The Bugle - 9 June 2006
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories
- Burdekin NRM hits the airwaves
- Mackay Whitsunday Healthy Waterways Science Forum
- $273,000 to help southern Qld farmers manage soil
- Would you like to attend the Queensland Landcare Conference?
- Planning for the future: teaching the next generation
- Engaging the local community around the table in SEQ
Government updates
- A new email address for Performance Reporting
- National prize highlights continuing fight against salinity
- NRMW fee increase - 1 July 2006
- Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year finalists
- Review makes vegetation codes easier to use
Reef news
- North Qld farmers help the Reef recover
- Interactive displays help promote Reef wetlands
- Reef plan on show at Qld Landcare Conference
Natural resources news
- Gender bending could see cane toad's end
- New ant menace in north
- Industries work towards water quality
- Ugly sheep - how embarrassing!
- Qld leasehold agreement sealed
Burdekin NRM hits the airwaves
Tune in to 4K1G every Friday morning to hear what's going on in the Burdekin.
4K1G's Caring for Country program airs on the National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS) every Friday morning at 11am.
NIRS has a network of more than 130 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander radio stations with another 120 non-indigenous stations picking up their stories.
For more information, visit the NIRS web site or phone Tonya Booth on 4724 3544.
Mackay Whitsunday Healthy Waterways Science Forum
May was Healthy Waterways Month and, to wrap up the agenda, the Mackay Whitsunday NRM Group hosted the two-day, Healthy Waterways Science Forum.
There was a discussion about perceptions and values verses data, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to natural resource management. Mackay Whitsunday's Colin Creighton addressed issues of water and invited forum participants to say how they would like to see the region’s water situation in 2050.
Natalie Fries from NRMW presented on the Healthy Waterways Integrated Monitoring Program, emphasising the need to coordinate efforts and report back to the community.
The Sustainable Landscape Program, presented by Will Higham from Mackay Whitsunday NRM, and Phillip Trendell from the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations explained the on-ground activities of 190 of the region’s landholders involved in the program.
The most recent mangrove health findings, presented by Dr Judith Wake are now available on Macaky Whitsunday's web site.
Other presentations addressed fishways, groundwater, and research and development products, and Mackay Whitsunday’s Coast and Marine Officer, Matt Bloor, spoke about international shorebirds visiting the region, and gave findings of the recent seagrass program.
For more information contact Kelly Flower on 4953 3864.
$273,000 to help southern Qld farmers manage soil
The Queensland Murray-Darling Committee's (QMDC) pilot "Soil Management Tender" has closed, and letters of notification have been sent to successful farmers.
The tender was aimed at individual farmers throughout the Maranoa-Balonne and Border Rivers catchments whose properties are in highly fertile soil regions.
"Our fertile soil regions are of high importance, and state and federal governments have allocated funding to help farmers change their management practices," said QMDC Manager Geoff Penton.
So, QMDC put the funding out to tender, in a first-for-Queensland natural resource management initiative. The project has been highly successful so far, with 65 expressions of interest submitted to QMDC late last year.
"We have now approved 17 farmers, and committed a total of $273,686 over 8,900 hectares from the government's Agriculture State Investment Project initiative to help these farmers implement effective soil management changes," said Mr Penton.
This tender came out of a pilot project funded by the Social and Economic State Investment Project (SE05 SIP). This SIP was set up to find new ways for regional NRM groups to encourage better land management (in this case, through soil conservation).
QMDC will be running another Soil Management Tender later this year. For more information, contact the QMDC office on 4637 6201.
Would you like to attend the Queensland Landcare Conference?
Community members from the Maranoa-Balonne and Border Rivers catchments will have the chance to apply for sponsorship to attend the 17th Annual Queensland Landcare Conference to be held in Brisbane this year.
The Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC) will sponsor six people from the region to attend the four-day event from 21 to 24 August. The sponsorship package will cover the conference registration fees and up to $100 towards accommodation costs.
For more information about the conference, or to apply for QMDC's sponsorship package, contact QMDC on 4637 6201 (Toowoomba), 4671 7900 (Goondiwindi), or 4622 8446 (Roma).
Planning for the future: teaching the next generation
Senior high school agriculture students from across southern Queensland will again have the chance to test their planning skills in the real world of farming.
The 2006 Property Planning Program, organised by the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC), will give year 11 and 12 students the opportunity to see how a commercial farming and grazing enterprise actually works.
