rcs development MAKE A COMMENT

assessing priorities

8.1 selection framework

Our resources, in terms of money, people, and time, are limited. If we are to do the best for current and future generations we need a consistent, practical way of setting priorities to determine which of our natural assets are most valued, most at risk and which could be feasibly restored, protected or enhanced to the level we need. We then have a basis to make decisions about which management options to invest in and which economic mechanisms are best able to deliver the management option in a cost effective, efficient and timely manner.

Previous chapters have highlighted a range of assets, assets values, threats and the urgency/ scale of the threat to assets.

The level of investment in particular categories of management options will be guided by consideration of the following key areas (see Figure 4, degree of threat to native vegetation in the five bioregions of corangamite):

Asset protection, restoration and/ or enhancement goals/ targets
Urgency of threat and feasibility of changing asset condition
Multiple benefits (across assets classes and threats)
Community expectations and aspirations
Building regional community capacity, and
Accountability, transparency, review and monitoring processes

8.1.1 stage 1 asset protection, enhancement & restoration

A primary driver for natural resource management is long-term sustainability. Actions that maintain the existing natural resource asset base within the Region for the long-term have the highest priority from a sustainability perspective.

The objective is to build interaction between natural asset assessment activities at different scales, to ensure governments and communities’ goals and targets for assets are achieved. The outcome will be a coherent relationship between the work done at National, State, Regional, and local scales. A critical factor that the RCS has acknowledged is the scale at which the assessment or priority setting takes place.

The framework for prioritising investment in management options for asset protection, restoration and enhancement will be based on the following principles:

Protection of existing high value assets in good condition
Restoration and enhancement of those areas where there is:
- Highest asset value gain for the resources invested
- Community aspirations towards long-term improvement of asset condition.

As a way of more clearly defining asset classes the following categories will be used:

Highly valued assets of international, National and State significance
Highly valued assets in excellent condition
Highly valued assets of Regional significance
Valued assets at high risk (at any scale) with feasibility for improvement, and
Valued assets of local significance

The RCS identifies valued assets at all scales and incorporates existing Supporting Strategies for highly valued assets (National and State Scale).

Management of assets ranked of “very high value” should be for protection rather than restoration or enhancement, and be consistent with the broader community’s expectations with regards to social, economic and environmental aspirational goals.

The appropriateness and level of investing in other valued assets requires detailed investigations to be completed prior to implementation of an enhancement or restoration program. These investigations should describe the benefits in relation to cost:

Describe asset value in terms of private or public benefits
Assess urgency of the threat to the asset
Assess feasibility of changing the condition of the asset
Identify cost sharing arrangements
Describe benefits and costs in social, economic and environmental terms, and
Describe benefits of any investment including any co-incidental outcomes (e.g. management or protection of other assets)

8.1.2 stage 2 multiple benefits, urgency of threat, feasibility of changing asset condition and community expectations/ aspirations

Many natural resource projects will have multiple management options and have an opportunity to be designed to deliver multiple benefits across a number of assets and threat areas. Developing projects that achieve multiple benefits will be a key consideration in investment planning.

The rate of change in asset condition and the feasibility of and capacity to achieve a change in the assets condition are important considerations. The priority setting framework will consider social, economic and biophysical factors.

Community aspirations for the condition of assets are fundamentally important considerations in priority setting and investment decision making for the Region, and as a key factor in development and implementation of projects.

Stage two of the process for considering management options investment includes defining the urgency of the threat to the asset; priority threats impacting most valued assets; feasibility of management options to address threats followed by other assessments of cost benefit; community capacity; and multiple benefits. The outcome of this process will include specific costs for management options and ranked priorities by asset.