WITH great variation across Victoria climatically, there is no single, state-wide solution to building drought resilience.
Professor Michael Tausz, Director of the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption & Innovation Hub, said, “For this reason, the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund (FDF) has been working with governments nationally to support regions in developing localised drought-resilience plans.
"The approach means that the plans will be community-owned and relevant to each region.”
Prof Tausz said in the Regional Drought Resilience Planning program’s foundational year, 23 regions nationally were announced as the first to develop plans.
Three Victorian regions were identified – Goulburn, Gippsland and Mallee-Wimmera.
Latest Stories
These three, along with each of the five identified Queensland regions, were the first eight to be released in mid October.
“These plans began around the same time as the eight Drought Resilience Adoption & Innovation Hubs were established nationwide, which are also an FDF program.
“The Vic Hub's farming-system partners were involved in consultations, supporting and helping direct the consultation processes to gain the best result.
"Agriculture Victoria – which is also a Vic Hub partner – led the plans and kept us up to date as the nascent Hub developed; they were also in communication with Vic Hub farming-system partners to avoid overlap in consultations.
“These three early plans were quite a while in development, with consultations key to their creation.
"They’ve just been through a review by CSIRO that applies the science of resilience, adaptation and transformation to gain official approval and we welcome their release.
"A further six plans will be developed and finalised in 2024 for the Loddon-Campaspe, Great South Coast, Barwon, Central Highlands, Mallee and Ovens Murray regions.
“Each plan will help these specific Victorian regions to better adapt to climate change, form stronger networks within and between them, and apply best-practice data and information to make better decisions.”
Prof Tausz said with the plans created through engaging local stakeholders to identify key insights, each of the three plans had different suggested action-priority areas – or themes – to build drought resilience.
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Senator The Hon. Murray Watt, said, “Each region in Victoria is unique and so is each drought plan.
"Each community came together to share their experience and knowledge to build a plan with locally tailored actions to prepare for future droughts.”
Victorian Minister for Agriculture, MP Ros Spence, said, “The Regional Drought Resilience Plans are a testament to the collaborative work of community, industry and government who have shared their knowledge and expertise for the benefit of their region.”
In Goulburn, five themes were identified:
1. People and community wellbeing
2. Co-ordination, connectivity and knowledge
3. Farm and other businesses
4. Landscapes
5. Infrastructure
In Gippsland, five themes were identified:
1. Resilient, connected and empowered communities
2. Sustainable management and use of natural resources
3. Resilient local businesses and regional economies
4. Innovation, research, knowledge sharing and skills development
5. Key enablers essential to effective collaboration and collective action
In the Wimmera-Southern Mallee, six themes were identified:
1. Communities and people
2. Farming enterprises
3. Industry and businesses
4. Governments and agencies
5. Infrastructure
6. Landscape
You can access each of the 3 Victorian plans here: https://vicdroughthub.org.au/news-events/news-articles/3-initial-drought-resilience-plans-released-for-victoria
