The Lachlan catchment is home to 106,000 people with varying interests and needs in NRM. These include private landholders who own or manage land in the catchment; community groups who get together to identify challenges, discuss and address local NRM challenges; public land managers including councils involved in managing crown land for community use; Aboriginal land councils; people who live in a town or city area (residential land zone) within the catchment; and the business community which has investments in the economic health of the catchment.
The repair and protection of significant catchment assets will require contributions (direct funding and in-kind) from a wide range of stakeholders, including community groups and individuals. We recognise that many pressures impact on a persons capacity to contribute to NRM and these pressures are different for each section of the community. We are also aware that long term NRM can only be achieved by dynamic, sustainable and informed communities. We can provide the knowledge, skills, and motivation to meaningfully participate in sustainable NRM. 
To this end, the People and Community Theme aims to increase the capacity of the community to participate in NRM, adapt to change and remain innovative. Significant effort and investment will be directed towards two main areas within the People and Community Theme:
- capacity building and
- increasing community confidence and well being in NRM.
These programs are aimed at addressing the frustration expressed by the community at previous change within NRM institutions and the lack of continuity in funding delivery, plus confusion regarding access to information and services. The capacity building program will increase community awareness, knowledge, skills and motivation to meaningfully participate in NRM. The second program seeks to increase community confidence and well being in NRM and promote shared learning and decision making leading to greater community ownership of NRM in the catchment.