The Bugle - 27 May 05
In news this week
- $2 million boost for south-west land managers
- JSC to visit North West Queensland
- Carnival comes to the heart of the city
- Collective meeting to focus on Options Paper
- Aboriginal 'Sea Country Plan' a national first
- Toowoomba's healthy waterways splashed on the big pond
- Volunteers needed for seagrass monitoring
- Keeping track of pests
- Free Willy!: whale rescue training on Sunshine Coast
- World experts converge to talk trees
- Good fishing ahead for Queensland's dams
- New pest web site goes live
$2 million boost for south-west land managers
When the Maranoa River sub-catchment plan was approved recently by the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee, NAPSWQ funding for south-west Queensland landholders involved in sub-catchment planning reached the $2 million mark. This is more than matched by commitments from the land managers and other organisations.
The Maranoa River plan involves 12 properties, mainly grazers, in the Mitchell section of the Maranoa River.
Maranoa River group leader Grant Maudsley is a cropping farmer, grazer and member of the Agforce State Cattle Board.
"As neighbouring landholders, we often have similar land and water issues to address and if we work together, we can achieve a better outcome," Grant said.
"We received support and technical advice from our Landcare Coordinator and the local Queensland Murray-Darling Committee staff."
Another 450 landholders in 50 sub-catchment groups will experience the same assistance for their environmental management over the coming months. This is the eighth plan to be approved to date, with four more to be approved soon.
Contact the QMDC on (07) 4637 6270.
JSC to visit North West Queensland
Once again, the Joint Australian and Queensland Government Steering Committee (JSC) are taking their meeting out to the regions. This time they will meet at Karumba on the border of the two gulf regions. This trip will give these two regional bodies an opportunity to talk about their regions' assets and the types of NRM problems they are targeting.
The Ghost Net project is sure to be on the agenda with both Northern and Southern Gulf contributing to this project. Ghost nets are lost fishing nets that drift with the currents into the Gulf, posing a deadly hazard to marine life like dolphins, turtles and fish. The project aims to remove these nets from the Gulf and develop a long-term solution to this problem.
The JSC has four more meetings planned for this year:
- 15/16/17 June - Karumba
- 10/11 August - Brisbane
- 5/6 October - Mackay
- 30 Nov/1 Dec - Canberra
For further information go to Joint Steering Committee on the regional NRM web site.
Carnival comes to the heart of the city
King George Square in central Brisbane will be alive with community spirit on Friday 3 June when Natural Resource Management South East Queensland (NRM SEQ) launches their regional natural resource management plan,"The Future in Balance".
NRM SEQ will host a community carnival with information stalls from each of their nine community sectors. Between 11am and 3pm themed events and street entertainment will be provided, along with a sausage sizzle for all to enjoy.
For more information regarding "The Carnival in the Heart of the City" or general information on NRM SEQ please contact Sarah Castle.
Collective meeting to focus on Options Paper
The next Regional Groups Collective meeting will be held in Brisbane on 1 & 2 June. The meeting will include a focus on the State Government's Options for future community engagement in regional natural resource management and a workshop on the Tropical Savannas CRC Healthy Planning Systems Project.
A dinner for community, industry, conservation and government representatives will be held on 1 June, with a welcome from the Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Stephen Robertson. there will be presentations on engaging regional communities and involving local people in natural resource planning and management decisions.
For more information phone 3211 4408 or visit the Regional Groups Collective web site.
Aboriginal 'Sea Country Plan' a national first
Perhaps the world's oldest aquaculture sites are included in the Kooyang Sea Country Plan launched as part of the Australian Government's first Indigenous "sea country plan".
The Plan identifies management priorities for south-western Victoria, including more than 700ha in Indigenous Protected Areas, and is the first cooperative sea country plan to be developed nationally under the Australian Government's regional marine planning program.
The Plan was produced by the Framlingham Aboriginal Trust and Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation with funding from the Australian Government through the National Oceans Office.
The environmental health of the area was testament to the responsible management of its natural resources by many generations of Aboriginal inhabitants.
An interesting but little-known feature of the Maar people's management of the area is the traditional trapping, harvesting and trading of migratory eels that travel from spawning grounds, believed to be in the Pacific islands, to the river systems of eastern Australia. European settlers in the region were surprised to discover Aborigines used stones to build complex traps, channels and holding areas, many of which are intact today.
To find out more go to the Department of the Environment and Heritage web site.
Toowoomba's healthy waterways splashed on the big pond
The Condamine Alliance has helped fund a new web page promoting healthy waterways in the Toowoomba City area.
The site contains information about the state of Toowoomba's waterways, natural history of the city's creeks and information on catchment areas.
Go to Toowoomba web site for a wide range of information on our waterways.
Volunteers needed for seagrass monitoring
If lazing around a pool on a banana lounge in a tropical resort is your thing then you might want to give this a miss. But if you do like tropical seas and helping out to save our amazing sea life and beautiful beaches, then you're needed for a volunteer seagrass monitoring program.
Mackay Whitsunday Coastcare Facilitator Jon Woodworth, from the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in Mackay, is looking for volunteers who are available to do two hours work, four times a year, monitoring the health of sea grasses.
Seagrasses are valuable habitats for prawns and juvenile fish and are a major food source for dugongs and turtles. Green sea turtles eat about 40kg of sea grass per day. The monitoring will provide a baseline to gauge the long-term condition of seagrass meadows. Full training will be provided for the survey work which will be done at low tide and involves getting a bit wet.
Initially, the monitoring sites in the Sarina catchment are planned for Sarina Inlet and Llewellyn Bay, with possible further sites dependant upon additional surveys of the area. The first monitoring session occurred earlier this month and the day was very successful. The next monitoring day is planned for August.
