Strategy's goals should be effectively implemented in the coming years.

Implementing the Strategy is now the major challenge. In that task, the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority is acutely aware that it is just one of many partners - we are mainly a broker, operating between investors (Victorian and Australian governments) and residents (principally land managers, but also other producers and consumers) who by their individual and collective actions will bring about the desired improvements in catchment health and the rural economy.

Effective implementation will depend on all residents, but none more than the farmers who own and manage nearly three quarters of the Region's land, the run-off from which feeds most of the Region's waterways and groundwater. The land - and water - is their principal asset, and they create the landscape that residents and tourists so enjoy. It is in everyone's interests that farmers prosper, and are thus able to play their part in improving the health of their land and water.

The Regional Catchment Strategy is to be a living document, evolving over time as more is learned about how our catchment's health responds to various changes in land and water use. We encourage all interested parties to travel with us down the path of continuous learning and improvement, and continue to play a part in leaving our catchment - as beautiful as it already is - in even better shape than when we inherited it.