Program Coordinator, Pam Fisher, said that students will attend an on-property field day as part of the program, and design a working property management plan for a commercial farm.
"Plans will be judged, with the winners presenting their plan at the Discovering Landcare Conference, Toowoomba, in October this year," she said.
For more information contact Pam Fisher on 4622 8446.
Engaging the local community around the table in SEQ
SEQ Catchments are hosting 11 "round table" meetings to provide an opportunity to discuss, with representatives from local communities, the current state of the region’s natural resources.
The round-table discussions are a forum for organisations and individuals to consider the actions needed to minimise threats, examine available data, and discuss local catchment priorities for investment.
Round table discussions also help to identify potential new partnerships in South East Queensland for the investment of Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) and National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAPSWQ) funds. Also, the opportunity is there to review previous NHT and NAPSWQ investment in the region, and learn from and build upon those investments.
Round table meetings are being held throughout the region in the following catchment areas: Logan and Albert, North Coast, Upper Brisbane and Stanley, Bremer and Mid-Brisbane, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Lockyer, Redlands and Bay Islands, Pine River, and Pumicestone.
For more information contact Andrew Davidson on 3211 4404.
A new email address for Performance Reporting
NRMW's Community Partnerships now has a central email address for all performance reporting-related information: CP.perfreporting@nrm.qld.gov.au
Please use this new address for all communications related to performance reporting, including performance narrative reports, output reporting, and final reports.
If you send emails to specific people, and they're away, on leave or out of the office, your email may sit unopened in an inbox. By using our new central address your email will be opened and actioned the day it's received.
And, there's no need to call attention to any particular person, as your performance reporting-related email may be handled by any one of the Learning and Evaluation team in Community Partnerships.
National prize highlights continuing fight against salinity
A joint public-private salt harvesting scheme that each year diverts 22,000 tonnes of salt from the Murray River has won the prestigious Engineers' Australia National Salinity Prize.
The prize for new technology and other practical outcomes tackling salinity was awarded to Pyramid Creek Salt Interception and Harvesting Scheme by the Governor-General, Major General Michael Jeffery at Parliament House in Canberra.
The first stage of the public-private $13 million Pyramid Creek Salt Interception Scheme near Kerang, Victoria, was opened in April this year and is funded by the Victorian, South Australian, New South Wales and Australian Governments through the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC).
MDBC Chief Executive Dr Wendy Craik said MDBC co-sponsored the award which serves to highlight the ongoing battle against salinity across Australia.
"This prize also acknowledges the positive effects such projects have on communities, the environment and the local economy. More than 1,000 tonnes of salt would enter the Murray River system every day were it not for the operation of these schemes at strategic points along the river," Dr Craik said.
For information about salt interception or the Salinity Prize contact Sheridan Lockerbie from the MDBC on 02 6279 0141 or 0427 121 044.
NRMW fee increase - 1 July 2006
NRMW regulatory and non-regulatory fees will increase by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 2.8% from 1 July 2006. The increase affects all fees excluding:
- Regulatory fees prescribed under Miners Homestead Leases Regulation 1989.
- Some of the Stock Management fees in the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Regulation 2003.
- Mining rental fees which are reviewed each calendar year
- Fees prescribed under the Water Regulation 2002 are being reviewed separately. Information on these fees will be communicated when available.
- Forestry products.
For more information contact Brendan Moffat on 340 55554.
Prime Minister's environmentalist of the year finalists
Four finalists for the Prime Minister's Award for Environmentalist of the Year, Australia's most prestigious environmentalist award, have been announced today by the Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell.
Senator Campbell said he was extremely pleased to see such strong entries for the Award from individuals and groups all around Australia.
The winner will be announced on 22 July 2006.
Review makes vegetation codes easier to use
Four simpler versions of the codes used by the Queensland Government when it assesses applications for permits to clear native vegetation have been drafted.
Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Water, Henry Palaszczuk said, "The Government has listened to landholders' concerns about the existing codes and has drawn up these draft new codes with the aim of making them clearer, easier to understand and easier to use."
Landholders and other interest groups are invited to comment on the draft codes.
North Qld farmers help the Reef recover
Cyclone Larry cut a path through the Great Barrier Reef and, as with any cut, if dirt and other pollutants get in, the cut gets worse.
The Reef may recover well, if it is kept free from excess sediments, nutrients and chemicals flowing from rivers entering the reef lagoon. To prevent this runoff, the Australian and Queensland Governments are working with industry and community groups to step up the implementation of actions under the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan.
