Local communities key to halting decline of WA’s natural resources.

NRM WA has just released its 2019 Election Strategy of ‘Enabling Prosperity’, setting out an ambitious, four-year election ask to address environmental issues that limit environmental, economic and social prosperity. The release occurs in the shadow of an alarming report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released earlier this month.

‘Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely’, the IPBES warns.
‘The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture,’ said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. ‘The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.’
‘It's not too late to make a difference, and local and regional NRM groups are still in the fight across WA, despite major funding cuts over the last few years,’ said Dr Rob Keogh, Chair of NRM WA.

NRM WA is the peak body representing the seven regional NRM organisations across WA. Collectively we represent thousands of community groups, landholders and volunteers. NRM is the sustainable management of natural resources such as land, water, marine and biological systems. It brings together the people and places of Western Australia to find practical solutions to common issues faced by land and sea managers.

Dr Keogh went on to say: ‘Local and regional communities of WA have an urgent message to all parties contesting the 2019 election- that more can be done, WA shows clear indications of being negatively affected by a rapidly changing climate. We profoundly value our landscapes and communities. Help us and work with us, by providing additional funding for our practical initiatives to combat and adapt to that change.’

Find the Enabling Prosperity strategy at: https://www.enablingprosperity.com