Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Georges Riverkeeper Strategic Plan 2022-2026 released

View of the Georges River catchment Photography by Matthew Vasilescu - www.mattvas.com.au

The Georges Riverkeeper aspirational goal, which incorporates our vision and mission, is: ‘Best practice environmental management for a liveable urban river’. The recently published Georges Riverkeeper Strategic Plan 2022-2026 offers a roadmap towards achieving this goal.

Five focus areas were identified through a stakeholder engagement process undertaken in the development of the strategy and are represented by the five Programs, which are:

Although these are distinct Programs they are integrated and work together to protect and improve the health of the Georges River.

In the Strategic Plan, each Program is further explored below, specifically:

  • The challenge
  • What has been done by Georges Riverkeeper in the past?
  • Our goal for the future
  • How will we achieve our goal?

Furthermore, when discussing how the goal will be achieved, the role of Georges Riverkeeper is laid out for each Program.

Georges Riverkeeper Strategic Plan 2022-2026 is a continuation of Georges Riverkeeper Strategic Plan 2018-2022 and directs our collaborations and interactions with our Member Councils, our Financial Partner and community.

While the themes and activities are consistent with the previous plan, items that are new to this plan include:

  • Formalisation of the OMP to facilitate governance, advocacy and lobbying, reporting, and day-to-day operations management.
  • Expanding the CAP to include a focus on biodiversity and capture the habitat restoration work we do.
  • Expanding the Stormwater Program to include sewage, another important point source of pollution within the Georges River catchment.
  • Combining river health monitoring and research into one Program, the River Health & Research Program, which will continue to apply scientifically rigorous methods to the assessment of freshwater tributaries and estuarine sections of the Georges River and facilitate research to aid evidence-based best practice management or urban waterways.

Read more in the Georges Riverkeeper Strategic Plan 2022-2026.