The Bugle - 30 September 05
In news this week
Regional body stories
- Roll up! Roll up! Get your tickets to see Dr Karl
- New QMDC chair appointed
- Training inspires positive outlook
- Local government support increased
- Encouragement award received for Rivercare
- Ca-BOMB-ba: Catchment group declares war on water weed
- Central Queensland women speak about managing life changes
Government updates
- Who let the economists loose?!
- Apply now for community awareness grants
- Landcare innovation grants now available
- Partnerships the key in sustainable primary production
- Central Queensland gains new land protection staff
- Sediment and nutrient run-off devastaes inshore reefs
- Free regional ecosystem maps available online
- Reef generates $6 billion over financial year
Natural resources news
- Howzat! Join QWALC for a day at the cricket
- Submerged water plants: how to identify, regenerate and look after them
- New QWALC board meets
- Funding assistance gets trainees working
- Meet the locals: Find out what species live in your area
Roll up! Roll up! Get your tickets to see Dr Karl
Hugely popular Dr Karl Kruszelnicki will visit Toowoomba on Monday 3 October and tickets are selling fast.
Dr Karl, best known for his Triple J radio show and many best-selling books, will talk about the wonders of science at the Discovering Landcare Conference and his show is open to the general public.
Dr Karl's session starts at 6.30 pm at the Church of Christ Conference Centre at 461 Hume Street, Toowoomba and tickets are available at the Landcare Discovery Centre. Adult tickets are $15 and students/concession are $10. Phone 4637 6270 for tickets.
New QMDC chair appointed
Peter Blundell, grazier, orchardist and Stanthorpe Shire Deputy Mayor, is the new Queensland Murray-Darling Committee chair.
Peter wants to ensure the longevity of the QMDC and other regional NRM bodies. "I feel that the process of delivering natural resource management by QMDC has led to an attitudinal change amongst landholders," said Peter.
"Having been involved in sub-catchment planning myself, I have been able to witness the adoption of natural resource management principles by some traditionally conservative members of the landholder community.
"This is predominantly because they have been involved in the decision-making process, rather than having others tell them what to do," said Peter.
Peter will take over the role as Bim Goodrich steps down after a year that saw $1.6 million go to landholders involved in sub-catchment planning in the region.
For further information please contact QMDC on 4637 6270.
Training inspires positive outlook
Stakeholders of the South West NRM region recently enjoyed participating in two short courses held in Charleville.
South West NRM worked with Rangelands Australia to pilot the "Success in Rangelands Diversification" short course in August and Greening Australia to present the "Advanced Seed Collection" short course in September.
According to one participant in the Rangelands Australia course: "The time and effort, research and dollars that has gone into this project. It is inspiring for us who live, breathe and work in Rangelands of Australia to be uplifted and given faith in the vision that is being projected via the means of the tools that are presented in this course – and the future looks radiant!"
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Local government support increased
South West NRM's has appointed Belinda Flack as its new local government NRM support officer.
Belinda will work with local governments to target water use efficiency, pest and weed management, stock routes and town commons. She has a Bachelor of Natural Resource Management, and a diverse range of hands-on experience from working in the dairy, beef and vegetable production industries.
Belinda can be contacted on 4654 7382.
Encouragement award received for Rivercare
The Mackay Whitsunday Natural Resource Management Group (MWNRM) has won the 2005 Queensland Landcare Encouragement Award for excellence in water monitoring.
MWNRM's Sustainable Landscape Officer Will Higham said, it was exciting to be recognised in this field.
"MWNRM has been working on an integrated monitoring program in the region over the last few years," he said.
Mr Higham recognised the tireless work of the volunteers and stressed that the program would not be a success without them.
The Healthy Waterways integrated monitoring program is designing a water quality monitoring framework for use by all current and future water quality monitoring programs, including the monitoring of water entering the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon.
One of the key lessons from this program is understanding the transport and fate of sediments, nutrients and pollutants in seasonal flows to the Great Barrier Reef from the Mackay Whitsunday region. The community volunteer water quality monitoring was acknowledged for playing an important role in scientific data collection and NRM planning.
Further information contact Will Higham on 4953 5285
Ca-BOMB-ba: Catchment group declares war on water weed
Lake Macdonald Catchment Care Group will host the "War on Cabomba" forum in conjunction with Noosa Shire Council and the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee in the Noosa Botanic Gardens, adjacent to Lake Macdonald on 15 October.
The forum coincides with Weedbusters Week and the Noosa Festival of Water, which is being held the following day, also at the Botanic Gardens.
The "War on Cabomba" will highlight the work being done to rid Australian waterways of Cabomba caroliniana - one of Australia's 20 worst weeds.
Entry to the forum is free and will include a bush tucker lunch. To register to attend, email Debbie Seal before 7 October.
Central Queensland women speak about managing life changes
Do you know of people on the land who are a little worried about handing over to the next generation?
