Operation of the Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Act 1997

Caring for our Country

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  conserve, protect and restore the Australian environment by making it healthier, better protected, well managed and resilient
  
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  secure our farming resource base and support sustainable food and fibre industries by focusing on protecting ecosystems and promoting biodiversity, clean air and water and healthy soils
  
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  ensure that, in a changing climate, we can continue to provide a diversity of ecological services that Australians rely on.
  

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  National Reserve System (NRS): the NRS will be expanded to ensure a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of reserves to conserve Australia’s unique landscapes, plants and animals.
  
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  Biodiversity and natural icons: in order to increase native habitat and protect biodiversity and natural icons, actions will be taken to protect World Heritage areas, tackle weeds and pest animals that threaten biodiversity, and improve outcomes for nationally threatened species and communities.
  
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  Coastal environments and critical aquatic habitats: coastal and wetland initiatives, including those under the Reef Rescue program, will protect and rehabilitate areas of critically endangered and endangered species and migratory shorebirds, improve the quality of water discharged into coastal environments and protect Ramsar wetlands.
  
• 
  Sustainable farm practices: farmers and land managers will be encouraged to adopt sustainable on-farm land management practices that maintain and improve production and deliver ecosystem services for the whole community.
  
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  Community skills, knowledge and engagement: investment in the skills and knowledge of Indigenous people, volunteers and communities will enable these groups to work collaboratively with regional and other organisations to deliver landscape-scale change.
  

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The Caring for our Country report card for 2009–10 was released in January 2012. The report card detail achievements and progress on the Caring for our Country five-year outcomes, including contributions made by projects funded under the Natural Heritage Trust. Report cards are available on the Caring for our Country website .

The government recognises that many different groups must work together to bring about change and that a diverse range of stakeholders working and volunteering in NRM are making important contributions. In 2011–12, Caring for our Country projects were delivered through:

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  regional NRM organisations
  
• 
  community groups
  
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  non-government organisations
  
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  state and territory governments and local governments
  
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  Indigenous groups
  
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  research organisations and academic institutions.
  

2011–12 Natural Heritage Trust expenditure¹

Total expenditure under the Natural Heritage Trust in 2011–12 was $191.249 million. The breakdown of this expenditure by Caring for our Country national priority area is presented in Table 1. A breakdown of Natural Heritage Trust expenditure in each state and territory is presented in Table 2.

Table 1: Natural Heritage Trust expenditure by Caring for our Country national priority area 2011–12*

National priority areas and other budget items	Expenses (GST exclusive) $ million
National Reserve System	43.903
National Reserve System	31.354
Indigenous Protected Areas	12.549
Biodiversity and natural icons	22.659
Natural icons and World Heritage	6.802
Biodiversity protection	15.857
Tasmanian Devils	0.000
Cane toads	0.000
Coastal environments and critical aquatic habitats	68.319
Reef Rescue	45.055
Coastcare	13.991
Aquatic habitats	3.272
Gippsland Lakes and Eastern Creek Wetlands	0.000
Tuggerah Lakes	5.000
Local environment initiatives - mid north coast, NSW	1.000
Sustainable farm practices	4.707
Land management change	4.707
Community skills, knowledge and engagement	13.300
Natural Resource Management facilitators	7.519
Indigenous rangers	1.092
Indigenous emissions trading scheme	2.210
Community Action Grants	2.479
Community, skills, knowledge and engagement	0.000
Regional baseline funding	0.000
National Reserve System	0.000
Biodiversity and natural icons	0.000
Coastal environments and critical aquatic habitats	0.000
Sustainable farm practices	0.000
Community skills, knowledge and engagement	0.000
Administration/Implementation	38.361
Implementation	32.181
Monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement	6.180
TOTAL expenditure (GST exclusive)	191.249

* Due to rounding some figures may not add exactly to totals

Table 2: Natural Heritage Trust expenditure by state and territory 2011–12*

State/territory	Expenses (GST exclusive) $ million
New South Wales	32.498
Victoria	5.011
Queensland	68.998
Western Australia	5.764
South Australia	4.635
Tasmania	4.899
Australian Capital Territory	0.626
Northern Territory	9.265
Non-state-specific	59.552
TOTAL expenditure (GST exclusive)	191.249

* Due to rounding some figures may not add exactly to totals

As at 30 June 2012 the Natural Heritage Ministerial Board had approved funding in 2012–13 of $158.013 million. Figure 1 shows the distribution of expenditure up to 30 June 2012, and approved funds for 2012–13 by Caring for our Country national priority area. The audited financial statements for the Natural Heritage Trust are presented in the Financial Statements section of the annual report.

Figure 1: Funding by Caring for our Country national priority area at 30 June 2012

Note: Budget was transferred from the Natural Heritage Trust to the Department of Treasury under the Federal Financial Relations Act 2009 for: regional base-level funding from 2009–10; Tasmanian Devils and Tasmania World Heritage areas from 2010–11; Macquarie Island pest eradication, and animal and pest plant and disease eradication from 2011–2012. The budget transferred to Department of Treasury remains part of the Caring for our Country initiative and continues to fund projects that achieve Caring for our Country objectives.

Directory: system -> files -> resources
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