Cape York Healthy Country Plan 2021–2030

The Cape York Healthy Country Plan 2021-2030 is the regional natural resource management plan for Cape York. It is a blend of the views and priorities of the communities of Cape York regarding natural resource management.

The primary purpose of the plan is to identify the natural resource management priorities for Cape York and to encourage investment in the region to:

• strengthen regional coordination

• build community capacity

• knowledge, and skills to assist with business models and strengthen livelihoods and governance systems, and

• ultimately to help build a more resilient region over the coming decade.

The new plan refines and builds on the foundation established through the previous plan (2016-2020). We have reviewed and refined the previous priorities, based on new and emerging threats, opportunities and community views.

The plan attempts to simplify the details of the previous Regional NRM plan to make it more readable, digestible, and accessible for all communities and stakeholders. It also recognises the significant ownership, role, cultural history, and obligations of the Traditional Owners of Cape York.

Cape York NRM recognises the planning fatigue of many communities across Cape York and sought to shape a planning process that minimised any impact and imposition on communities while maximising the inclusion of deep consultation that has occurred across Cape York over the last five years.

The broad planning process for the formulation of the draft plan was as follows:

1. The initial consultation regarding NRM priorities across Cape York using a simple online questionnaire.

2. The distillation and synthesis of publicly available Healthy Country Plans and other strategic documents.

3. One-on-one discussions with stakeholders and members regarding the draft results at a number of major events (grazing forum, horticultural roundtable and the Cooktown Business Expo).

4. The DRAFT plan will be made available online in August 2021 as a living plan, providing the opportunity for ongoing public engagement, consultation, and comment.

5. A paper copy version will also be released in August 2021.