Coastal IFOA monitoring - Reporting and adaptive management
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The NSW Forest Monitoring Steering Committee, independently chaired by the Commission, will review the Coastal IFOA and the monitoring program annually.
The annual reviews will consider the results of the monitoring program and identify key insights and implications based on the findings of the monitoring data. This will guide the recommendations made to the NSW Government, EPA and DPI on how the Coastal IFOA could better meet its objectives and outcomes.
The Steering Committee will also engage stakeholders on progress and results at annual forums.
Adaptive management
The Coastal IFOA monitoring plans require thresholds for indicators against which the performance of approval conditions and protocols can be assessed against desired outcomes. Where thresholds are crossed, conditions and protocols will be reviewed, and recommendations made on how they can be improved. Remedial actions may also be implemented as part of the process.
Under the Forest Monitoring and Improvement Program, Professor Brendan Wintle is leading a research team from the University of Melbourne that will advise on how existing data and analysis can better inform adaptive decision making for forest management in NSW. The team will deliver opportunities to improve effective use of evidence for decision making in the short-term, and those that will require longer-term commitment and adjustments. The Coastal IFOA monitoring program will use these findings to develop a decision-support framework for the program’s adaptive management strategy.
As part of the decision-support framework, the process to establish performance benchmarks, analyse the monitoring results and the adaptive management activities that are triggered to adapt the Coastal IFOA to better meet its desired outcomes will be described.
The decision-support framework will be used as part of annual reviews to drive continual improvement of the monitoring program and the Coastal IFOA.
Reporting
The Commission, on behalf of the Steering Committee, will produce annual progress reports and advice on any recommended changes to the Coastal IFOA based on the results of the program. The program will report, at least annually in March, to the NSW Government, EPA and DPI.
Reports will be made publicly available online to meet Coastal IFOA requirements. Monitoring data and findings will also be available.
