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Regional natural resource management

The Bugle - 17 August 2007

In news this week

Regional NRM group stories 

Government updates 

Reef updates 

Natural resources news 

Regional NRM group stories
Sarina Coast beach protection team 'hit the beach'

After a series of successful community consultation meetings, a leading Sariana Coast rehabilitation plan has 'hit the beach' with its new Beach Team - who are undertaking their first on-ground works at Sarina Beach.

Saskia von Fahland, coordinator of Sarina Landcare Catchment Management Association said, "The Sarina Beaches Coastal Sustainable Landscapes Project responds to community-identified need for coastal zone and fore-dune protection.

"Sarina Shire Council, our group, and the Mackay Whitsunday NRM Group met with beach residents in July to reconfirm the priorities of this restoration work, and are undertaking the on-ground work required to maintain the health and amenity of these populated coastlines.

"Participation rates at these workshops and the quality of feedback at these meetings demonstrated the high value that local residents place on the amenity, aesthetics and environment of our famous beaches."

The beach team will do much of the projects on-site labouring work.

"Together with the targeted work of the Sarina Shire Beach Team, residents at each beach community in the shire will have the opportunity to engage in this coastal protection work through a range of events and activities, including workshops, creation of coastal demonstration sites, and 'working bees' and family fun days," Saskia said.

The project links to the Sarina Shire Council's Beach Management Guidelines for Coastal Zones, which cover the communities of Louisa Creek, Half-Tide, Salonika, Grasstree, Campwin, Sarina and Armstrong beaches.

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Free the fish

An attempt is being made to turn north Queensland into even more of a fisherman's paradise.

Natural resource managers are racking their brains to try to work out a way of modifying the north's dams and weirs to make them friendlier to native fish.

Thousands of native species migrate between freshwater and saltwater to breed every year, however are unable to reach breeding grounds because of man-made obstacles.

"Barramundi for example need to get to the ocean to breed," said Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM's Diana O'Donnell.

"You won't have them up rivers where there are barriers. This will, hopefully, make life better for our fishermen."

The management group has created maps of the region, identifying barriers which could be modified to allow native fish to easily pass through.

These include road and rail crossings, culverts and even weeds.

"A lot of it is just redesigning what goes under the road, or something that actually allows a more natural flow system for fish to rest as they're going through areas," said Ms O'Donnell.

"The problem is Australian native fish don't jump or swim against really fast flowing water from periods of time."

Through a series of workshops, the group is presenting these maps to the public to find out if there are indeed barriers to fish, and whether they've missed anything.

A workshop had been held in Charters Towers, with other to be held in Townsville, Ayr and Bowen.

"We are also very interested in hearing stories about where fish have been seen in the past, so we can get a better idea about historical fish distribution in our region," said Ms O'Donnell.

Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM has received funding from the Natural Heritage Trust to identify and fix some of these fish barriers.

"We'll be looking for hopefully cost sharing with some organisations, such as Main Roads, councils and irrigators," said Ms O'Donnell.

"The project will actually be what it costs to remove the barrier to restore the fish passage. Then we can find which landowners are interested in working with us and we can go from there."

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State roll-out plan for young dairy farmer network

The Darling Downs Young Farmers Network has had a strong triple bottom line focus and demonstrated that positive environmental outcomes can result from a skill development program aimed at improving business management and productivity, says Queensland Dairyfarmers Organisation NRM coordinator Bronwyn Ford.

"By funding this project, Condamine Alliance has been proactive in fostering the basis of a successful model that the dairy industry now wishes to roll out across Queensland. Furthermore, this model could successfully be adopted by the Australian dairy industry, and would have appeal for the wider agricultural community," Ms Ford said.

QDO plans to establish two other regional young farmer networks in South East Queensland, in addition to the Darling Downs network.

"The additional groups will add a further dimension to the network by fostering integration across regions and providing an expanded information base. This integration could be facilitated by an Annual Young Farmers Forum."

Provision of incentive funds through the network resulted in significant leverage from land managers, with farmers contributing more than $477 000 (cash and in-kind) towards on-farm NRM projects.

The project was developed as a multi-partnership approach that focused on the younger generation of dairy farmers throughout the Darling Downs region, who are likely to remain farming for the next 10-20 years.

It provided opportunities tailored to their requirements as future land managers, as well as enhancing opportunities to network with other young dairy farmers, access information and advisers on priority issues, and learn from experienced mentors.

Key aims were to focus on better use of on-farm resources to improve productivity (including soil management, effluent and fertiliser management).

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Bacteria put to work in cane fields

A ground breaking sustainable agriculture program is using bacteria to reduce artificial nitrogen application on Ingham's cane fields.

