The Bugle - 09 February 2007
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories
- Fitzroy celebrates World Wetlands Day
- Peter Andrews spreads Natural Sequence Farming message to NQ graziers
- Symposium targets resource managers and scientists from Farmland to Fraser
Government updates
- Community grants get Queenslanders involved in natural resources
- Applications called for $20 million Envirofund
- Administrative changes follow new federal Cabinet announcement
- Clean Up Australia Day targets climate change
- Grazing workshop proceedings now on the web
Reef Plan updates
Queensland Wetlands Programme updates
Natural resources news
- Climate change summit announced
- Plastic almost bags Connie the sea turtle
- Sea levels rising faster than predicted
- Time running out to nominate young volunteers
- Get a job in NRM!
Regional NRM group stories
Fitzroy celebrates World Wetlands Day
The Fitzroy Basin Association celebreated World Wetlands Day in style, with activities invovling Landcare groups, traditional owners, schools and Greening Australia, among others.
Events included the Livingstone Shire Council unveiling a new Queensland Wetlands Programme interactive-learning touch-screen information kiosk at Yeppoon.
Visit the FBA website for details and pics.
Peter Andrews spreads Natural Sequence Farming message to NQ graziers
North Queensland grazing land managers will take another practical step towards managing climate change and improving the quality of water leaving their properties at a Natural Sequence Farming field day on March 3.
The field day, to be conducted by the Three Rivers Landcare Group, Burdekin Dry Tropics and Dalrymple Landcare Committee with funding from the National Landcare Program will feature Peter Andrews, an innovative ecological land manager from the Hunter Valley.
Mr Andrews' techniques for improvement of land and water quality were featured on the ABC TV's Australian Story in 2005. This episode was voted the most popular Australian Story ever.
Field day committee spokesperson Phil Cook said Burdekin catchment landholders were keen to learn how Mr Andrews' ideas (known as Natural Sequence Farming) could be applied locally.
The field day will be held at the Ewan Racecourse, (120km north of Charters Towers on the Lynd Highway) and nearby demonstration sites from 7.30am on Saturday 3 March.
To register, contact Gale Duell at the Burdekin Dry Tropics office on 4724 3544 or John Nicholas of the Dalrymple Landcare Committee on 4754 6120 by Friday 23 February.
Symposium targets resource managers and scientists from Farmland to Fraser
Registrations are now open for the Farmland to Fraser – Resource Managers and Science symposium in Hervey Bay on 19-20 February.
Hosted by the Burnett Mary Regional Group, the symposium will showcase the latest science, information and technology on offer in the Burnett Mary region.
The two-day program will include plenary sessions, interactive workshops, a field trip to local farms and the Burnett Mary NRM Awards Gala Dinner.
It is free to attend the symposium, but registration is required for catering and transport purposes. There is a cost associated with attending the dinner and awards. Visit Burnett Mary website to download the registration form and program or contact Ashton Berry on 0400 462 151 for more info.
Government updates
Community grants get Queenslanders involved in natural resources
A platypus festival in Brisbane's western suburbs, a nature excursion for the city's disadvantaged and a carbon farming forum are some of the activities being planned across the state to raise awareness about Queensland's natural resources.
Minister for Natural Resources and Water Craig Wallace recently announced more than $100 000 in funding for 21 projects through the 2007 Community Awareness Grants.
"This is the fourth year that the community awareness grants have been offered to celebrate the importance of our natural resources and the valuable work of the volunteers who protect them," Mr Wallace said.
"These grants aim to fund innovation and creative projects to raise awareness about the importance of our precious natural resources.
"This year's successful projects vary from a waterwise family fun day in Noosa to a climate change workshop for young farmers to a Tilapia Terminator fishing challenge.
"This year 69 applications for a diverse range of activities were received from all over Queensland."
The 2007 round of Community Awareness Grants culminate in Natural Resources Week from May 21 to 25 this year.
