Community Engagement Plan for the Implementation of the Regional Pest Management Strategy
It is well known that the effectiveness of any plan or strategy depends on its coordinated implementation and how much the community 'buys-in'. This is certainly the case with NRM planning when the actions are often to be implemented on privately owned land. However, engaging landowners in NRM action is not always easy.
In recognition of this, the South East NRM Board engaged URPS to develop a community engagement plan as part of their Regional Pest Management Plan. The project sought to explore how the Board could best work in partnership with rural landholders, the wider community and other stakeholders to achieve the Board's pest plant and animal control objectives.
This partnership approach recognised that a range of people need to be informed and involved in pest management. Helping people to understand the key pest issues as identified by the Regional Pest Management Strategy; involving people in pest control using the right techniques; and focussing people's energies in the right direction are critical to ensuring effective pest plant and animal control.
The preparation of the plan involved a number of key information collection processes, including a widespread, statistically valid market research telephone survey with 408 rural, and 375 urban, landholders. Additionally, targeted consultations were undertaken, including one-on-one interviews, meetings and the review and analysis of existing Board community engagement activities.
Building on the key messages identified by the information collection and consultations, a number of community engagement activities were recommended in an action plan under five key goals. This project served to highlight the diversity of skills among URPS personnel, including expertise in both community engagement and natural resources management.