Terrain NRM scientist and Sustainable Agriculture Program leader John Reghenzani is working with the sugar industry to find a natural solution that can bring about economic and environmental gain.

The aim behind the program is to ultimately reduce nitrate levels in streams draining cane lands. According to John, nitrate loss is a critical environmental issue for the sugar industry.

"The nitrate in stream water can have adverse downstream effects like promoting algal growth," he said.

John believes a solution lies in bacteria that can obtain nitrogen from the air to supply the needs of a sugarcane crop.

"Not only will large reductions in artificial nitrogen application potentially bring substantial advantages like improved yield, higher sugar content and greater dollar returns we can also expect to see reductions in nitrate lost to runoff and groundwater."

There are nearly 20 sugarcane farmers already experimenting with nitrogen fixation on their properties and trials involve a total of 50 hectares of cane. So far trials have shown excellent yields from nitrogen applied at one-fifth the normal rate for some cane varieties.

"We've obtained these results over a range of locations with different soils and climatic conditions," John explained.

"Our results show potential for a wide use of sugarcane nitrogen fixation technology."

On 15 August, John presented recent advances in nitrogen fixation in sugarcane to the Department of Environment and Water in Canberra.

He was accompanied by Brazil's leading expert in nitrogen fixation Dr Robert Boddey and Professor Ivan Kennedy, Director of the University of Sydney's Sun Fix Centre who both presented their nitrogen fixation findings.

For more information about the program visit the Terrain website or contact Terrain's Sustainable Agriculture Program leader John Reghenzani on 4777 2822.

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Kids Caring for Country

The Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation launched its primary school cultural awareness programme at the Kids Caring for Country Day held yesterday at the Riverway in Townsville.

Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management (BDTNRM), in partnership with the Department of Education, Training and the Arts, sponsored the even, while Conservation Australia presented information about water quality and tree planting.

Over 200 primary school students from four Townsville schools learnt about traditional Aboriginal heritage. They heard stories, learnt to make tools and weapons, found out about land and sea management projects such as sea turtle tagging and coastal Envirofund projects, and got involved with monitoring water quality in the local rivers and streams.

The Birra Gubba language is spoken by four traditional owner groups in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region. The Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation, based in Ayr, received funding from BDTNRM to develop a comprehensive school-based cultural awareness programme designed to get kids involved with traditional activities and knowledge to do with caring for country.

"The programme is really fun and it gives kids (and adults as well) the opportunity to explore different ways of seeing the world," said Leah Saltner, BDTNRM land and sea coordinator.

"It also gives us the opportunity to showcase the Aboriginal cultural heritage to a much wider audience."

The Department of Education, Training and the Arts helped coordinate the Kids Caring for Country Day. Through Education Queensland's 'Partners for Success' strategy, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents also participated in the event to enhance parent/student participation in school activities.

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Farewell to Mackay Whitsunday's Nicola Wright

Life's full of opportunities and one that is 'not to be refused' has come up for Mackay Whitsunday NRM Groups' Nicola Wright.

After 12 months with Mackay Whitsunday NRM as strategic communications and strategic regional facilitator, Nicola is off overseas. 

The editors of The Bugle would like to thank Nicola for all of her great stories over the last year, and also for her contributions to the regional communicators' network.

Nicola - you will be missed!

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Government updates
Designing carrots for NRM change

Queensland's regional NRM bodies can continue to use incentives to encourage land manager engagement in beneficial environmental practices.

Over the next year a national Market Based Instruments Capacity Building programme will be rolled out to all regional bodies, government agencies, industry and other practitioners wanting to improve NRM.

Through the market based instruments pilot programme, incentive mechanisms achieved positive NRM outcomes more efficiently than some of the more traditional policies and laws.

The pilot programme showed that regional NRM bodies in Queensland can directly implement incentive mechanisms such as grants, subsidies, stewardship payments, auctions, competitive tenders, negotiated outcomes and suasive instruments.

Regional NRM bodies in Queensland can also work with other groups, such as local governments, who have the legal authority to implement other incentives. These include rate rebates, tax concessions, caps, trade schemes, offset schemes, voluntary conservation covenants and agreements.

A new series of fact sheets will be released at this year's Landcare Conference and will soon be available via the regional NRM website.

Some economic incentives were showcased at the Designer Carrots Symposium last October. The MBI Capacity Building programme will extend work already done in Queensland, as well as other states and the Northern Territory.

For more information on the MBI Capacity Building programme please contact Claire Heath on 3239 3875 (Monday-Thursday).

