Regionalisation of Environmental Management: a Case Study of the Natural Heritage Trust, South Australia

Regional planning for and management of the environment and natural resources are the new foci of the Australian Government's funding initiative, the Natural Heritage Trust Phase Two (NHT2). NHT2 attempts to integrate and coordinate the efforts of the many local environmental community groups that work on-ground. By operating at the regional scale, it is expected that more strategic and targeted outcomes will be achieved. This paper examines how the shift to regional-scale delivery has affected key stakeholders in South Australia, focussing on the experiences of a sub-regional environmental community group. Interviews with key regional stakeholders, participant observation and document analysis highlighted difficulties in the transition to regional delivery, for both regional and local groups. Limited funding, restrictive timelines, vague guidelines and prescriptive information, slowed the development of the regional plan and frustrated regional groups. A lack of communication and limited community participation in developing the regional plan created uncertainty and confusion in the sub-regional community group, resulting in mistrust of and alienation from the regional groups. Concern was also expressed over the loss of the local-scale focus, particularly as community leaders moved to higher decision-making positions within the region. It is too early too assess the effectiveness of the regional groups. However, if the issues identified during the transitional phase are not addressed, then the regional groups may struggle to achieve their objectives.