The Bugle - 19 August 05
In news this week
Regional body stories
- Inland office opens in the Burnett
- Burdekin Dry Tropics Board move to new premises
- New CEO for South West NRM
- Start spreading the news, new communication officer for SGC
Government updates
- EPA hosts sediment and erosion conference
- Gift of the GAB puts another feather in NR&M's capping program
- Preparing for first foray into planning
- Forestry strategy promotes Indigenous industry involvement
- Reef research CERFs new funding wave
Natural resources news
- Wetlands are worth learning about
- QWaLC helps to ensure a future for NRM volunteers
- Nominate your group for community of the year
- Nemo could find his way home
- Experts fear worsening crown-of-thorns problem
Inland office opens in the Burnett
The Burnett Mary Regional NRM Group (BMRG) celebrated the official opening of its north inland Burnett office in Monto on 13 August.
Celebrations took place at the Monto Public Library where the BMRG Team was joined by local BMRG members, directors past and present, as well as the broader community. Deputy Mayor Trevor Gleeson, on behalf of the Mayor of Monto, spoke on the significance of the strong partnership that council has with BMRG and the importance of community involvement in natural resource management.
Roseanne Campbell, Chair of the Burnett Catchment Care Association, Northern Catchment addressed the gathering as well as Les Turner, President of the North Burnett Landcare Group. Dean Power, BMRG’s Community Coordinator based in the Monto office, detailed on-ground activities happening in the Upper Burnett catchment including Water Quality Monitoring and the need for local land managers and the community to get involved.
BMRG Executive Officer Dr Deborah Scott thanked Monto Shire Council for providing the office accommodation and spoke of the importance of protecting the natural assets of the north inland Burnett. The new BMRG office provides a link between land managers, community groups, government and other stakeholders.
Burdekin Dry Tropics Board move to new premises
The Burdekin Dry Tropics Board move to new premises today.
Their new office is located on level two, 25 Sturt Street in Townsville.
Contact details will remain the same as they will continue to use the same post office box 1466 in Townsville and their phone number will remain as 4724 3544.
Visit the Burdekin Dry Tropics Board web site to find out more about them.
New CEO for South West NRM
Earlier this month, South West NRM welcomed their new Chief Executive Officer, Vickie Webb.
Vickie was team leader for the Environmental Protection Agency's Agribusiness and Food Processing unit and has been a member of a number of committees, including the Primary Industries and Natural Resource Management Joint Taskforce for Aboriginal reconciliation.
Vickie has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Natural Resource Management, a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Science and is currently undertaking a PhD in Sustainable Agriculture.
Outgoing CEO (Acting), Dan Ferguson, has resumed his role as NRM Programs Manager.
Please feel free to contact Vickie on 4654 7382.
Start spreading the news, new communication officer for SGC
A former ABC Radio journalist, Helen Dearling, has joined the Southern Gulf Catchments (SGC) team as their new communications coordinator.
Helen has a degree in communications and a strong personal and professional background in the Southern Gulf region.
Helen is very excited about joining the SGC team and has some creative and energetic solutions to the challenges being faced in the Southern Gulf.
Helen can be contacted via admin@southerngulfcatchments.com.au
EPA hosts sediment and erosion conference
The Down to Earth Erosion and Sediment Management Conference will be held in Cairns in September.
The Environmental Protection Agency will host the three-day conference in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and the International Erosion Control Association.
The conference aims to raise awareness in a number of areas including the environmental impacts associated with erosion and sediment discharge within the construction, development, agriculture and mining sectors.
For more information or to register your interest, send an email to seq@eianz.org.
Gift of the GAB puts another feather in NR&M's capping program
Great Artesian Basin water licence holders are urged to adopt the basin's innovative bore capping and piping program.
A new audio CD has been produced that captures the history of the basin, details the current Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI) and outlines government and community involvement in the management of this precious resource.
The new audio CD, titled the GAB, Past, Present and Future, was launched at the 2005 State Landcare Conference in Barcaldine.
The CDs will be mailed to the 2300 stock and domestic water licence holders across the basin. Additional copies will be available at Natural Resources and Mines regional offices and government service centres and tourism information centres within the basin.
GABSI is a joint project between the Australian and state governments, working with land managers to rehabilitate uncontrolled bores and replace bore drains with polyethylene pipes, tanks and troughs for livestock water and domestic supplies.
The GABSI program has been underway since 1999, with $49 million contributed to date. The entire capping program is expected to be completed by 2014.
Preparing for first foray into planning
The Australian Government has signaled its intent to become involved for the first time in urban planning processes, with the federal Environment Minister publicly suggesting the Commonwealth may impose 30-year planning blueprints on Australia's burgeoning coastal areas.
The Minister for Environment has said he is interested in the Commonwealth working with local and state governments to develop planning policies to ensure the three tiers of government are coordinating their efforts to manage the increasing development pressure on coastal areas.
The 30-year plans would likely cover coastal regions and not individual municipalities, however, state and local governments would be required to submit plans to the Commonwealth for accreditation.
The regional planning approach would divide the coastline into segments.
The 30-year development plans concept has been raised in order to encourage public debate and there is no formal process underway to implement the plans as yet.
For more information visit the DEH web site.
Forestry strategy promotes Indigenous industry involvement
A new National Indigenous Forestry Strategy has been launched in an effort to encourage greater indigenous employment and involvement in Australia's forest and wood products industry.
