The Bugle - 4 August 2006
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories
- Bugle bungle: Youth mistaken for weapon
- Mother of millions weeded out
- What is salinity and is it having an impact on you?
- Burdekin Dry Tropics pours $100,000 into water quality and efficiency
- 81 good reasons to check the incentives database
- Interim Queensland Landcare facilitator appointed
- Turnbull responds to Toowoomba's "No" vote
- National Tree Day - 1 million trees good news for our environment
- Reef Plan coordinates management action on public lands
- Reef Plan supports industry-led best practice
Natural resources news
Bugle bungle: Youth mistaken for weapon
Last week's Bugle contained the happy news that the Ghost Nets program had won a prestigious Banksia environmental award.
Unhappily, we said the Ghost Nets coordinator was Riki Young, when of course we should have said Riki Gunn.
Our apologies to Riki.
On the upside, it's given us another chance to congratulate Riki and the Ghost Nets program on their fantastic achievement in winning a Banksia award.
Mother of millions weeded out
The Mother of Millions weed eradication project in the Back Creek sub-catchment near Millmerran is on track to achieve its target of 90% eradication, Millmerran Landcare coordinator Libby Gardiner said.
The project, the first of its kind, is being undertaken in partnership by the Condamine Alliance, Millmerran Landcare, Millmerran Shire Council, Millmerran Power Partners and the Department of Natural Resources Mines and Water, with a Darling Downs Correctional Centre work crew spraying the pesticide.
The project set the ambitious target of treating 90% of the infestations by the end of June. Although this has not yet been achieved, it is expected to be met by the end of September.
Millmerran Landcare is coordinating the project but all landholders in the target area are invited to participate.
"The funding provided by Condamine Alliance and Millmerran Power Partners is meant to provide all landholders with access to resources to assist them in eradicating Mother of Millions from their properties. So far we have had a great response." Ms Gardiner said.
Details of progress and plans to implement the next phase of the project will be discussed at a public meeting at a date to be announced. All landholders are encouraged to attend.
For more info, phone Libby Gardiner on 4635 2336.
What is salinity and is it having an impact on you?
SEQ Catchments and Boonah Landcare will host a workshop to provide an introduction to salinity and an overview of how it might be detected and managed in the Boonah shire.
The program for the day will include:
- An introduction to salinity, the causes and principles used to predict where salinity is likely to occur and how it is expected to spread and possibilities for management. (Roger Shaw will lead the discussion.)
- The salinity situation in local waterways; where and why salinity might be found in the shire. (Bill Thompson will lead the discussion.)
- A discussion on what needs to be done about salinity and how SEQ Catchments can facilitate further activities.
Paul Evans from the SEQ Catchments community water quality monitoring team will test water samples from local properties for salinity. Test results will be anonymous. Paul will use the results to explain the purposes the water is suitable for, such as domestic consumption, irrigation and stock watering.
The workshop is on at the Boonah Cultural Centre on Monday 7 August.
For info, email SEQ Catchments community contact officer for the Bremer, Samantha Holdway or phone her on 5463 9000.
Burdekin Dry Tropics pours $100,000 into water quality and efficiency
Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM group and Growcom are working together to improve water quality and water-use efficiency in the region's horticulture industry.
Growers can apply for incentive funding for projects related to farm mapping and planning, improved irrigation systems and improved water management, including soil conservation works, sediment traps and water quality monitoring.
The project is a collaboration between Growcom, Bowen District Growers Association and the Sustainable Coastal Agricultural Systems Project (soon to be known as Reef Link) and is part of the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water's Rural Water Use Efficiency Initiative.
For more info, email Water for Profit program leader Callum Rowe or phone him on 4068 2255 or 0407 597 403.
81 good reasons to check the incentives database
The incentives database, a one-stop-shop for financial assistance available for natural resource management, now has a record number of incentives listed.
There is information on 81 different incentive programs - that's 81 good reasons to visit the database.
Getting information from the database is easy. Simply select the activities you wish to undertake, the source of funds, or the region you're from and the database will do the rest. You will get a comprehensive list of all matching incentives, a description of each incentive, and links to the incentive provider's website.
For more info, phone Beth Clouston on 3224 7734 or visit the incentives database.