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Marine park users continue input into zoning plan review

Local knowledge will play a major role in workshops being run by the Environmental Protection Agency to discuss sites of interest for greater protection in Moreton Bay Marine Park, Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said last week.

Ms Nelson-Carr said the independent scientific advice received in June provided the starting point to guide the EPA in developing a draft zoning plan.

"This advice has been used to identify sites within Moreton Bay Marine Park that are worthy for consideration for greater protection, based on their environmental significance, and taking into account what people have told us about their use of particular areas," Ms Nelson-Carr said.

"Now further discussion can occur with marine park user groups to refine and prioritise these sites and the level of protection needed.

"During August, we are working with representatives from stakeholder groups to share knowledge about the special sites in Moreton Bay, and achieve a comprehensive understanding of what increased protection of these areas might mean for various groups."

Ms Nelson-Carr stressed that not all sites of interest would become 'no-take' areas.

"While some sites may be identified as requiring protection, this may not necessarily restrict the activities which people undertake at these spots.

"These workshops will enable us to make informed choices by giving us localised information," Ms Nelson-Carr said.

While attendance at the workshops is limited to nominated stakeholder representatives, the general public can continue to provide information to the survey on the EPA website.

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Migaloo making his way north

Migaloo the white humpback whale has been reported in Queensland waters on his 2007 migration, but it could prove costly if people try to get too close.

The rare humpback, whose Aboriginal name means 'white fella', has been declared a 'special interest' whale in Queensland waters to ensure he can swim freely and safely.

Aircraft pilots, skippers, swimmers and snorkellers are being urged to respect the special limits around the whale.

The "special interest" whale declaration means no one can bring a boat or jet ski closer than 500m or fly an aircraft closer than 600m to the whale without written permission.

If these conditions are breached, the maximum penalty is $12 375.

The first reported sighting of the white whale was in 1991 off Byron Bay, when he was three to five years old, and in several seasons has been seen north of Cairns.

His unusual colouring makes him easy to track, which gives scientists valuable information about whale migration.

Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said humpback whales are currently being seen in numbers off the coast, as many females give birth in Queensland's warm tropical waters.

Humpback whales are very large and unpredictable. To ensure everyone's safety, the whale-watching regulations outline how close people in boats, jet skis, aircraft and in the water can get to whales.

Anyone who sights Migaloo is encouraged to report it to the EPA on 1300 130 372.

Information about whales, the regulations and whale-watching season is available on the EPA website.

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$7 million boost for Indigenous environmental projects

Environmental protection projects under the Australian Government's Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) programme will receive a $7 million boost, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, announced last week.

Mr Turnbull said a new partnership with the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) will expand the work of some of the 23 existing IPAs and create at least 10 new ones.

"It's fantastic to have the Indigenous Land Corporation on board this landmark programme, adding to the $23 million the Australian Government has invested in Indigenous Protected Areas so far," Mr Turnbull said.

"IPAs are one of our greatest success stories, helping Indigenous communities care for their land, grow their skill base and economy, and even tackle social problems like poor school attendance and dysfunction.

"[This] funding from the ILC will help us bring the benefits of IPAs to even more communities, creating meaningful jobs and training opportunities for hundreds of Indigenous people, and helping them protect millions of hectares of Australia’s most distinctive landscapes."

ILC Chairperson Shirley MacPherson said $1.5 million of the ILC funding would be spent this financial year, adding to the Australian Government’s $3.1 million IPA budget for 2007/08.

"This year our funding will help six new communities – ranging from Northern Arnhem Land down to southern Victoria – to take their first steps towards becoming Indigenous Protected Areas," Ms MacPherson said.

"The money we're putting into existing IPAs will create dozens of new jobs, like helping people at Dorodong on the New England Tablelands fence off remnant tall open forest, and kick start a survey of endangered species in Arnhem Land's Marthakal Homeland.

"Caring for country is already a way of life for many Indigenous communities, so helping them expand that and even earn income from it through IPAs is a fantastic thing for us."

A recent independent review of Indigenous Protected Areas hailed the programme as Australia's 'most successful innovation in Indigenous conservation'. Since 1996 Indigenous landholders have declared more than 18.5 million hectares – more than 20 per cent of Australia's total National Reserve System - as Indigenous Protected Areas.

For more information visit the Department of Environment and Water Resources website.

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Reef updates
Reef Plan highlighted at Australian Fertiliser Industry Conference

The Reef Water Quality Protection Plan was profiled in the opening plenary session of the Australian Fertiliser Industry Conference on Hamilton Island last week.

