Geographical Reference Groups are Perth Region NRM's way of engaging the community and local Governments from the Perth Region at a grass roots level. This ensures the community voice from the 'ground' is incorporated into our Vision for the environment across the Perth Region.
The Vision and Targets of Perth Region NRM have been developed in consensus with the NRM communities; Catchment Groups, Local Governments, State Agencies, Utilities, Noongar community and small business through a series of Reference Groups; which we believe reflect the desires of the entire NRM community across the Perth Region. The Vision and Targets are outlined in the Strategic Overview, which has been endorsed by the Board after extensive consultation with the Reference Groups and other stakeholders.
The Geographic Reference Groups are a mechanism to look specifically at the work being done towards the Vision and Targets in their geographical region- in the North, North East, East, South and South West. So the Geographical Reference Groups are an important part of Perth Region NRM's structure and implementation of our Strategic Overview and Business Plans developed by the Reference Groups.
NRM expands across landscapes and communities, and is the responsibility of everyone - so it is important for all those working within this sphere to agree on a Vision, Targets and Goals; which in turn help us decide the Actions (this also works in the other way- it can show people how the work they are doing 'on-ground' fits into the broader regional Vision).
Our Strategic Overview sets out how we can achieve this, and a critical component is the network of Reference Groups. Reference Groups bring the key players together to inform and deliver the Actions we will all take to achieve the Vision. The strength of Perth Region NRM's structure is the depth of experience and knowledge of the roughly 160 Stakeholders that are engaged through the Reference Groups, and the support of the organisations that they represent. We have worked hard to ensure that members on the Geographic Reference Groups are representative of those with the greatest investment in on-ground NRM work.