The successful applicants are:
North Queensland
- Aloomba State School P&C Association: $5000
- Northern Gulf Indigenous Savannah Group: $3800
- Julatten and Mt Molloy Association of Residents and Ratepayers: $2000
Central Queensland
- Mackay and District Education Centre (MADEC): $8250
- Pioneer Catchment and Landcare Group: $2175
- OUCH Volunteers: $2635
- Mt Archer State Primary School: $6625
- Fitzroy River and Coastal Catchments: $5000
- Winton Bowls Club: $500
South West Queensland
- Murweh Shire Council: $8401
- Nindigully Landcare Group: $5000
- Waggamba Landcare Group: $7515
- Condamine Catchment Management Association: $5000
- Darling Downs Young Farmers Network: $5000
South East Queensland
- Hervey Bay City Council: $4999
- Lake MacDonald Catchment Care Group: $5000
- Maroochy Landcare Group: $6550
- Lake Baroon Catchment Care Group: $4150
- Moggill Creek Catchment Group: $4395
- Queensland Landcare Foundation: $3535
- Nerang State Primary School: $5000
Applications called for $20 million Envirofund
Individuals and community groups across Australia are being encouraged to apply for grants of up to $50 000 for local environmental projects as part of the latest round of the Australian Government Envirofund.
Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, and Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator Eric Abetz, announced the availability of more than $20 million in funding through the Envirofund.
Mr Turnbull said Envirofund was for local on-ground projects across Australia addressing all aspects of the environment, but this year it would include special arrangements for projects in drought-affected and coastal areas.
"The Australian Government has made some small but significant changes to Envirofund in 2007 to ensure that on-ground environmental projects continue in rural Australia, despite the drought," Mr Turnbull said.
Further information and examples of eligible activities are detailed in the application form. Applications close 5.00pm Friday 27 April. For copies of the application form, visit the Envirofund website or phone 1800 065 823.
Administrative changes follow new federal Cabinet announcement
Following the changes to the federal Cabinet the Prime Minister announced recently, the former Department of Environment and Heritage will be now known as the Department of the Environment and Water Resources.
The address for the Australian Government's Queensland NRM Team is:
Edmund Barton Building, Barton
GPO Box 858
Canberra ACT 2601
The team's new fax number is 02 6271 6351.
The old abbreviation "DEH" has been replaced by the word "environment". All emails formerly addressed to name@deh.gov.au should be changed to name@environment.gov.au.
The AG's Queensland NRM team asks that you alter your records accordingly.
Clean Up Australia Day targets climate change
For the first time, Clean Up Australian Day will target climate change and practical measures the community can adopt to help cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to Environment and Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Launching this year's national Clean Up Australia Day campaign, which culminates on 4 March, with Chairman Ian Kiernan AO, Mr Turnbull encouraged Australians to participate and take individual action on climate change.
"I intend to join hundreds of thousands of Australians on Clean Up Australia Day to make a difference to the environment and show how individuals can have an impact," Mr Turnbull said.
Grazing workshop proceedings now on the web
The proceedings of the November 2006 NRM grazing workshop in Rockhampton are now available on AgSIP website under the Spotlight section.
Power point presentations are available from Valerie Sapin.
For any questions regarding grazing projects, email Chris Chilcott.
Reef Plan updates
Regional groups' modelling helps protect Reef
Recent reports of the decline of the Great Barrier Reef due to global warming have captured Queenslanders' attention. While there is evidence supporting the effects of increases in water temperature resulting in coral bleaching, this damage is only one part of the problem.
After a bleaching event, the added impacts from sediment, nutrients and chemicals washing out from the land onto the reef compounds the damage, killing coral.
That's why the Department of Natural Resources and Water's modelling projects are so important. NRW works closely with regional groups on projects to support the implementation of the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, such as the Fresh and Marine Water Quality in the Mackay Whitsunday Region project. One of the elements making this project a success is the dedicated volunteers sampling water and collecting storm information at sites across the region.
Queenslanders want to protect the Reef and are more than willing to change their ways to help protect it. As more people become aware of the problems associated with poor water quality, more people are willing to be part of the solution.
To find out what you can do to reduce pollutants in your waterways, visit the Reef Plan website.
Queensland Wetlands Programme updates
Students accept their wetlands mission
A group of Townsville Central State School students have been given a "mission": to learn about and protect their local wetlands.
Queensland Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr and federal Member for Herbert Peter Lindsay assisted Townsville media personality Steve Price and Reef HQ's mascot Lucky T turtle, to present the students with a 'wetland mission' on World Wetlands Day, 2 February.
The mission is part of a field-based curriculum developed by the Townsville Central State School in conjunction with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Wetlands Programme.
The students will spend the next 10 weeks learning about wetlands before heading into the field for a two-day canoe trip along Stuart Creek, Townsville.
The Queensland Wetlands Programme is a joint initiative of the Australian and Queensland Governments to protect and restore wetlands.
In other wetlands news..
Four interactive, touch-screen kiosks funded by the Queensland Wetlands Programme were launched in Cooktown, Townsville, Gladstone and Yeppoon on World Wetlands Day.
