State of the Environment Report 2008/2009

Introduction

Muswellbrook Shire Council prepares an annual State of the Environment Report to review and assess the shire’s natural and built environments. The report is a legislative requirement, which also provides a strategic tool to identify issues for addressing in Council’s next Management Plan.

Muswellbrook Shire Council’s State of the Environment Report reports on the status of the main environmental issues facing Muswellbrook Shire. The State of the Environment Report is structured around 6 major themes.

Significant environmental indicators are assessed to consider the impacts and level of sustainability that a community or Council has on the environment. Once these impacts have been assessed, an organisation such as the local council can manage its activities to improve environmental outcomes.

The environment in which we live, work and relax faces many pressures. These pressures broadly include the impact of development and human activities on the natural environment. Some of the biggest environmental issues of our day revolve around the global impact of the energy consumed through business, industry and transport on our climate and weather patterns. Other important issues have focus on maintaining biodiversity and preventing pollution of our waters, land and air.

The current state or health of the environment is determined by how much impact these pressures have made. The environment is resilient to many pressures, but often we see that a tipping point is reach and an environmental process or system finally collapses. The impact on the environment by these pressures is measurable in many ways. This report provides information on key indicators that have been selected as means of measuring the state of the environment.

The Council and the community can respond to the state of the environment by reducing pressures and repairing the damage where possible. Although the Council and the community may have substantial motivation to make improvements to the environment, we are limited by what resources are available and the priorities determined for those resources.