Expert Details
*New Video* What effect will climate change have on our coastal environment? Ask one of Australia’s foremost authorities on natural resource management.
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Name: Dr John Williams |
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Description:
Dr John Williams currently heads the Natural Resources Commission in NSW and is one of Australia’s leading experts on natural resource management. Dr Williams is an eminent scientist and a former Chief of CSIRO Land and Water. He has also been Chief Scientist and Chair of Department of the Natural Resources Science and Information Board and Professor in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management at Charles Sturt University. |
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Questions Posted by: Melissa |
| Qn: If you could change one thing tomorrow about the way our coastal systems and resources are currently managed, what would that be? Ans: I would have the local government use the statutory planning powers to accurately identify, protect, maintain and improve the condition of all the coastal natural resources assets in their area. I would have the Catchment Management Authority and Local Government along with the NSW department of planning give legal protection through the Local Environmental Plan (LEPs) to all our natural resource assets. LEPs must protect our natural assets. This would give clarity in the work of community (like CoastCare) , government and the development industry. We would know as a community what was “no go” and what was “go with care”. |
| Qn: What are your major environmental concerns for our coastal and marine environments in the short and long term. Ans: People, population pressure and the resulting urban and rural residential development are the greatest concerns I have for our coastal catchments. The land use planning and decisions where we put our suburbs, roads, shopping centers, tourist resorts, and manage recreational activities. We can have coastal development that looks after the natural resources and the habitat on which our life on the coast is enriched…but we need to think and plan our actions very differently. We must use our law to identify the key natural resources assets which must be protected. .This mean our wetlands, lakes, rives estuaries, beaches and these can only be protected by legal means and catchment wide planning and action. Our CMA have a key role with local government and community in all of this. We often leave it too late to look after a mangrove swamp...which provides the breeding for our estuary fishing. |
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