The Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges (AMLR) Natural Resources Management Board has been formed under the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 to manage, protect and in some cases, restore the region’s precious natural resources.
The Board has brought together the former local Catchment Water Management, Soil Conservation and Animal & Plant Control Boards under one umbrella to achieve a more coordinated and integrated approach to the long-term sustainable management of the region’s soil, water, marine and coastal environments, and native plants and animals.
What is NRM?
The landscapes of the Adelaide and the Mount Lofty Ranges region vary remarkably – from the built-up city, suburbs and towns, to farmland, remnant bushland, rolling hills and plains, and more than 200 kilometres of spectacular coast. Stretching from the Barossa Valley in the north to the Fleurieu Peninsula in the south, it is also the most biologically diverse region in South Australia, with half of the State’s species of native plants and three-quarters of its native birds.
But 170 years of development have had a major ecological impact on these landscapes, native habitats and our marine environment. The biodiversity of many ecosystems is at risk from new and existing threats, including development, climate change, pests and the fragmentation of remnant vegetation. Natural resources management, or NRM, is about ensuring that we wisely manage and protect what we still have and, where we can, restore what’s been lost. The NRM Levy funds this vital work.
Who Pays the Regional NRM Levy?
Everyone who lives and works in the region has an impact on the environment. As such, we all share a responsibility to take care of our precious soil, water, landscapes, marine environments, native animals and plants and ecosystems. Your contribution through the NRM levy will help to fund the vital work needed to care for and enhance these environmental assets. In the AMLR region, the regional NRM levy is charged to every rateable property (so, if you own more than one property, you will pay an NRM levy on each one).
The regional NRM levy is not a new levy, it’s just is a new name for contributions ratepayers have been making for many years through their catchment water management levies and animal and plant control contributions through local councils. Animal and Plant Control Board contributions were not previously itemised separately on people’s rates notices, but paid on their behalf by Councils out of rates collected.
Those contributions are now itemised on your rates notice as the NRM levy. All of the projects and activities that were in place and planned for under the old Boards now comprise most of the new NRM Board’s activities.
How is the NRM Levy Calculated, Collected and Spent?
Just like council rates, in the AMLR region NRM levy contributions are calculated on the value of your land, and are then charged annually through your Council rates. Council collects the levy in its area on behalf of your regional NRM Board as is required under the Natural Resources Management Act 2004, but acts only as a revenue collector and does not retain any levy income.
For any enquiries about how the NRM Levy is calculated, please contact your local Council.
Levy funds can only be spent on projects and activities within the AMLR region in accordance with the Board’s NRM Plan, which is approved by the Minister for Environment and Conservation. The Board has in place an Initial NRM Plan, which focuses on the goals and objectives previously contained in the Plans of the catchment water management, soil conservation and animal and plant control boards. The Board is currently working on a new comprehensive Regional NRM Plan, which is being prepared in consultation with the community, councils, Government agencies and industry.
Water levies, based on the allocation or use of water by licensed water users in the Board’s area, also form part of the Board’s funding base, with additional and significant monetary investments coming from the State and Commonwealth Governments.
The Board is involved in hundreds of environmental and conservation projects across the region, involving many thousands of people, both paid and volunteer. Through strong partnership arrangements with all levels of government, the community, businesses, landholders, schools, traditional owners and a wide range of other stakeholders and groups the Board attracts, co-ordinates and delivers a comprehensive suite of integrated initiatives aimed at improving and preserving the natural resources of the AMLR region for current and future generations.
Download this brochure (625 kb) for for further information about how your regional NRM Levy is working for you and your local environment or phone the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board on 8273 9100.
The environment is our most valuable asset, and looking after it requires a substantial investment. About $13 million will be raised this year to pay for natural resource management projects across the AMLR region.