The Bugle - 11 August 2006
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories
- Marine environment festivities in SEQ
- Need a hand...or two?
- Capacity Building Coordinator to join Burdekin Aboriginal group
- Goondiwindi women set to become naturally resourceful
- Landcare conference countdown has started...
Government updates
- Partnerships rehabilitate nine icon rivers
- Queensland Government “byteing” back at e-waste
- Henry Palaszczuk to retire from politics
- Evelyne appointed Community Partnerships General Manager
Reef Plan Secretariat news
Natural resources news
- Burnett Catchment Care Association awarded $152 000
- Regional awards recognise acheivers
- Latest SIPs update now available
Marine environment festivities in SEQ
At the banks of the Einbunpin Lagoon in Sandgate, people recently celebrated their local culture and environment.
The Einbunpin Festival comes to life at Sandgate every July to celebrate the Indigenous mystical being, the 'Bunpin'. Marine environment issues were showcased at many of the colourful market stalls.
SEQ Catchments and Keep Sandgate Beautiful Association hosted a stall designed to educate the wider community on the marine life of Bramble Bay. A number of specimens from the Queensland Museum were displayed to show some of the treasures in south-east Queensland's local waters. About 500 people were interested in the display, particulary in the dugongs.
SEQ Catchments is educating the public about the marine environment through various on-ground activities. Some of these activities include free monthly beach walks provided for the community. The marine environment in south-east Queensland is under threat from rapid population growth. Collaborative efforts within the local community, including SEQ Catchments, are continuously building to protect our precious marine resources.
For further details, contact Sean Galvin, Community Partnership Manager (Bay & Islands), SEQ Catchments on 0400 910 680.
Need a hand...or two?
An exciting new partnership has been established between the Burnett Mary Regional Group for NRM and Conservation Volunteers Australia to provide on-ground support and resources to community groups and land managers across the Burnett Mary region.
BMRG Landcare and Industry Coordinator Clinton Muller said, "it's one thing to provide community groups with financial support to undertake on-ground work, but it's another thing to provide them with a labour source – and this is exactly what we'll be achieving with this new partnership with CVA".
The partnership will involve the enlistment of a CVA Better Earth Team of six to ten volunteers (often international volunteers) at six week intervals to provide labour to community care groups and local governments throughout the Burnett Mary region.
This week, the first CVA team of 10 international volunteers representing six nationalities started work with the Bundaberg & District Urban Landcare Group. The passionate young volunteers are removing weeds at key sites in the Bundaberg region and will also assist in an important tree planting project at Baldwin Swamp.
For more info, contact BMRG Landcare and Industry Coordinator Clinton Muller on 4132 8333.
Capacity Building Coordinator to join Burdekin Aboriginal group
Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM is providing the Gugjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation $113 850 to engage a Capacity Building Coordinator.
The coordinator will be responsible for assisting Gudjuda people to source funds which will continue building their capacity to manage natural and cultural resources sustainably within the Burdekin Dry Tropics region.
The Gudjuda Reference Group represents four traditional owner groups in an area covering parts of the Townsville, Burdekin, Bowen and local government districts.
Previous projects undertaken by the group include repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural materials, design and construction of a bush tucker walk, and the establishment of a turtle and dugong hunting agreement and memorandum of agreement with the EPA.
Goondiwindi's women set to become naturally resourceful
Female land managers in Goondiwindi will gain new leadership and land management skills at a "Naturally Resourceful" short course, thanks to an $8800 grant from the Queensland Government.
The course, being run by the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee, focuses on increasing women's knowledge and awareness of natural resource management.
As a pilot project, QMDC hopes to later open the course to other target groups such as young people and Indigenous people.
For more information, visit the QMDC web site.
Landcare conference countdown has started...
With only nine days to go, more than 300 delegates are preparing themselves to attend the 2006 Queensland Landcare Conference.
Some highlights of this year's conference includes more than 80 presenters and speakers from all over Queensland; the biodiversity pre-conference forum; 33 concurrent sessions on topics including engagment, innovation, peri-urban issues, and ecosystems serivces; and the launch of Enhancing Sustainable Agriculture Case Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency and Queensland Farmers' Federation.
Registrations must close 15 August, after which late penalties apply. Registration forms and conference programs are available from the Queensland Landcare Foundation web site.
Don't miss out on your chance to attend this fantastic event.