Dr Joe Baker, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries' chief scientific advisor, opened the conference with a challenge to delegates to consider ecosystem services and their degradation, the role of fertilisers in the past, present and future on a global level, and environmental challenges facing Australia on land and in its oceans. Dr Baker indicated that governments, industry and researchers are increasingly working together on natural resource management issues.

Mr Andrew Skeat, executive director, GBRMPA, followed Dr Baker, giving great insight into the species and ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef's cultural values, socio-economic values, and international recognition were acknowledged. Mr Skeat highlighted the current and future threats to the Reef, including climate change, and nutrient and sediment discharge from changed land use and the effect of this on inshore reefs. Given this background, Mr Skeat suggested nutrient loss to the Reef is the fertiliser industry's biggest environmental challenge anywhere in the world. Mr Skeat also noted current research examining the historical discharge of nutrients, and the value of this as a tool to measure change.

Mr Jim Groves, general manager, DPI&F, presented some of the land management practices and government policy in Queensland relating to nutrient management in Reef catchments. Mr Groves emphasised the need for commodity specific best management practices and farm management systems to become the industry norm, and the need for a concerted partnership with all stakeholders in the nutrient supply chain to address emerging issues.

The Australian Fertiliser Industry Conference provides a forum for a cross-section of issues affecting the industry to be discussed, including fertiliser impurities, the Fertcare product stewardship programme, market analysis, application technology, quarantine and logistics, global warming, environment and government policy.

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Banned pesticides found in mud crabs

Cancer-causing pollutants and insecticides continue to flow out to the Great Barrier Reef from contaminated rivers, a major study has found.

Banned organochlorine pesticides have also been found in mud crabs living in some of the marine park's key rivers.

The study found eight of the Reef park's 10 major rivers exceed state water quality guidelines for nutrient and sediment. The 10 rivers surveyed from north to south were the Normanby, Barron, Johnstone, Tully, Herbert, Burdekin, O'Connell, Pioneer, Fitzroy and Burnett.

The largest water quality study conducted on the Reef found pollutants including PCBs (industrial coolants) and the insecticides dieldrin and DDT.

Released last week by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the report found pesticides had contaminated all inshore areas.

GBRMPA's executive director, Andrew Skeat, said people could still safely eat mud crabs because the chemicals had been detected at low levels and in organs - parts of the animal not normally eaten.

"That's not to say the issue isn't of concern," Mr Skeat said.

Organochlorine pesticides such as DDT, chlordane, dieldrin, aldrin and heptachlor were banned in the 1980s because they had such a long life. The Department of the Environment and Water Resources said they degraded slowly and being fat-soluble, accumulated in the food chain, eventually ending up in the fat of human bodies.

Canegrowers chief executive Ian Ballantyne said growers and graziers were already putting enormous effort into changing practices to lessen impacts on the Reef.

Sediment run-off and the dispersal of herbicides and insecticides had been greatly reduced.

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Natural resources news
Scientists tackle acid menace

Australia's clean-up scientists are getting ready to kick ASS - acid sulphate soils, that is.

Researchers from the CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE) and the Department of Natural Resources and Water are teaming up to take on the $10 billion ASS menace that is threatening estuaries, coastal development, water supplies and urban infrastructure all round the nation.

The team is led by Dr Richard Bush from Southern Cross University's Centre for Acid Sulfate Soil Research and will develop new risk-based methods to control the release of acid from a highly degraded wetland at East Trinity near Cairns.

They will establish a $2.75 million National Demonstration Site to test new acid management techniques that can be used wherever the problem occurs in Australia, said the managing director of CRC CARE, Professor Ravi Naidu.

"East Trinity is also likely to become a site of international significance in development new ways to curb the acid sulphate soils menace," added the CRC's professor Leigh Sullivan.

"ASS problems occur elsewhere in the world and we need to develop satisfactory solutions. Australia is pioneering these."

The problem occurs when soils rich in natural metal sulphides are drained, exposed to the air (oxidised) and then re-flooded, causing them to release sulphuric acid. The acid discharges are lethal to fish, water plants and other organisms, leading to rivers and estuaries which are often crystal clear - but dead. They can also hit human health, eat concrete in buildings and pipes, cause a catastrophic decline in water quality and sterilise soils.

The new risk assessment and remediation tools developed by the team will convert low-value acid-affected sites with high environmental risk to high value development sites that have a low environmental risk.

Scientists from NRW have been testing the East Trinity site since 2000 and have already succeeded in substantially reducing the acid and metal discharges that were causing environmental problems.

East Trinity's proximity to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area makes it a site of local and international concern.

When remediation is finished the East Trinity site will become a valuable ecotourism destination, Professor Sullivan predicted.

