Today Mr Terry Hubbard the chair of Landcare Victoria Inc. and Dr Peter Veenker the chair of Vic Catchments will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the two organisations to strengthen natural resource management in Victoria.
Vic Catchments is an unincorporated industry organisation representing the ten Catchment Management Authorities and Landcare Victoria Inc. is the peak body in Victoria representing 30 years of sustainable land management history.
Dr Peter Veenker said “this landmark agreement will herald a new and consolidated partnership arrangement to promote and bind ongoing natural resource management and sustainable agriculture. Catchment Management Authorities across the state have enjoyed a positive relationship with Landcare over the past 20 years. This agreement will ensure this relationship will only get better over the next 20. Also, with this agreement we can make Landcare grants provided by government go further.”
Mr Hubbard added “the objectives of the MoU are:
- to ensure a productive partnership that builds the capacity of both Landcare Victoria and the Catchment Management Authorities
- to provide consistency of underlying principles across Catchment Management Authority regions whilst allowing flexibility for each region to implement actions in a way that respects the unique attributes of the region and its peoples; and
- to establish methods consistent with this MoU to harness the skills, knowledge and resources of both Landcare Victoria and Vic Catchments to meet our common goals, objectives and vision.”
He further added “importantly, our MOU has state-wide application, this has always appealed to me as, having chaired the national Landcare network for three years, I was able to learn that there exist wide- ranging differences across the nation as to how the 56 natural resource management agencies relate to and interact with their Landcare communities.”
Both Mr Hubbard and Dr Veenker said that this Memorandum of Understanding underpins an ongoing effort to strengthen partnership arrangements across the natural resource management sector. They also said that if we want to improve sustainable productive agriculture, protect our natural resources, and look after our waterways then we definitely need these types of partnership agreements.