The Bugle - 18 November 05
In news this week
Regional body stories
- Sub-catchment planning delivers on-ground works in southern Queensland
- Fire management is hot on the agenda at Southern Gulf
- $300,000 worth of protection for Mary
- Come one, come all and discover the south-east
Government updates
- RSVPs due today for Future Programmes
- Community Cabinet heads to the Torres Strait
- Reef Plan gets its own steering committee
Natural resources news
- Celebrate our wonderful wetlands on World Wetlands Day
- Environmental maps now online
- Local landcare legends represent the state's volunteers
Sub-catchment planning delivers on-ground works in southern Queensland
The approval of two more sub-catchment plans in the Inglewood-Texas area and $145,000 in funding from the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee, will bring benefits to local farmers, communities and the environment.
The plans have been developed by the Canning Creek and Dumaresq Valley sub-catchment groups and outline a range of activities to improve the areas natural resources, such as fencing off along creeks and rivers, erosion control and re-planting trees in previously cleared areas.
Inglewood Landcare Co-ordinator, Tanya Robinson, has been working with the groups to develop the plans and says the work will be undertaken on 16 properties, covering a total area of 43,000 hectares.
John and Roslyn Dieckmann are members of the Canning Creek sub-catchment group and are intending to fence off around 10 kilometres along the headwaters of Mosquito Creek and set aside a large area of pristine bush, containing unique timber and rock formations.
For more information, visit the QMDC web site or contact the QMDC on 4637 6270.
Fire management is hot on the agenda in the Southern Gulf
Fire management is now a hot topic in the Southern Gulf as funding for a senior field officer was announced as part of the Fire and Sustainable Communities project.
As fire is one of the main risks to the sustainable management of the natural resources of the Southern Gulf, the field officer will plan through the forthcoming wet season and train and engage communities and pastoralists, particularly involving Indigenous people, in preparation for coordinated burns in the 2006 dry season.
The field officer will live and work in the Doomadgee and Mornington Island communities and become the pivotal point for traditional links to Indigenous Heritage. The project will enhance the sharing of knowledge between young and old and a variety of community groups.
The Fire and Sustainable Communities in the North West project is a joint partnership between Southern Gulf Catchments, the Queensland Department of Emergency Services, Carpenteria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Burke Shire Council and Tropical Savannas Cooperative Reseach Centre.
For more information contact the Southern Gulf Catchments on 4743 1888.
$300,000 worth of protection for Mary
BMRG has announced funding in excess of $300,000 for the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee as part of their 2005 Program of Rivercare for the Mary Catchment.
The rehabilitation of the Mary River and its tributaries is identified as a priority action by BMRG. The recently approved funding is for high priority projects of critical importance to the environmental health of the region.
The MRCCC and partners have operated a quality assured Waterwatch Program since 2002 and the new program will expand on this to monitor the success of the on-ground rehabilitation efforts.
BMRG now supports several projects in the Mary River targeting river bank rehabilitation and water quality improvements. Other activities include rehabilitating and conserving threatended species habitat, expanding farm forestry and revegetation efforts and weed control.
For more information visit the BMRG web site or contact the BMRG office (Bundaberg) on 4132 8333
Come one, come all and discover the south-east
NRM SEQ Inc invites you to participate in a series of bus trips to explore the natural assets and meet some of the inspiring community of the south-east Queensland region.
Five buses will be heading out in November and December; more details can be found on the NRM SEQ web site:
- Brisbane and Redlands - Tuesday 15 November
- Logan and Beaudesert - Thursday 17 November
- Pumicestone and Pine Rivers - Tuesday 22 November
- Gold Coast - Tuesday 29 November
- Sunshine Coast - Tuesday 1 December
If you have any questions or would like to register, contact Natasha at NRM SEQ on 3211 4404
RSVPs due today for Future Programmes
RSVPs are due by close of business today for attendance at the Future Programmes - Learnings/Opportunities/Threats workshop being held by the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) on Thursday 1 December.
The workshop is for representatives from the Regional Groups Collective (specifically the regional body chairs) and SIP Program Implementation Board chairs, and will be held from 2.00pm to 5.00pm at the Walk-About Creek Conference Centre, Brisbane Forest Park.
The focus of the day will include impact of drought on program implementation and legacy issues.
The workshop is being held as part of the next JSC meeting on 1—2 December in Brisbane.
To RSVP or to confirm your attendance, please contact Debbie Guzek on 3225 2676.