The new strategy provides guidelines for the employment and inclusion of Indigenous people in all sectors of the forestry industry. It also supports the recognition of Indigenous social and cultural factors in decision-making processes.
Employment opportunities outlined by the strategy will stem from the planting, management and milling of trees, native food and medicine production, the management of cultural and heritage sites, eco-tourism, and revegetation and site rehabilitation.
Creation of the strategy was based on the fact that 13 per cent of Australia's forest area resides under Indigenous ownership, and that effective management of these areas requires greater Indigenous input.
The federal government established a steering committee two years ago to identify opportunities for Indigenous involvement in the forestry industry. The steering committee consisted of federal government, forestry sector and Indigenous representatives from eight regional locations across Australia.
For more information visit the AFFA web site.
Reef research CERFs new funding wave
Research projects to protect the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics World Heritage Area received a boost with the announcement of $2.5 million in funding.
This is the first funding to be provided to support a new Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility in North Queensland.
The Australian Government will provide $40 million over the next five years for the new facility as part of its new $100 million Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) program.
The funding will be directed to research projects, such as aerial surveys of dugong populations along the urban coast of the Great Barrier Reef; modelling the effect of climate changes on rainforest species and vegetation communities and completion of a large-scale experiment measuring the effects of line fishing on the Great Barrier Reef.
Further information about the CERF program is available online on the DEH web site.
Wetlands are worth learning about
The Wetlands Centre Australia is inviting people to share their expertise and experience in wetland management at the 2005 Wetland Innovation Series Forum on 18-19 October.
This national forum follows the inaugural 2004 forum 'Innovations, Incentives and Obligations', which attracted more than 140 researchers, practitioners and wetland neighbours from across Australia.
The Wetlands Innovation Series will provide information on the diversity of wetland values, access to the latest research, a toolkit of innovative wetland management tools and direct contact with leading wetland management researchers.
The Wetlands Innovation Series will also provide an opportunity to network and develop partnerships with government, community and industry representatives who have an interest and/or role in wetland management.
For more information visit Wetlands web site.
QWaLC helps to ensure a future for NRM volunteers
QWaLC directors highlighted the importance of NRM volunteers when they met the new Minister for Natural Resource & Mines, Henry Palaszczuk, in Barcaldine during the Australian Landcare Conference.
QWaLC Chair Esma Armstrong outlined the role of QWaLC as the peak body representing NRM volunteers and spoke of the important work Landcare, Coastcare, Bushcare, Waterwatch and catchment management groups make to help manage Queensland's natural resources.
QWaLC was pleased to hear that the Minister recognised the important work of volunteers and he will continue to support the volunteer NRM community in Queensland.
QWaLC has recently made some changes to its board. The new look QWaLC board boasts representation from most regions of Queensland and will continue supporting community volunteers in achieving sustainable natural resource management.
To learn more about the new and returning directors please visit the QWaLC web site or contact them on 3211 4409.
Nominate your group for community of the year
This fifth year for the Queensland Regional Achievers and Community of the Year awards could be your group's year for recognition, so show your support and stand up and be counted.
There are two categories: the Regional Achiever Awards and the Community of the Year Award. Nominations are sought for individuals, organisations, businesses and community groups in regional Queensland making a difference in their local community.
The Department of Main Roads and Queensland Transport are offering five individual regional achievement awards of $2 500 and trophies.
Golding Contractors will recognise a specific community project, group, organisation, city, town or local government initiative with the winning community or group receiving $2 500 and a perpetual trophy and a community plaque.
Nominations close on 31 August. Please contact the awards office on 5531 1541 for a nomination form or nominate online at Awards Australia web site.
Nemo could find his way home
Recent research on young clown fish has shown that the animated film Finding Nemo isn't that far fetched—young clown fish do find their way back to their reef.
A real Nemo probably could not travel as far as the Nemo in the cartoon but the idea of Nemo coming all the way back home isn't that far from the truth according to Dr Sean Connolly, a lecturer in marine biology at JCU and member of the research team.
Mr Connolly said research suggested reef fish were homebodies and didn't like to stray too far from their birthplace. That's good news for advocates of marine reserves.
The research is useful in helping plan marine reserves, as it means there's a relatively large proportion of fish that come back home, meaning marine reserves have more potential to sustain their population.
This is the first time researchers have tracked the dispersal patterns of fish using DNA analysis and chemical tagging with the antibiotic tetracycline.
They found a substantial number of young clown fish chose to stay close to home.
Their report features in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology and you can visit the ABC web site to learn more about this research.
Experts fear worsening crown-of-thorns problem
There are new fears that the crown-of-thorns problem in the Whitsundays is starting to spread.
A fresh wave of the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish could threaten popular coral reefs in Queensland's Whitsundays within 12 months, the marine tourism industry warned.
An eradication program funded by the federal and state governments is targeting numerous Whitsunday tourism hot spots where high numbers of crown-of-thorns starfish have already been found.
Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish, which leave only the white skeletons of coral behind them, were first reported on the Great Barrier Reef in the 1960s, but early predictions they would destroy the whole reef have never eventuated.
The latest outbreak began five years ago near Lizard Island, north of Cairns, and is moving south and damaging reefs between Townsville and the Whitsunday.
The eradication team hope to halt starfish infestation at the Whitsundays within the next 18 months, partly due to the recognition that water quality and over-fishing were responsible for the problem.
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Carl Glen or Paul Rees.
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