Earthworks, urban development and agricultural activities increasingly affect the quality and quantity of our fresh and marine waters, and related values and uses. Impacts on marine waters even far from land are intensifying, affecting their ecological balance and valuable fisheries, tourism and other uses.
It is important to manage land and water in an integrated manner. Integrated catchment [watershed] management is receiving increased focus, as land and water resources come under more and more pressure from urban and rural activities. Yet, linking the effects of land and freshwater uses to coastal and marine impacts often falls into the ‘too hard’ basket.
Our expertise in plan logic enables us to conceptually simplify complex catchment issues, and to work out strategies and plans to integrate the management of fresh and coastal waters with that of the land.
We use a simple but robust framework that enables all parties to work on a one-page diagram that makes explicit so many of the assumptions about causal links that are usually concealed within narrative plans. This promotes discussion, highlights differences, builds consensus and focuses everyone on actions and outcomes.
This logical framework can then be used to write a plan with good internal logic and good external synergies with the many related laws, policies, plans and strategies, to which integrated catchment [and coastal] management plans (ICCMPs) must give effect to.
We can help you with:
- research on the planning and operational context of ICCMPs
- identification of key issues in catchments [watersheds] and associated freshwater and saline environments
- review of issues, options and outcomes for more sustainable catchment management
- stakeholder engagement on developing objectives, outcomes and actions for catchment planning
- development of ICCMP plan logic
- integration of ICCMPs with other strategies and plans
- frameworks and indicators for monitoring plan plan effectiveness
- evaluation and revisions of ICCMPs
- training and capacity building
- reporting.