What is State of the Shire Reporting?

The State of the Shire Report is a summary of the attributes of the Johnstone Shire environment and the human impacts on the environment within the Shire. The report provides a public record of the activities of government, industry and the community in protecting and restoring the environment. For the purposes of this report, the environment incorporates that which is natural, built, social, or economic.

The State of the Shire Report examines issues identified within the Shire following the pressure-state-response-implications model of reporting as seen in Figure 1.1. The model identifies the pressures on the environment, assesses their current state using a set of indicators, and proposes responses to reducing the pressures on the environment. At each stage of the cycle, consideration is given to the implications of actions or inactions. Through indicators the State of the Shire Report may provide information on actions to achieve ecologically sustainable development.

Indicators are aspects of the natural or built environment that can be monitored to provide information on environmental conditions and trends. Over time they may signal degradation and provide the impetus for a change in management (responses) or they may simply indicate that no change in the management regime is required. Indicators are used to give a representation of a situation at a single point in time, simplify communication of results of measurement, facilitate monitoring of quantitative measures, and assess the progress toward achieving sustainability within the Shire.

The National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) defines ESD as:

"Using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased".

In 1992, participating countries at the Rio Earth Summit on Environment and Development adopted the United Nations global action plan for sustainable development (Agenda 21). Johnstone Shire Council was one of the first 14 municipalities worldwide to participate in the Model Communities Program which commenced in 1993 to develop ways of implementing Agenda 21 locally.

Whilst the Johnstone Shire Council has no specific policy or strategy titled "Local Agenda 21", it adopted these principles in the preparation of its 1997 Planning Scheme and continues to implement them in its everyday activities.