@article{Marsh:59100,
      recid = {59100},
      author = {Marsh, Sally P. and Curatolo, April and Pannell, David J.  and Park, Geoff and Roberts, Anna M.},
      title = {Lessons from implementing INFFER with regional catchment  management organisations},
      address = {2010},
      number = {421-2016-26793},
      pages = {19},
      year = {2010},
      abstract = {Investment in natural resource management (NRM) by  regional organisations in Australia has been
widely  criticised for failing to achieve substantial environmental  outcomes. The Investment
Framework for Environmental  Resources (INFFER) is a tool for developing and  prioritising projects
to address environmental issues such  as water quality and biodiversity decline, environmental  pest
impacts and land degradation. It aims to achieve the  most valuable environmental outcomes with the
available  resources. During 2008 and 2009 INFFER has been implemented  with a number of
catchment management organisations (CMOs)  throughout Australia. In this paper, we report on
lessons  from and implications of this experience.
Data on  implementation were collected in formal and informal ways  from staff of organisations that
were using INFFER and  state agencies, including: an on-line survey, benchmarking  questions at
training workshops, a formal on-going  monitoring and evaluation process tracking the use of  INFFER
by CMOs, and comments made in correspondence and  informal feedback to the INFFER team. In this
paper we  describe issues that arise when implementing INFFER with  regions and organisations, and
how the INFFER team has  attempted to address these. Key issues include a desire to  consider the
community as an asset and emphasise capacity  building, a rejection of the need for targeted
investment,  and various difficulties associated with specific aspects  of the Framework.
Existing institutional arrangements, and  the legacy of past institutional arrangements, remain  serious
barriers to the adoption of methods to improve  environmental outcomes from NRM investment. A
lack of  rigour in investment planning has become accepted as the  norm, and resistance to processes to
improve rigour is  common. However, many CMOs want to achieve better  environmental outcomes
with their limited funds, and we  report on our efforts to work with them to achieve this by  using
INFFER.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/59100},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.59100},
}