Policy Statements

The challenge of climate change is fundamentally different from all other threats to biodiversity and ecosystem function. It requires a shift in the way natural resource management (NRM) objectives are developed. Despite the overall trend of a hotter and drier climate being clear there are uncertainties in climate change projections and their application at a regional level. These uncertainties are compounded when identifying impacts at local scales because of complexities in ecological interactions and interdependencies. Glenelg Hopkins CMA has developed a set of policy statements that move away from defining static objectives to ones that are more appropriate under a changing climate, and that allow planning for a range of different future states. These statements form the basis of the CMA’s adaptive approach to regional planning under a changing climate and will assist the CMA to:

• provide regional leadership and set the example of best practice management of natural resources under climate change

• manage for resilience and transformation

• manage adaptively for multiple scenarios and for multiple possible futures

• keep up to date with research and undertake long-term monitoring of species, communities and ecological processes.