The Natural Resources Information Management Toolkit Project was implemented under the joint sponsorship of the National Land & Water Resources Audit and ANZLIC – the Spatial Information Council as part of a strategy aimed at building capacity at regional level to implement natural resources information management solutions.

Development was carried out in close cooperation with State and Territory jurisdictions and several regional groups. In doing so, an attempt has been made to complement existing initiatives and look for commonalities in terms of best practice.

The Toolkit will assist project managers, staff and participating parties at national and State/Territory levels, and more specifically at regional level, to obtain full value from the investment in collection, management and use of data to fulfil project requirements.

The aim of the Toolkit is to compile a resource that:

• Assists in building capacity at regional and local levels to manage, utilise and share natural resources data and information more effectively.

• Increases the awareness, understanding and skills of individuals responsible for data and information management involved in initiatives such as the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP) and the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT).

• Facilitates the development and adoption of internationally accepted standards and guidelines for information management, and thereby promotes best practices in information management.

• Gives participants in natural resources management (NRM) projects access to practical information management tools to reduce set up costs and duplication of effort.

• Supports the development of community networks through open and efficient sharing of information resources and knowledge, and assists the establishment of information loops between regional, State/Territory and national levels.

• Ensures the sustainable management of data used or created in projects.

• Allows others to fully and appropriately exploit the information generated from NAP/NHT projects.

Throughout the development of the Toolkit, effort has been made to provide general material that will assist regional groups. It is acknowledged that each State and Territory has its own initiatives related to data and information management including governance guidelines and protocols. Users of this Toolkit are recommended to establish contact with their respective State/Territory jurisdiction representatives to ensure that they obtain the latest information related to data standards, collection procedures and other information related to protocols.

Please report any issues or feedback relating to the Toolkit to Mr Peter Wilson, National Land & Water Resources Audit, Data & Information Coordinator (email: peter.wilson@nlwra.gov.au) or Dr Steve Blake, ANZLIC National Project Manager (email: info@anzlic.org.au).

The Toolkit is available online from the Audit web site at www.nlwra.gov.au/toolkit.