Climate change planning in North Central Victoria

Over the past year we have supported a number of Victorian Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) to develop regional climate change plans.

One of those CMAs, North Central, currently has their draft plan out for community feedback.

Land managers and the wider community in the North Central region are no strangers to the effects of climate change and climate variability. In recent decades they have experienced major climate events including the Millennium drought and then the floods of 2010/11 which caused major damage in some areas but also brought significant benefits to biodiversity, especially in our rivers and wetlands.

These events may have sent a strong signal of what’s to come with future climate change likely to impact significantly on the environment, economy and community in north central Victoria. The impacts on significant environmental assets, including rivers, wetlands, soil, terrestrial habitat and flora and fauna, will require natural resource managers to plan and implement actions that increase the adaptive capacity of these assets that are valued by the wider community.

In order to better prepare for the future challenge of climate change the North Central CMA with funding from the Australian Government, has worked with partner organisations to develop a regional climate change plan.
The plan aims to:

• Incorporate climate change adaptation and mitigation approaches in future planning
• Guide where bio-sequestration projects should be located in the landscape to maximise the benefits for biodiversity, water and agricultural production
• Identify priority landscapes for carbon plantings and strategies to build landscape integrity and,
• guide adaptation and mitigation actions to address climate change impacts on natural ecosystems.

This Plan is the product of strong scientific and technical input, and wide community and stakeholder engagement.
It draws on:

• The most recent climate change projections
• Review of Australian and international literature on climate change impacts, opportunities and adaptation options
• A vulnerability assessment for natural assets
• An assessment of the impacts of climate change on existing threats.

Click here to access the draft plan.

The draft plan is based on detailed vulnerability mapping of natural assets.