The screens were developed in conjunction with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Cook Shire Council, Livingstone Shire Council, Gladstone Shire Council and the Creek to Coral Program in Townsville.
The unveiling of a fifth booth in Ingham was cancelled due to flooding!
For more information on any of the Queensland Wetlands Programme products, contact the Wetlands Programme team
Natural Resource news
Climate change summit announced
Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd will convene a national climate change summit in Canberra in late March or early April.
Mr Rudd said that following the release of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, it was clear climate change was a critical challenge to the future of Australia, our region and the world.
"Climate change is an environmental challenge. It is an economic challenge. And it directly affects Australia’s long-term sustainable prosperity," he said.
"It is in the national interest that we work together to develop the best national response to the climate change challenge."
Download Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis - Summary for Policymakers
Plastic almost bags Connie the sea turtle
Quick thinking by an observant Moreton Bay fisher has saved a Hawksbill turtle, dubbed "Connie", from an agonising death.
Connie was rescued by the fisher after he found her floating in Moreton bay suffering from floating syndrome, which is caused when foreign matter, such as plastic bags, condoms or fishing line, is swallowed.
When the plastic gets stuck in the gut, food is prevented from going either up or down. The trapped food begins to decompose and as gases leak into the body the turtle begins to float.
Had Connie not been rescued she, like so many other turtles, would have starved to death, been hit by a boat or succumbed to sun damage. Connie was cleaned and rehydrated at the University of Queensland's Moreton Bay Research Station. They treated her with cod-liver oil, which helps the turtle to pass the material naturally.
UQ's Moreton Bay Research Station education coordinator Kathy Townsend said, "Hundreds of turtles are not as lucky as Connie, and many of them die slow, painful deaths from having consumed human induced rubbish. Every bit of plastic that reaches the sea is a potential turtle killer."
Connie was tagged and successfully released in a protected part of Moreton Bay.
Sea levels rising faster than predicted
Australian and international environmental experts have warned sea levels are rising faster than previously predicted.
Researchers warned the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report did not go far enough in its warnings about rising sea levels and global warming.
Satellite and tide gauge measurements of sea levels indicate an upward trend of an average of about 3.3mm a year between 1993 and last year. The 2001 IPCC report projected a "best-estimate" rise of less than 2mm a year.
The 2007 IPCC report gives core projections of sea level rises of between 18-59 centimetres this century (1.8 to 5.9 mm per year).
The journal Science also suggests climate change is happening faster than the experts predicted in 2001. Sea levels, in particular, appear to be rising sharply in response to global warming and increased levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
The 2007 IPCC report also projects that Antarctica, by far the biggest store of frozen ice, will stay too cold to melt, however some models show that the Arctic will have an ice-free summer by 2100.
Time running out to nominate young volunteers
The 2007 Queensland Young Volunteer Awards nominations close in less than three weeks on Friday 23 February.
The awards acknowledge the contribution of young volunteers, aged between 12 and 25 years, across Queensland.
Community leaders and organisations throughout Queensland are encouraged to nominate a young person or group of young people they believe should be recognised with a Queensland Young Volunteer Award.
For more info, visit the Young Volunteers website.
Get a job in NRM!
Are you interested in working with Queensland's regional natural resource management bodies? Then head to the Regional Groups' Collective website where current job opportunities are now available. Be sure to check back regularly to ensure you don't miss out on the job of a lifetime!
Here's a sample of what's on offer:
Catchment Officer, Boyne Calliope Sub Region, Fitzroy Basin Association
This full-time contract position runs to June 2008, with the salary $48,997 - $55,435 plus superannuation and allowances. Applications close 16 February. For more info, contact Michael Bent on 4999 2804.
Community Support and Engagement Facilitators (NRM Facilitators x3), Burdekin Dry Tropics
Three full time positions, contracted until 30 June 2008 with potential for extension. Applications close 9am Monday 12 February. For more info, phone Michelle Allen on 4724 3544.
Program Coordinator - Surface Water and Wetlands, Burdekin Dry Tropics
A full-time position responsible for the development and delivery of program activities associated with the BDTNRM plan and investment strategy. To apply for this position submit a current CV and responses to selection criteria via email to Gloria MacDonald. For info, phone acting CEO Scott Crawford on 4724 3544. Applications close 5pm Monday 12 February.
Thought for the week
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.
William Strunk Jr
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The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Community Partnerships, the Department of Natural Resources and Water, highlighting regional NRM activities around Queensland.
Last updated 10 January 2008