The Mackay Whitsunday Coastcare project is funded by the Natural Heritage Trust with support from DPI&F and the Mackay Whitsunday NRM Group. If you are interested in volunteering or would like further information please email Jon Woodworth or on 4967 0722.
Keeping track of pests
PestInfo is a map-based information system which records and manages the distribution of weeds and pest animals . Staff from NR&M's Land Protection unit have conducted training on PestInfo and are planning sessions in Charleville, Bundaberg, Toowoomba and Rockhampton.
PestInfo training sessions were recently held in Cloncurry and Warwick. One officer commented that although he had been using PestInfo for many years, this was the first time he understood its full capabilities and useful applications.
Designed for local government officers, land protection officers and interested people from natural resource and community groups, the training provides a comprehensive and practical understanding of this satellite-based resource.
The system allows pest managers and field staff to enter details about individual pests, infested areas and other relevant information such as dates, photographs and treatments.
Data about pest infestations is recorded and then used to produce cartographic-quality maps and reports that enable users to analyse potential impacts and work out how to respond.
PestInfo can be purchased from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines.
For more information email Moya Calvert on (07) 3405 5547
Free Willy!: whale rescue training on Sunshine Coast
The Queensland Government is taking every possible precaution to ensure migrating whales don't become entangled and die in shark nets protecting Queensland's major surf beaches.
Members of Queensland's Marine Mammals Rescue teams took part in a special training exercise off the Mooloolaba Spit on the Sunshine Coast on 11 May.
The exercise was as realistic as possible and included the use of a simulated whale tail provided by the Australian Government. People don't want whales or other marine mammals trapped in shark nets and this is obviously a risk during the whales' migration.
The shark nets and drumlines are in place off 87 of Queensland's beaches to protect swimmers from shark attack. There have been no fatal attacks off a beach protected by the program since it started in the early 1960s.
The Queensland Government is concerned for the welfare of migrating whales and has implemented a number of initiatives to reduce the risk of shark control gear to non-target marine animals. The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries has trained, well-equipped and dedicated officers on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to rescue marine mammal.
Other initiatives include a 24-hour shark hotline service (1800 806 891, toll-free within Queensland), research and acoustic alarms.
Go to the Fish web site or phone the DPI&F Call Centre on 13 25 23.
World experts converge to talk trees
Thousands will converge on Brisbane for the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) Congress from 8-13 August. This international gathering will be a colourful event with the organisers inviting participants to pack their cultural costumes.
The organising team for the conference hopes to provide an exciting mix of professional, social and cultural experiences that will linger long in the individual and collective memory.
They are extending an 'Aussie' welcome mat to all traditional research constituents, with a special invitation to first nation/aboriginal representatives, those at the interface between science and policy, multi-disciplinary practitioners in the water-land-forest continuum, industry managers and all interested stakeholders in forests and forestry.
Additionally, production and environmental forestry researchers and leading scientists will discuss cultural, social, environmental and economic issues under the theme Forests in the Balance: Linking Traditions and Technology.
Sessions of possible interest include:
- Alien pests threatening biodiversity
- Impacts of exotic invasive plant species on the forest ecosystems
- Linking science and practice through Landcare approaches
- Forests and people - valuation of the forest ecosystem outputs
- Remote sensing and GIS - recent developments
- Science and policy - making the connection
- Modelling multi-dimensional forest dynamics for multipurpose management objectives
- Indigenous knowledge and biodiversity
- Technology and tradition at the desktop - effective use of global information resources
- Communicating forest science to the public - from theory to practice.
For more information go to IUFRO web site.
Good fishing ahead for Queensland's dams
Funding raised through the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme, will help to stock 29 Queensland dams with native fish this year.
Recreational anglers pay a fee to fish in certain stocked dams and the money collected is returned to the community through fish stocking groups. Anglers paying the fees benefit from the stocking groups work as there are more fish for them to catch.
A total of $450,000 will be put towards enhancing the fish stocks and visiting recreational fishers also add a further economic benefit to the local area, when they purchase food, supplies and accommodation.
Most of the funding will be allocated to three dams: Somerset Dam near Esk will receive more than $40,000, Fred Haigh Dam (Lake Monduran) near Gin Gin and Tinaroo Dam near Cairns will both receive more than $36,000.
Permits are needed to fish in any of the 29 stocked impoundments listed as part of the scheme and cost $35 for a year or $7 for a week.
The permits are available online at Fishing web site or by calling 13 13 04. Some small businesses also sell the permits.
New pest web site goes live
NR&M's weed and pest animal web site has undergone a major redevelopment to ensure the site describes NR&M's pest management business in a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand manner.
There are many advantages and features to the new site, including:
- A-Z listing of declared plants and animals and other significant pests legislation, policies and permits
- pest maps and mapping systems
- index of pest plans and planning resources
- pest management research
- media releases, newsletters, events and publications
- educational resources, training and careers.
The site will be publicly launched at the Qld Weeds Conference (19-22 June), once results of user testing and feedback have been incorporated.
Please use the site and refer it to your friends, family, work colleagues and the general public. Just remember any time you refer people to the site, please use the following address: www.nrm.qld.gov.au/pests (the addition of "/pests" is important as it can be rather difficult to navigate from the NR&M homepage to the weeds and pest animal section).
Any feedback on the site or suggestions for future developments should be directed to Nicole Blackett on (07) 3405 5546.
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Carl Glen or Shona Strachan.
To view past issues of The Bugle use this link, on the regionalNRM web site .
The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Strategic Policy and Regional Arrangements, Natural Resources and Mines, highlighting regional natural resource management activities around Queensland.
Last updated 05 April 2006