Concern about the new Landscape SA bill's focus on region-based natural resource management, rather than a statewide approach, has been raised by industry representatives after the bill was introduced into parliament last week.
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The new legislation will replace the Natural Resources Management Act 2004 and the existing regional NRM boards will become nine regional Landscape SA boards, including Green Adelaide.
Environment Minister David Speirs said levies collected in each region would be utilised within that zone but large-scale integrated landscape projects would be funded by the new statewide Landscape Priorities Fund.
"Building strong partnerships at a local level to deliver on-ground results will be a significant part of local landscape boards," he said.
"Under the NRM act there is not a direct election of board members so the new policy would see a significant increase in local community ownership."
But, Landcare Association of SA chair Sheree Bowman said the state government's election commitment to establish a $2-million statewide grassroots program to offer small grants to Landcare groups was not fulfilled in the new bill.
"A region-by-region grant program has been formed instead and it will be funded by each region's levies," she said.
"Kangaroo Island and the Alinytjara Wilurara region cover a very large area with a lot of Landcare groups, but the levy base is low so they will not have the funds to help groups break the back of local issues."
Ms Bowman said a statewide contribution was important for ground-level projects to increase equity across NRM regions.
"There is a lot of wriggle room in the new legislation - it depends on how it is implemented as to whether it is truly a new approach or the same legislation with different branding," she said.
Opposition environment spokesperson Susan Close planned to introduce amendments to the new bill in the coming month.
"The new bill is not a major departure from the NRM act but there are some areas of concern," she said.
"I am concerned there will be staff duplication between the department and NRM boards.
"There seems to be less emphasis on biodiversity and habitat restoration too. NRM education effort needs to be addressed to help younger generations come through and be a part of these boards."
Former SA Farmers Federation natural resource committee chair Kent Martin was concerned about the bill's "lack of detail" addressing how federal Landcare funding would be utilised in SA.
"I would also like to see a clear statement from the government about who is funding the five board priorities at a state level because they are not just regional issues, they are statewide and the regions cannot absorb the costs," he said.
"The core idea of the NRM act was to integrate natural resource management and coordinate it across everyone involved but the new bill does not do this.
"The NRM act worked on support from stakeholder groups too, but the new policy seemed to have walked away from the groups that provided backup in developing policy and ideas."
Mr Martin said the bill was a "change in delivery and not solutions".
"The bill mentioned getting young people involved but it does not offer any solutions to do it," he said.
The bill to replace the NRM act will be debated in the upper and lower houses in the coming months.
