The Bugle - 15 April 2005
In news this week
- Farmers and scientists plan to beat the heat
- July conference to give planners tools for the future
- Online atlas breaks new ground
- Compliance officers to sprout up throughout the state in a quest for rogue weed seeds
- The Regional NRM website needs your help
Farmers and scientists plan to beat the heat
Farmers and scientists agree that climate change is real, is happening, and they have to plan for it if their industry is to survive.
This was the message at the Queensland Farmers' Federation one-day forum in Brisbane last week.
Participants from government, industry, and community discussed ways to find, store, and use water more wisely and talked about the social and economic impacts of climate change on regional communities.
Steve Crimp from NR&M's Climate Impacts and Natural Resource Systems group participated in the forum and highlighted some critical climate trends in Queensland which included that:
- average temperature has increased in Queensland by 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1910
- Queensland is warming more rapidly than the rest of the country
- the most pronounced coastal rainfall decline has occurred post 1950s
- rainfall intensity and extreme events have increased.
Participants agreed the farming industry must lead the debate on climate change and factor climate risks into their business.
For more information about climate change, see NR&M's Climate Changes, the Australian Greenhouse Office, and the Bureau of Resource Sciences.
July conference to give planners tools for the future
The Planning Institute of Australia is holding its 23rd Queensland state conference from 13-15 July at Rydges Capricorn Resort in Yeppoon.
The conference will focus on what tools planners need to get equipped for the future. If you are a planner, engineer, architect, scientist, researcher, social worker, or deal with planning matters this conference could be of interest.
Topics include regional planning, innovations in development assessment, crime prevention through environmental design, affordable housing and social infrastructure, to showcasing new tools for planners.
For more information visit the conference website.
Online atlas breaks new ground
You can find information about your property, look at satellite pictures of your suburb, discover local facilities and learn more about your region, all through a new website.
Information Queensland's online atlas is part of a three-year, $6.3 million IQ project that will deliver information to the public via the internet.
The atlas is available through the Queensland Government gateway. A demonstration online atlas shows how simple it is to search the information.
Using the atlas, see if you can find:
- details of your property
- electorate details and suburb reports
- location of local facilities (e.g. schools and hospitals)
- location of public transport facilities (e.g. train stations and bus stops)
- statistical mapping information (e.g. employment data)
- location of national parks and state forests.
For further information, see Information Queensland.
Compliance officers to sprout up throughout the state in a quest for rogue weed seeds
NR&M compliance officers will bring the 'stop weed seed spread' message to the highways and byways of central Queensland for the first time, in a two-week campaign conducting vehicle and supplier inspections.
NR&M compliance officers together, with local government and police, will carry out spot inspections in the Emerald, Clermont, Capella, Springsure Rolleston, Blackwater, Biloela, Mt Morgan, Moura, Taroom, Rockhampton and Gladstone areas from April 18. During the second week of the campaign there will be inspections in the Monto, Mundabbea, Gayndah, Childers, Maryborough, Gympie, Murgon, Kingaroy, Blackbutt and Kilcoy areas.
Officers will inspect vehicles and collect samples for possible seed-carrying organic matter, direct drivers to wash down facilities and raise public awareness of this serious issue.
Courtesy NR&M's Land Protection Unit, News In Brief.
For further information contact Mim Barker on 3405 5550.
The Regional NRM website needs your help
Please help!
NR&M is revamping the Regional NRM website and would like to hear from you about how it could be improved. Simply go to the online questionnaire and follow the prompts.
The questionnaire will take you a couple of minutes to complete and will close on 29 April 2005.
With your help we will improve the way the website delivers information. Thanks for helping us develop a better Regional NRM website.
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Kylie Hey or Shona Strachan.
Last updated 23 January 2008