The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries has found that, in some cases, one member of the family is happy to move but the other is not so sure.
To help people consider a change with more confidence, DPI&F and the Fitzroy Basin Association are hosting an event on World Rural Women's Day, Friday 14 October, in Rockhampton.
There is a great line up of speakers who will share their stories about how they managed when they needed to make a significant change in their lives.
At morning tea and lunch, you'll have ample time to talk (and listen) to other central Queensland women about:
- living in or moving to the bush, town or city
- handing over a property to the next generation
- taking over a property
- changing careers
- going back to school
- other life changes you've made or are considering.
Come share your story. It just might be what someone else needs to hear. To book contact Cate Horn on 07 4936 0211.
Who let the economists loose?!!
Regional NRM bodies and other stakeholders are encouraged to attend a resource economics workshop on 28 October at the DPI Conference Centre in Rockhampton.
The workshop will focus on production and environmental trade-offs at the farm-level. The objective is to report a range of case studies, principally conducted in Queensland. These case studies will be collated into a publication for future use by regional NRM bodies and others.
The workshop will also aim to:
- identify any net private costs of improving farm-level environmental management
- showcase the range of economic tools to NRM groups and other stakeholders
- provide a forum for case studies in Queensland
- provide a forum for agricultural and resource economist practitioners and regional NRM groups to exchange ideas.
Registration information and details on the workshop program can be found on the resource economics workshop web site.
Apply now for community awareness grants
Grants of up to $2500 are available to Landcare and other community NRM groups to develop small, innovative and creative projects which will take place during Queensland Resource Week in May 2006.
Applications close 28 October and further information is available from the NR&M web site or on 3239 3860.
Landcare innovation grants now available
The 2005-06 round of National Landcare Program innovation grants will see up to $1.5 million given to land managers to encourage the adoption of innovative land management techniques. Water-related activities are also eligible for funding.
Applications close 7 October and further information is available at Landcare web site.
Partnerships the key in sustainable primary production
Through the Enhancing Sustainable Primary Production project, the EPA is working in partnership with the Queensland Farmers' Federation to develop and implement a communication, education and awareness program for Queensland's agricultural sector.
Partnership programs are helping farms and businesses to become both sustainable and profitable.
The project will focus on primary producer and supply chain case studies, providing financial, technical, and in-kind support, promoting sustainability messages industry-wide and highlighting best practice sustainable agriculture in Queensland.
More information on EPA industry initiatives is available through EPA's Compass pubilcation.
Central Queensland gains new land protection staff
Three new land protection officers have been appointed by the state government to strengthen its pest management activities in central Queensland.
All three will help local government, industry and catchment groups deal with weeds and pest animals in the region by providing technical advice and assisting with the development and review of pest management plans.
For more information about pest management visit NR&M pests web site.
Sediment and nutrient run-off devastates inshore reefs
Comparative studies by the Australian Institute of Marine Studies have shown sediment and nutrient run-off are seriously affecting coral diversity on the wet tropics inshore reefs.
Speaking at the Down to Earth: Erosion and Sediment Control Conference in Cairns, Dr Katharina Fabricius said the number of hard corals is half what it could be - the same is true of soft corals, 60 per cent of the soft coral species are missing that could be growing in these naturally turbid inshore reefs.
She says modeling work by the institute shows crown-of-thorn starfish outbreaks are now much more frequent and the chance of coral recovering is considerably lower.
"Under natural conditions, an outbreak may happen every 100 years and that gives the corals plenty of time to recover. But now we have the situation where we are having crown-of-thorns outbreaks every 12 years, 12-15 years and that is not enough time for the coral reefs to recover," Dr Fabricius said.
Free regional ecosystem maps available online
Landholders submitting vegetation management applications to the Queensland Government will have their job made easier thanks to a new web-based facility.
This new service allows certified regional ecosystem maps to be downloaded without charge from the EPA web site.
The service, provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, enables applicants to select an area of land and receive a map by e-mail.
The map helps landholders understand their obligations under the Vegetation Management Act.
The maps show:
- the current distribution and status ("endangered", "of concern" and "not of concern") of remnant vegetation in specific regional ecosystems
- essential habitat
- state wildlife corridors
- property boundaries
- national park and state forest boundaries
- bioregion boundaries
- towns and roads.
In areas where regional ecosystem mapping is not available (West and North Queensland), the remnant vegetation cover is shown.
The maps are also available at all local Natural Resources and Mines offices.
Reef generates $6 billion over financial year
The Great Barrier Reef has netted the Australian economy almost $6 billion over the past financial year, according to a new report.
The Economic and Financial Value of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park report, prepared by Access Economics and commissioned by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), presents quantitative estimates of the economic value of activity undertaken within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park catchment area for the 2004-05 financial year.
