Drought Resilience Planning Workshops
Regional Development Australia Eyre Peninsula (RDAEP), in partnership with the EPLGA, EP Landscape Board and AIR EP has formed an Eyre Peninsula Drought Resilience Advisory Group and are preparing a Regional Drought Resilience (RDR) Plan for the Eyre Peninsula as part of the Australian Government’s Regional Drought Resilience Planning Program through the Future Drought Fund.
Having an RDR Plan is important as it will help unlock Australian Government and other funding streams for drought resilience programs, projects and initiatives to be undertaken on the Eyre Peninsula. The RDR Plan will identify strategies and opportunities that will help the Eyre Peninsula prepare for, respond to and recover from drought. In particular, the RDR Plan aims to build drought resilience of the agricultural sector and allied industries, while taking a systems thinking approach which recognises that agriculture on the Eyre Peninsula does not occur in isolation, and what happens on farms has flow on impacts to communities, the natural environment and the regional economy.
Drought can impact the agricultural sector and supporting industries, communities, natural environment, economies and infrastructure in many ways. Drought is not new to the Eyre Peninsula, nor is variability and changing patterns of rainfall. This has been evident over recent months as changing seasonal rainfall patterns have impacted crop seeding and other activities on the Eyre Peninsula. Farmers on the Eyre Peninsula are also not new to adapting to changing conditions. They have a long history of being leaders and innovators in developing enhanced and new ways to sustain their farms during times of reduced rainfall and drought or other challenges.
There are many factors that make individuals, communities and regions resilient to drought. The Eyre Peninsula already has a range of features/characteristics that contribute to its resilience which can be further leveraged and strengthened. There are also new opportunities to be realised. These include measures before a drought occurs to build resilience and improve the ability of individuals, farms, communities and the region to manage through drought and recover, remaining sustainable over the longer term.
The RDR Plan will:
- document how the region might be impacted by drought; and
- identify strategies and opportunities to build and strengthen resilience to drought before a drought occurs, as well as during or when recovering from drought.
The RDR Plan is not just about what can be done collectively to build drought resilience of the region. It is also about what can be done individually, at household and farm scale and in communities to be drought resilient.
As someone with specialist knowledge and experience of the Eyre Peninsula, you are directly invited to attend a discussion forum to contribute to the preparation of the Eyre Peninsula Regional Drought Resilience Plan. Discussion forums will be held across the EP between 2 July and 10 July 2024 at Whyalla, Kimba, Wudinna, Ceduna, Streaky Bay, Elliston, Port Lincoln, Cummins, Cleve, Cowell and Tumby Bay and will be 2 hours duration.
The Tumby Bay forum is on Wednesday 10 July from 1.30 - 3pm at the Tumby Bay Bowling Club, West Terrace, Tumby Bay.
At the forum we will explore:
- How does/can drought impact the region?
- What are your personal experiences of drought?
- What contributes to drought resilience in the region?
- What are the opportunities to strengthen resilience to drought (before, during and after)?
To register your attendance at one of these forums please follow this link: https://www.trybooking.com/eventlist/eyrepeninsularegionaldroughtresilienceplan
If you cannot attend one of these forums, please complete the online survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EPDroughtPlan
The Drought Resilient Eyre Peninsula website is available at: www.droughtresilientep.com.au
For further information please contact Trevor Smith via trevor.smith@rdaep.org.au or phone 0408 948 634.
We look forward to your valued contribution.