While cyclone Larry may have devastated many farms in the Far North Queensland reef catchment, many farmers have adopted practices to improve water quality as they rebuild their properties.
Fencing off river banks, revegetation programs, building levy banks and planting trees are some of the on-ground works underway to help rebuild livelihoods, protect the Reef, and help its recovery from cyclone Larry.
To find out more about the Reef Plan visit the Reef Plan web site.
Top
Interactive displays help promote Reef wetlands
Wetlands and water – supporting life, sustaining livelihoods was the theme of World Wetlands Day 2006, and saw the launch of some exciting new educational products.
Exploring our Wetlands touch-screen information booths were unveiled in Mission Beach, Mackay and Emerald. The booths are a collaborative project of the Australian and Queensland Governments and regional NRM bodies, and are an important educational resource that highlights the value of wetlands within the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
These booths complement other new educational resources including a new series of Reef Beat posters on wetland values, school curriculum units and a wetlands web quest.
These educational products were developed as part of activities under the Queensland Wetlands Program, which contributes to the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, a 10-year program to halt and reverse the declining water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef.
For more information, visit the Reef Plan web site.
Reef plan on show at Qld Landcare Conference
The Reef Water Quality Protection Plan will be on show at the upcoming 2006 Queensland Landcare Conference—Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide, in August.
With more than 35 sessions, 8 field trips, four keynote speakers, 30 trade exhibitions and 350 delegates, this conference is sure to appeal to a wide range of land managers and their support networks around Queensland.
It is also an ideal forum in which to demonstrate the great work being done to protect the Reef through the implementation of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan.
The plan’s display will feature case studies and practical examples of how land managers can improve water quality in the waterways adjacent to their properties.
Visit the Landcare conference website or the Reef Plan web site for more information.
Gender bending could see cane toad's end
Cane toads could breed themselves out of existence if a Queensland scientist can perfect a gene that would wipe out all females in the population.
Professor Peter Koopman from the University of Queensland is working on a gene that ensures female toads only give birth to males.
If the gender bender is successful, Professor Koopman believes the nation's estimated 200 million toads could one day be a thing of the past.
New ant menace in north
A tiny foreigner capable of blinding domestic pets and causing significant environmental damage has invaded far north Queensland.
The electric ant was discovered at Smithfield, about 15km north of Cairns, after several residents complained of severe rashes caused by their bite.
It is the first time the one millimetre-long, slow-moving ant—originally from South America—has been found in Australia.
About 18 home sites in the popular tourist spot have been found to contain the pest.
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries spokesman Keith McCubbin said an extensive search of the region for the ant would begin immediately in order to determine the extent of the outbreak.
Industries work towards water quality
A program that brings together the banana, sugar, beef and forestry industries to improve water quality in the Cardwell Shire was launched on 5 June.
The Cardwell Shire floodplain program was launched by General Peter Cosgrove in Tully.
Keith Nobel, a tropical fruit grower and director with Growcom, is a member of the program's steering committee. He says the program was established to improve primary industry productivity and biodiversity in the Cardwell and Tully regions.
Ugly sheep - how embarrassing!
The search is on for the ugliest merino lambs, because they could save Australia's billion dollar wool industry.
Scientists from the South Australian Research and Development Institute and the University of Adelaide are looking for sheep with "unusual wool", saying they hold the key to improving the genetic quality of merino wool.
Professor Phil Hynd from the University of Adelaide says lambs are usually culled because they have uneven wool, no crimp or bare patches. He said studying these lambs would help them identify genes which affect wool production.
"We've already got about half a dozen animals that producers provided us with and man, they're the weirdest looking mob of sheep that you've ever seen in your life," he said.
"They're quite embarrassing really, even the sheep look embarrassed."
Qld leasehold agreement sealed
The Queensland Government and lobby group Agforce have after four years finally reached a new agreement for leasehold land, which is expected to provide more certainty for graziers.
Some conservation groups have argued that the maximum time for a lease should be 10 years.
Brett De Hayr from Agforce says the Government has agreed to 30, 40 and 50 year tenures.
Thought for the week ... on the nature and beauty of brevity
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.
From The Elements of Style, by Professor William Strunk Jr.
We welcome your contributions and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions for The Bugle please contact Paul Rees or Miriam Airey.
To view past issues of The Bugle visit the regional NRM web site.
Last updated 08 June 2006