The report is less comprehensive than previous attempts to measure the economic, social and financial value of the Park. It concentrates on only three industries: tourism, commercial fishing and cultural and recreational activity, where the first and third of these include estimates for recreational fishing.
Access Economics concludes that the total (direct plus indirect) economic contribution of tourism, commercial fishing, and cultural and recreational activity in the Reef area in 2004-05 is as follows:
- For value-added, over $3.5 billion
- For gross product, (which adds net indirect taxes less subsidies to value-added) over $4.1 billion
- For employment, about 51,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
The corresponding estimates for Queensland were:
- For value-added, over $4.3 billion
- For gross product, over $4.9 billion
- For employment, 59,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
Tourism dominates these contributions, for value-added and gross product, tourism's share is about 86%-87% and for employment, tourism's share is about 83%-87%.
The report is available at GBRMPA web site.
Howzat! Join QWaLC for a day at the cricket
Volunteering Queensland has invited all volunteers, their families and friends, to the 2005 Volunteers Cricket Day.
The game is Queensland Bulls vs the Tasmanian Tigers ING Cup Day match on 22 October at the Gabba. For volunteers, tickets are free and each ticket includes free bus transport in Brisbane and meal discounts.
QWaLC would like to invite all water and land carers to join them at this great day out. To obtain tickets for your groups, family or friends, call or send an email to QWaLC by 7 October.
People attending the event will be sitting together and have a Landcare banner on display, so why not help them celebrate the valuable contributions of volunteers in land and water care!
Submerged water plants: how to identify, regenerate and look after them
Submerged water plants (known to scientists as aquatic macrophytes) play a vital role in healthy wetlands.
If you are thinking of creating new wetlands, or repairing existing ones, you will need a clear understanding of the role of these plants.
Sydney Olympic Park Authority is holding a Wetland Education and Training (WET) workshop on 10-11 November that will build skills in identifying, assessing and managing aquatic macrophytes.
Examples will be taken from both natural and man-made wetlands and a variety of wetland creation and restoration sites will be visited and studied.
This is the fifth year that Sydney Olympic Park Authority has delivered the WET program and the 13th individual workshop the Authority will run.
For bookings email wetworkshop@sopa.nsw.gov.au or phone 02 9714 7888. For more information visit the Sydney Olympic Park web site.
New QWaLC board meets
The new QWaLC Board will meet for the first time in Brisbane on 3-4 November.
New directors Jim Meteyard (Burdekin/Mackay Whitsunday), Joe Crawford (Wet Tropics) and Dr Diana Beal (Condamine) will be welcomed by returning directors.
Nominations have also been received from the Queensland Murray Darling Committee and Desert Channels regions. These are yet to be formally appointed and will be announced in due course.
QWaLC's annual general meeting will be conducted via teleconference on the evening of the 3 November. If you wish to participate, please call Brenda on 3211 4409 .
QWaLC members are reminded that the Director position in the Northern/Southern Gulf region remains vacant.
Please email Brenda or call her if you are interested in learning more about this position.
Funding assistance gets trainees working
Traineeships are a way of employing and training new and existing workers in areas such as natural area restoration, conservation earthworks, indigenous land management, lands, parks and wildlife, vertebrate pest management, weed management, arboriculture, floriculture, landscape, retail nursery, wholesale nursery, parks and gardens and turf.
A trainee does paid work and training suited to the organisation's needs.
Generally anyone over 15 years of age can do a traineeship, including mature age people, high school students and family members who have no equity in the business.
Traineeships can be done on a full time or part time. They typically run for one or two years depending on skill of the trainee and the skills required by the employer. Upon completion, trainees are awarded a nationally recognised qualification.
What's in it for employers?
- You may be eligible to receive financial incentives
- You get free training for the trainee in most cases
- You pay the employee a training wage
- You get to choose the training provider
- You get to choose a customised training program
- You make all the hiring decisions
- You get more highly motivated staff and a better job done
- You get free assistance with the paperwork
- You can employ a trainee directly or through a training company.
Rural Skills Australia is a free information service funded by the Australian Government. For an information kit email Bob Ward, Rural Skills Australia or phone 3221 4850.
Meet the locals: Find out what species live in your area
The EPA's new Wildlife Online website allows clients to download species lists for areas including national parks, State forests and shires within Queensland.
By logging on to the EPA web site and selecting the area of interest or entering coordinates, users will be emailed a formatted species list within minutes.
These lists allow Queenslanders and visitors to know more about our natural biodiversity, including the distribution of our plants and animals and their status under state and federal legislation.
This system efficiently delivers wildlife information to a diverse range of users including students, tourists, non-government organisations, private enterprises and government bodies and it will also assist in better environmental planning and management for Queensland.
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 visit the regionalNRM web site.
The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Natural Resource Management Arrangements, Natural Resources and Mines, highlighting regional natural resource management activities around Queensland.
Last updated 05 April 2006