CANRI MEDIA RELEASE

Download CANRI Media Release
CANRI Applications Backgrounder

15 March 2001

CANRI ENVIRONMENTAL WEBSITE A WORLD FIRST FOR NSW

The most flexible and publicly accessible environmental information source in the world was today launched by Deputy Premier, Dr Andrew Refshauge.

Community Access to Natural Resources Information (CANRI) allows anyone to access the latest maps and other natural resource information via the Internet.

“CANRI places the NSW Government at the forefront of international efforts to provide its citizens with the most current environmental information available,” Dr Refshauge said.

“The system is unique in that it allows users to overlay and merge maps, and present environmental data from different sources to form an individual profile of any area of the State.

"It's a one-stop website for environmental information,” Dr Refshauge said.

“Sustainable management of our natural resources is more important than ever, and access to good quality information is an essential part of the sound management of our environmental resources, now and into the future.”

Agencies were committed to putting more of their natural resources data into CANRI over coming months. 

"Technological enhancements are likely to lead to more than just environmental data being available over future years," Dr Refshauge said.

Minister for Agriculture and Land and Water Conservation Richard Amery said community groups, landholders and government agencies, could use this information to assist them in environmental decision-making for their local area. 

"Students can use it in their studies and others will find it useful for general knowledge," Mr Amery said.

“CANRI is not only about making government information available to the community. Community groups and individuals have an opportunity to contribute their own information and share it with others through the CANRI website.” 

"The NSW Nature Conservation Council, Landcare and several local bodies are already providing information through CANRI."

Dr Refshauge said CANRI involves 10 NSW natural resource agencies, cooperating and sharing their environmental data. They are the Department of Land and Water Conservation, Environment Protection Authority, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Agriculture, Department of Mineral Resources, State Forests, Australian Museum, NSW Fisheries and Royal Botanic Gardens. Other partners include the NSW Department of Information Technology and Management, the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The key to the program is the web mapping software developed for the CANRI site. This enables maps from various websites to be accessed and operate on one system. This software has been adopted as the model for international Internet standard for web-based mapping.

The NSW Government has allocated $4 million to the four-year program that began in July last year. Funding has also been provided from the Commonwealth Government's Coastal Atlas project.

The CANRI program ensures that all the key information on topics such as salinity, vegetation, wildlife, inland and coastal waters, and pollution will be publicly available over time and can be easily integrated with other data.

CANRI can be found at www.canri.nsw.gov.au

Media inquiries: 

Dr. Refshauge: Toni Rankin 02-9228 4499

Minister Amery: Luke Mellare on 02-93720123 or 0428 212 377

BACKGROUNDER – How CANRI can be used

·       A Catchment Management Committee, Board or Trust could find information on groundwater availability, salinity and water monitoring sites and integrate it into a single map. This could then be used as to help develop a catchment management plan.

·       A local council officer involved in a planning decision on a particular type of development could use CANRI to pull together available air or water monitoring data from neighbouring municipalities and use the information to assist in presenting the most up-to-date outcome for ratepayers.

·       A student could be given an assignment on water quality in a Sydney coastal area. Through the CANRI website it is possible to produce a customised map with the location of monitoring sites for water quality and download the data comparing available information over a number of years.

·       A bird watching group that has been collecting its own information over a number of years could use CANRI to present a standard map containing data on natural features such as waterways, vegetation or conservation areas and overlay that information with observations made over time on migrating bird species.

·       A NSW Government adviser, making a presentation to an international investor, can gain instant access to natural resource information for presentation on the benefits of moving to NSW.