Community Cabinet is heading to the Torres Strait
State Cabinet will head to the Torres Strait next month for a historic Community Cabinet meeting.
This is the first Community Cabinet to be held in the Torres Strait and the tenth held this year.
The two-day gathering will offer the community the chance to meet the Premier, Ministers and Directors-General, and will allow the region to highlight its successes.
Community Cabinet will be held on Sunday 4 December from 1.30pm to 5.00pm at the Thursday Island State High School and on Monday 5 December from 9.30am at the Torres Shire Council Chambers on Thursday Island.
Reef Plan gets its own steering committee
Three new groups have been formed under the Reef Plan to coordinate and engage the multiple organisations involved in managing the Reef Plan.
The Intergovernmental Steering Committee (ISC) sets long term directions and is comprised of heads of agencies, while the Intergovernmental Operational Committee (IOC) provides implementation direction and comprises senior officers of the principal state and federal government agencies involved in the Reef Plan.
Members of the ISC and IOC include representatives from various Queensland and Australian Government agencies, including the Queensland Department of the Premier and Cabinet; Natural Resources and Mines; Primary Industries and Fisheries; Local Government and Planning (the IOC only) and the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage; Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
The third group, the Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) was formed to manage the day to day role out of the strategies and actions of the Reef Plan by the agencies, industry and community groups.
For information on the Reef Plan, visit the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan page on the Premier's web site.
Celebrate our wonderful wetlands on World Wetlands Day
WWD is fast approaching for yet another year...so it's time to start thinking about how you are going to celebrate Australia's wetlands and the signing of the Ramsar Convention.
WWD is held annually on 2 February; the theme for 2006 is 'Wetlands and water - supporting life, sustaining livelihoods'.
If you have been involved in previous years (or never before!) you'll be happy to know that information is available on the Department of Environment and Heritage's (DEH) web site and the Ramsar Convention Secretariat web site.
DEH would also like to add your event to their events calendar, so if you are organising an event and would like to be included, please contact Alison Beard on 6274 2555 for more information.
DEH is also providing a variety of national communication and Ramsar Convention products to assist in celebrations; again, please contact Alison Beard if you are interested in receiving any of these products.
The Ramsar Convention is the Convention on Wetlands that was signed in Ramsar, Iran on 2 February 1971.
Environmental maps now online
A new EPA map service is now available free through the Internet.
Maps on the Web, a free GIS service, provides the publice with easy access to customised, high quality maps for planning purposes. Three types of maps can be produced: maps of environmentally sensitive areas for mining, maps for regional ecosystems and koala habitat area maps.
Applicants previously had to contact the EPA or visit an EPA office to obtain copies of these maps.
The public can also download data for regional ecosystems into a GPS or their own GIS software for further evaluation and self-assessment.
Maps on the Web provides the same information that the EPA uses to make decisions on applications for permits and has simplified the process for the public, creating more convenience and the ability to easily assess the environmental information associated with permit applications.
To view either the regional ecosystem maps, the environmentally sensitive areas for mining maps or the koala habitat areas maps, visit the EPA web site
Local landcare legends represent the state's volunteers
What do you get when you mix a farmer, a uni professor, a couple of graziers and a handful of landcare volunteers? A new Board for Queensland Water and Land Carers Inc. (QWaLC), the state's peak body representing NRM volunteers.
Esma Armstrong OAM has again been elected Chair, and is the south-east Queensland representative. Esma has been Chair since QWaLC's inception in 2003.
Sandy Paton has been voted QWaLC's Vice-President and has been the QWaLC's Fitzroy representative since 2003. Sandy has held an executive position since 2004.
Sue Ferguson, a primary producer, and Dr Diana Beal, from the University of Southern Queensland, were endorsed as the Queensland Murray-Darling and Condamine representatives respectively. Diana is also QWaLC's new treasurer.
Jim Meteyard, a local grazier, is the Burdekin/Mackay Whitsunday representative and recently attended his first QWaLC meeting in Brisbane.
The Desert Channels region has a new voice to represent their interests; Elizabeth Clark was appointed the DCQ representative, and is a member of the Longreach Landcare Group. She is keen to hear from people in the region with an interest in landcare and can be contacted on 4658 2105.
The interests of the Wet Tropics are also represented by Joe Crawford, a Malanda grazier. Joe is currently the president of the Malanda Landcare Group.
For more information, visit the QWaLC web site or contact Tess McGlone on 3211 4409.
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Shona Strachan or Paul Rees.
To view past issues of The Bugle visit the regional NRM 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