Integrated resource management: Moving from rhetoric to practice in Australian agriculture

Implementing the concept of sustainability through integrated approaches to natural resource management poses enormous challenges for both the rural c ommunities and government agencies concerned. This paper reviews the underl ying rhetoric of sustainable agricultural systems and the integrated resour ce management paradigm and identifies some of the challenges being experien ced in translating this rhetoric into practice. A relatively recently imple mented community-based integrated catchment management (ICM) process in a r ural community in northeast Australia is examined in terms of some of the l essons learned that may be relevant to other similar integrated resource ma nagement (IRM) processes. It reveals a pragmatic, opportunistic, and evolvi ng implementation process based on adaptive learning rather than a more tra ditional "rational" planning approach. Some essential characteristics of a community-based IRM process are identified, including fostering communicati on; providing a structure that fosters cooperation and facilities coordinat ion among community, industry, and government agencies; the integration of IRM principles into local government planning schemes; and an emergent stra tegic approach to IRM program implementation. We conclude by identifying so me essential characteristics of an IRM process that can assist a community to adapt to, and manage change for, sustainable resource use.