The Bugle - 21 April
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories
- Erosion, weeds and remnant vegetation top priorities for Qld Murray-Darling farmers
- Prizes up for grabs at the next Discovering Landcare conference
- The golden fleece: 5 years of research to pay off for wool growers
- Getting paid to manage your own land
Government updates
- Cyclone support to help FNQ NRM bounce back
- Waterway monitors share ideas
- Revamped regional NRM web site about to go live
Natural resources news
Erosion, weeds and remnant vegetation top priorities for Qld Murray-Darling farmers
Combating soil erosion, managing weeds and pests, and protecting remnant vegetation have been high priorities for natural resource management in the Border Rivers and Maranoa-Balonne catchments of southern Queensland.
A recent report from the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee revealed these three aspects of natural resource management enjoyed the highest support from landholders in July to December 2005.
In this period, an additional 86,250ha was protected against erosion, 78,770ha became part of weed and pest management programs and 24,619ha of remnant vegetation was protected, the Report said.
Ensuring the increased health of the region's water ways is fast climbing the list of priorities for the region's land managers.
The QMDC report revealed increased numbers of communities in these catchments participated in water quality projects.
Some 221 alternative watering points now exist around the two catchments, with a total of 8,293 hectares of river banks under stabilisation projects and 196km of river banks fenced off.
The QMDC has provided financial support and technical advice to landholders and shire councils throughout the region to help implement these projects. For more info, phone the QMDC's Geoff Penton on 4637 6276.
Prizes up for grabs at the next Discovering Landcare conference
Students from around Queensland have until 31 May to nominate their classes for entry into a presentation competition at Toowoomba’s next Discovering Landcare conference.
The conference, held in October and hosted by the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee, will have a segment for students to present on environmental, conservation or sustainability projects their classes have been conducting.Â
Prizes will be given for the Best Overall, Most Interactive, and Most Innovative presentations.
For more information, go to the Discovering Landcare web site, or contact Annette Grey on 4637 6201.
The golden fleece: 5 years of research to pay off for wool growers
After five years of monitoring and research, wool growers in Queensland's Traprock region will soon be able to integrate biodiversity management with increasing levels of production.
The Traprock Woolgrowers' Association, well known for its high-quality wool, has worked with the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee and local Landcare groups since 2001.
Since then, property plans for 110 landholders, nine sub-catchment plans and an environmental management system for the region’s wool industry have been developed.
More recent partnerships with Land, Water & Wool and the University of Southern Queensland have led to the development of a web-based environmental monitoring and management toolkit.
"We will now be able to set benchmarks for pasture and vegetation management, develop strategies for improving management systems, and, hopefully, develop a good balance between production and conservation," Traprock Wool Association's immediate past president, Andrew Ferrier, said.
For more info, phone Andrew Ferrier on 4683 6236 or the QMDC's Greg Ford on 4637 6230.
Read more about the Traprock Wool project
Getting paid to manage your own land
A ground-breaking program being introduced to central Queensland will see landholders receiving financial support to manage areas of remnant forest that can no longer be cleared under the state's vegetation management laws.
The program is being introduced in the Isaac, Connors and Mackenzie River catchments.
Catchment coordinator Ruth Anderson said the program recognised landholders who managed remnant vegetation, encouraging them to look at the land's biodiversity values and providing them with financial assistance toward the cost of managing those areas.
Funds will be allocated through an auction-style tendering process assessed on the costs and the biodiversity values of the proposed land area. To be suitable, the area must carry remnant vegetation mapped on the regional ecosystem map and have some biodiversity values. Regrowth is not included in the scheme.
For more info, phone Ruth Anderson on 0428 985 440 or see the Fitzroy Basin Association for a short audio program explaining how the biodiversity tender will work - go to FBA's web site and right click the play button to download to your desktop to listen.
Cyclone support to help FNQ NRM bounce back
The Queensland and Australian Governments are developing a package to help FNQ NRM bounce back after Cyclone Larry.
The package will include a number of measures that will help the regional NRM group get back on its feet, as well as protect sensitive environments from further damage.
Under consideration are the employment of a cyclone response coordinator and teams of conservation volunteers to work on priority revegetation and farm forestry sites.
Funding for the package would come from the NRM Strategic Reserve.
In addition, the governments will give FNQ NRM the flexibility it needs to complete its financial and performance reports and will consider modifications to the group’s regional investment strategy, should that be necessary.
For more info, email Dave Wildermuth or phone him on 3224 2475.
Waterway monitors share ideas
Water monitoring coordinators from across Queensland were in Brisbane recently to discuss the future role, needs and issues associated with community-based waterway monitoring.
Workshop participants listened to presentations and took part in discussions on five themes: monitoring methods; data management and interpretation; health and safety; strategies for knowledge building and; training development and delivery.
The workshop's final session focused on future arrangements for state-level support of community-based waterway monitoring and the feedback gathered will be used to guide the direction of the State Community Monitoring Team.
The workshop was hosted by the State Community Monitoring Team within the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water's Community and Landscape Sciences group and was partly funded under the NAP WQ05 (Enhancing community capacity to monitor water quality targets) project.
For more info, email Cindy Trevor or phone her on 3896 9526.
New regional NRM web site about to go live
The long-awaited revamp of the regional NRM web site is all but completed and the new site will go live in the next week.
The revamped web site will feature a great new look, new content and much simpler navigation so make sure you check it out when it goes live and regularly after that.
Coordinator of the web site review Shona Strachan is looking forward to getting her life back.
There will be no further updates of the old site until the new one goes live. Anyone asking Shona for an exception will be taking their lives in their hands.
For more info, email Shona Strachan or phone her on 3222 2758.
Envirofund extended for Cyclone Larry and Katherine flood-affected areas
Community groups and individuals in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory town of Katherine can apply for Australian Government Envirofund grants until 19 May, after the April deadline was extended.
The destruction caused by Cyclone Larry last month and the recent Katherine floods this month means some people will need extra time to submit applications for local environmental projects.
Australian Government Ministers for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, and Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator Eric Abetz, said people living in the Wet Tropics and Northern Gulf NRM regions had an extra three weeks to apply for an Envirofund grant.
Read the Minister's media statement
Thought for the week...
The lesson I read in the past is this: that the health of land and water - and of woods, which are the keepers of water - can be the only lasting basis for any civilization's survival and success.
Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Paul Rees or Shona Strachan.
To view past issues of The Bugle visit the regional NRM web site.
Last updated 28 April 2006