Interim Queensland Landcare facilitator appointed
Brian Venz, formerly from the Department of Natural Resources, Minesa and Water, has been appointed interim Queensland Landcare Coordinator following Tony Gietzel’s resignation at end of June.
Brian said he would be in the job for three months or until a formal appointment to the position was made.
"During this time, I will have the National Landcare Program continuing project proposals as a priority as well as the current call for the Natural Resource Innovation Grants, plus the normal Landcare coordinator roles," he said.
Brian will work with industry and each regional NRM groups' Landcare coordinators on sustainable primary production, promoting the Landcare ethic and helping people access grants programs.
For more info, email Brian or phone him on 3620 3823 or 0428 330 121.
Turnbull responds to Toowoomba's "No" vote
The Prime Minister's Parliamentary Secretary, Malcolm Turnbull, has responded on behalf of the Australian Government to Toowoomba's "No" vote on the Water Futures proposal for purified waste water to be piped back to the drinking supply.
National Tree Day - 1 million trees good news for our environment
The Australian Minister for Conservation, Senator Eric Abetz, has congratulated groups and individuals who took part in National Tree Day.
"I commend the community groups, organisations and individuals who contributed to [the weekend] event and are making a real difference to the Australian environment," the Minister said.
"Communities are ... getting behind the on-ground National Tree Day plantings which will see approximately 1 million trees planted right across Australia.
"Since its inception in 1996, over 10 million trees have been planted on National Tree Day."
Reef Plan coordinates management action on public lands
One of the important actions within the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (Reef Plan) is Action A6, which aims to develop management strategies and actions on public lands to conserve, rehabilitate and protect vegetation along rivers and wetlands.
The Australian and Queensland Governments are implementing coordinated strategies and actions for public land that conserve, rehabilitate and protect riparian zones (river bank vegetation) and wetlands.
Numerous projects within the protected riparian areas and wetlands within the Reef catchment are underway.
For more info, visit the Reef Plan website.
Reef Plan supports industry-led best practice
Action A4 of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (Reef Plan) seeks industry-led development of best management practice for land, natural resources and chemical use practices for the sugar, fruit and vegetable, broad-acre cropping, dairy and grazing industries in high-risk Reef catchments.
Primary industry groups such as AgForce and the Queensland Farmers Federation are developing best management practice programs focusing on sustainable natural resources management and chemical use.
For further info, visit the Reef Plan web site and the Reef Plan Annual Report 04-05.
Lockyer landcarers get a taste of the coast
More than 20 volunteers from the Lockyer Valley and West Moreton district visited the Gold Coast last weekend as part of an urban-rural exchange program, coordinated by Queensland Landcare Foundation.
The exchanges, which are taking place in several Queensland regions, aim to build a greater understanding of the environmental issues that face people in urban and rural areas and the work being undertaken to address those issues.
June Harms, President of West Moreton Landcare Group, said the exchanges were vital to bridging the urban-rural divide.
"The Lockyer Valley is known as the salad bowl of Australia. It is crucial that we manage our land and the impacts of primary production to ensure a sustainable future," Ms Harms said.
"Similarly, we're curious about the challenges that people on the coast face. This trip allowed us to better understand issues such as coastal regeneration, sustainable development and community engagement."
The trip built on a previous one where Landcare volunteers from the Gold Coast visited the Lockyer. They looked at salinity, creek restoration, a local community group headquarters and a major regional recreational facility. Some of the participants on that trip had never seen the effects of salty soil before.
Other exchanges will take place in the Burnett, Fitzroy and Far North Queensland regions. The Gold Coast-Lockyer exchanges have taken place with assistance from the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water and support from SEQ Catchments.
Further information about Landcare or the exchanges is available by contacting Queensland Landcare Foundation on 07 3211 4413 or visiting the Landcare web site.
Thought for the week
"The worst thing that can happen is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendants are least likely to forgive us."
Professor Edward O Wilson, Harvard University
We welcome your contributions and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions for The Bugle please contact Paul Rees or Shona Strachan.
To view past issues of The Bugle visit the regional NRM web site.
The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Community Partnerships, the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water, highlighting regional NRM activities around Queensland.
Last updated 03 August 2006