Refreshing the Upper Billabong
Refreshing the Upper Billabong is part of the Refreshing Rivers project, a collaboration between government, industry, research and community organisations, led by Murray Local Land Services. This project has been assisted by the New South Wales Government through its Environmental Trust.
Refreshing Rivers has its own websitehttp://www.refreshingrivers.org.au to find out more
Share your waterway flora and fauna sightings!
HLN & Refreshing Rivers have a Refreshing Rivers – Upper Billabong project running on iNaturalist Australia. You can help us by getting an iNaturalist account (if you don’t already have one), downloading the iNaturalist Australia app, joining the project, and uploading your flora and fauna sightings!
HLN & Refreshing Rivers have also teamed up for the Great Southern BioBlitz 2023, and the theme is “Love Your Rivers!” You can also join our BioBlitz project on iNaturalist. Read more about this on our website project page here…
Vision – what the community survey in 2022 found
The Waterway Management Plan uses information on the community’s vision for the catchment, what they value, and threats to those values, to develop targeted management actions. Information on the vision, values and threats in the region were collated using the community survey, in-person discussions, site visits, input from Holbrook Landcare Network and a review of legislation, literature and other data.
In the survey, respondents were presented with the vision developed as part of the Upper Billabong Land and Water Management Plan in 2001:
“To improve the economic, social and physical environment of the Upper Billabong Catchment by the implementation of a viable Land and Water Management Plan through education, participation and community ownership”
(Upper Billabong Land and Water Management Plan, 2001).
Respondents were asked:
Is there anything you would change about this vision, for the refreshed Waterway Management Plan?
Responses are summarised in Figure 1 below:
Respondents were also asked:
How would you like the Upper Billabong catchment to be, feel or look in 30 years’ time?
Topics such as biodiversity, clean water and waterways, agriculture, healthy landscapes, flood control and less erosion featured heavily in the text responses. See the word cloud in Figure 2 below.
Values
In the survey, 12 values were listed, and respondents were asked to rank these values in terms of their importance . The survey results are summarised in Figure 3 below.
The plan has taken the values identifed by the community and set out objectives to ensure the assets are protected and enhanced for the future.
Threats
In the survey, 13 values were listed, and respondents were asked to rank these values in terms of their importance.
The survey results are summarised in Figure 4 below.
Click here to view previous community survey findings and data