Partnerships rehabilitate nine icon rivers
The Australian Government is working in partnership with Greening Australia, corporate sponsors, including Alcoa, and catchment management authorities to rehabilitate nine of Australia's icon rivers.
The Ministers for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Peter McGauran, and the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, this week officially launched the 10-year national River Recovery programme at Parliament House, Canberra.
River Recovery will coordinate rehabilitation activities along the Yarra (Victoria), Hawkesbury/Nepean ( NSW), Boorowa ( ACT / NSW), Derwent (Tasmania), Lower Murray (South Australia), Burdekin (Queensland), Hutt (Western Australia), Coliban (Northern Territory) and Katherine (Northern Territory).
Read the Ministers' joint statement
Queensland Government “byteing” back at e-waste
The Environmental Protection Agency's computer recycling program could see its old hardware living a new life in fridges, cars, washing machines, knives or even railroad tracks - as the department spearheads State Government efforts to address the growing e-waste problem.
Environment Minister Desley Boyle announced the EPA would be the first Queensland Government agency to recycle its entire fleet of computer systems and replace them with monitors, hard drives, keyboards and mouses that meet world's best environmental standards.
Henry Palaszczuk to retire from politics
Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Water and Member for Inala Henry Palaszczuk has announced he will retire from politics at the next election.
Mr Palaszczuk, who was first elected to State Parliament in 1984, served as Minister for Primary Industries from 1998 to 2005 and Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Water since that time.
"With my plans to retire and the urgency surrounding water issues, I welcome Premier Peter Beattie's decision to formally assume responsibilities as Minister for Water. I will continue to work with him and stakeholders on water issues up until the next election," Mr Palaszczuk said.
Evelyne appointed Community Partnerships General Manager
Dr Evelyne Meier has been appointed General Manager of the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water’s Community Partnerships division.
"I'm looking forward to continuing to work with all the great people I've been dealing with since I joined Community Partnerships," she said.
"And I hope you are all looking forward to working with me, because now I've been formally appointed, I don’t plan on going anywhere else soon!"
You can contact Evelyne Meier by phoning 3227 6587.
New research supports the need for the Reef Plan
A new study by the University of Queensland shows the inshore corals of the Great Barrier Reef are in sharp decline, in comparison to the reef further off the coast. The two-week study was carried out near Mackay, in northern Queensland.
University of Queensland researcher Guy Marion says increased nutrients and sediment from farming and development have stressed and killed inshore coral.
"Fifty kilometres offshore, you have the healthy outer Great Barrier Reef environment that people imagine and equate with the reef," he said.
"As you move in from there, you go through this quite rapid change in the environment towards a more algal-dominated environment, seagrass-dominated environment over the coral-dominated environment of the offshore."
The Reef Water Quality Protection Plan is focused on ways to improve the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Through improved farming and grazing practices, primary industries are helping to implement the Reef Plan and protect the Great Barrier Reef.
Find out more on the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan web site. For the full story, visit the University of Queensland web site.
Burnett Catchment Care Association awarded $152 000
The Burnett Catchment Care Association has been awarded $152 000 by the Queensland Government Coordinator General for a 12-month environmental project.
The funding will be used by the association to clear aquatic weeds and ensure the habitats of lungfish and turtles are protected as much as possible.
The weed clearing project is one of a growing number of practical projects funded under the Burnett Program of Actions; a series of eight environmental projects across the Burnett River catchment.
Visit the Burnett Program of Actions web site for more information.
Regional awards recognise achievers
The Regional Achievement and Community Awards encourage, acknowledge and reward valuable contributions and outstanding achievements in regional and rural areas.
The focus of the awards will be small to medium-sized businesses, organisations involved in promoting the community through events and tourism, individuals providing leadership and initiative and community groups enhancing the social, economic, commercial and environmental prosperity of their region.
Download the nomination form from the Awards Australia web site.
Latest SIPs update now available
Have you found youself wondering about the progress of the state-level investment projects?
Wonder no more - the SIPs update for April-June 2006 is now available! It can be downloaded from the regional NRM web site.
Thoughts for the week
In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
Our environmental problems originate in the hubris of imagining ourselves as the central nervous system or the brain of nature. We're not the brain, we are a cancer on nature.
Dave Foreman
It's a wise man who holds a steady path.
Barbara Henson
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 10 August 2006