Professor Naidu said that CRC CARE's National Contaminated Sites Demonstration Programme allows researchers to test and demonstrate to industry, government and the community the latest methods for handling contamination problems.

"They are a proving ground for new technologies which our dynamic clean-up industry can then export around the world," he said.

Professor Naidu says the CRC will use the new Cleanup Industry Cluster, launched in Adelaide in July this year, to keep industry and environmental managers up to speed on the latest findings and methods for cleansing and protecting the Australian environment from all kinds of contaminants, including acid sulphate soils.

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29 finalists named for 2007 Queensland Landcare Awards 

Twenty-nine finalists for 10 prestigious 2007 Queensland Landcare Awards have been announced. 

The winners will be revealed at the Landcare Awards gala dinner in Mackay on 23 August.

The awards are organised by Queensland Water and Land Carers (QWaLC) – the peak body for Queensland's 300 community natural resource management groups and 16 000 NRM volunteers.

QWaLC chair Esma Armstrong said the awards recognised people and organisations that were doing great work restoring Queensland’s precious lands and waterways.

"There are more than 16 000 NRM volunteers and 300 community groups so just being nominated for an award is a great honour. Making it to the finals is a fantastic achievement," Ms Armstrong said.

The finalists for the 2007 Queensland Landcare Awards are:

National Landcare Programme Individual Landcarer Award
Murray-Darling Basin Commission Rivercare Award
Landcare Australia Nature Conservation Award
Alcoa Landcare Community Group Award
Leighton Holdings Local Government Landcare Partnerships Award
Australian Government Coastcare Award
Rural Press Landcare Primary Producer Award
Westpac Landcare Education Award
Australian Government Landcare NRM Region Award
Alcan Landcare Indigenous Award

The awards will be presented by the Director-General of the Department of Natural Resources and Water, Scott Spencer.

Steve Parish Publishing is donating gifts for all finalists and guests who attend the Queensland Landcare Awards gala dinner in Mackay in August.

2007 Queensland Landcare Award winners will be automatically considered for a 2008 National Landcare Award. Finalists for the National Awards are flown to Canberra to attend the presentation at Parliament House.

"Queensland's land and waterways are under a lot of pressure from climate change, drought, over-development, pests and weeds," Ms Armstrong said. 

"It's important to recognise the heroes who work so hard to protect and restore our environment."

For more information about the 2007 Queensland Landcare Awards, visit the QWaLC website. 

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Making a difference in the north - Ron Archer features in State Landcare Conference

Ron Archer, Djungan elder and coordinator of the Northern Gulf Indigenous Savannah Group will be addressing over 350 delegates at the 2007 Queensland Landcare Conference in Mackay.

The conference theme is Making a difference and Ron Archer is sure to demonstrate this in Friday's plenary session. The plenary session is focused on People and Change, one of three streams of the conference - the others being Soil Health and Water.

"The People and Change stream will take various forms throughout the event and will inspire, energise and challenge delegates," conference convener Margaret Lane said. Mrs Lane explained how Ron Archer's presentation titled 'Good News from the North' fits well with the purpose of this conference considering that Landcare is about people.

Ron Archer will share with delegates the successes of balancing relationships with an understanding of Indigenous and non-Indigenous connections to care for country. Mr Archer believes "Connection to Country is everyone's business. Caring for Country is the duty of the chosen". Achieving a gathering at the conference of this size to tackle Landcare issues together is testament to those that are caring for our country.

Ron Archer's presentation will follow the Minister's address from the Honourable Tim Mulherin, Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries as part of the plenary on Friday 24 August.

The conference runs from 22-25 August 2007. Further information is available from the Landcare Queensland website, by emailing Landcare Queensland or phoning 07 3211 4413. 

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AgForward workshop update

Every month, AgForward runs a number of workshops across the state. Upcoming workshops include:

The cost of the workshops are:

More information on these workshops can be found on the AgForward website (under 'Workshops').

To register interest for the AgForest field days, contact Rohan Allen on 0408 769 918. For all other workshops, contact Bree Robertson on 07 3238 6039.

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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:

Regional group: Queensland Murray-Darling Committee

Title: Regional coordinator - vegetation management 

Tenure: Temporary full-time for 12 months

Location: To be negotiated (within the QMDC region)

Closing date: Monday 3 September

The regional coordinator vegetation management will lead and coordinate the development, implementation and monitoring of the targets and actions in the regional NRM plan for vegetation management.

The position description can be obtained from the QMDC website or by contacting Julie James on 07 4637 6201.

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Thought for the week

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Albert Einstein

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We welcome your contributions and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions for The Bugle please contact Carl Glen or Shona Strachan.

View past issues of The Bugle.

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 04 December 2007

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