The Bugle - 21 December 2007
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories- FBA staff earn Christmas break after busiest year ever
- Understanding and evaluating groundwater supplies
- South West landholders plan for sustainable future
- Weed spotters gather for Florestina Day
- Condamine's fruit and vegetable growers doing their bit for NRM
- NRM groups crucial to successful GABSI roll out
- JSC says farewell to Mike Lee
- New national park in Moreton Bay
- Making it easy to search for incentives
- Heed dingo advice on Fraser Island
- Improved pest database protects agriculture
- Rescue mission to save one of NSW's rarest plants
- New scholarships for drought affected communities
- Get a job in NRM!
Regional NRM group stories
FBA staff earn Christmas break after busiest year ever
Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) staff have earned their Christmas break with the organisation experiencing one of its busiest and most successful years.
Chief executive officer Suzie Christensen said FBA helped regional landholders on more than 200 on-ground projects in the 2006-07 period, more than ever before.
"We have really delivered on our commitment to getting money on-ground in 2007 with a record number of projects on properties in central Queensland," Ms Christensen said.
"Our field staff worked closely with local land managers to support projects that will make a real difference to their ability to manage natural resources in a more sustainable way," she said.
Ms Christensen said FBA also collaborated on a number of projects to enhance natural resource management at a regional level.
"We partnered with AgForce and DPI&F [Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries] on the Grains BMP project, which has produced a pilot workshop to help grain growers adopt best practice in pesticide application.
"Our role in the central Queensland beef initiative with the DPI&F, Beef CRC and Resource Consulting Services, has helped local beef producers improve the profitability and sustainability of their enterprises through improved management techniques.
"In 2007, FBA finalised a salinity risk assessment for the whole Fitzroy Basin area to assist in planning on-ground works to combat this significant environmental issue.
"We also supported the establishment of a regional water quality target in 2007."
Ms Christensen said it was fitting that 2007 had proved such an outstanding year for the organisation because it was also the 10 year anniversary of FBA's incorporation in 1997.
"The FBA has grown from a small group with just one staff member to a multi-million dollar organisation effecting real change in how our local natural resources are managed," she said.
Understanding and evaluating groundwater supplies
In recent years people have come to rely on groundwater much more heavily as the current drought conditions continue. This shift to an increasing dependency on groundwater is a relatively new occurrence and raises a variety of management questions.
Understanding of groundwater systems and their interconnectivity with surface water is growing. However, further knowledge is needed in order to effectively manage this precious resource.
The University of Technology (Sydney), in partnership with Cotton Catchment Communities CRC, recently completed a scoping study report on the influence of the irrigation industry on groundwater. The report gives a snapshot of current understanding of groundwater quality, quantity and interaction with rivers in the Condamine Alliance area.
The study focused on the catchment areas of Border Rivers, Condamine Alliance, and Maranoa/Balonne. The report also examined irrigated areas within these catchments and the effect this had on groundwater recharge.
The report provided a suite of recommendations for groundwater sustainability and identified the gaps for future research. These initial findings will provide direction to further studies in potential aquifer viability and water quality.
One recommendation in the report has already been implemented. GeoScience Australia recently showcased a 3D hydro-geological model of the local catchments of Hodgson and Kings Creek. One thousand and eighty-seven water bores were mapped on the model with the map covering an area of approximately 80 km east to west and 40-50 km north to south. The project was jointly funded by Condamine Alliance and is a first for Australia.
South West landholders plan for sustainable future
A group of landholders from the Bollon area are getting together to work on a Planscapes project to achieve a sustainable landscape.
Robyn Haig, South West NRM's regional landcare coordinator, said Planscapes was a program designed to encourage landholders to work together on environmental projects.
"Working together across multiple properties is a very efficient way of achieving sustainable landscapes," Ms Haig said.
"If we want to be serious about protecting the landscape, then a combined and coordinated effort is what's needed."
The Planscapes project will aim to fence riparian areas, relocate watering points and improve pasture condition in the Wallam and Mungallala sub-catchments.
South West NRM will match the landholders with 50 per cent of the full cost to implement the project.
Lauren Winks, South West NRM's district project coordinator for Bollon, said the organisation contributes the financial side of the project.
"The landholders contribution is their time and labour as well as some other in-kind contributions if they wish," Ms Winks said.
"With the nearby Wallam creek slowly rising throughout the day, it's never been a better time to start on projects like these."
Weed spotters gather for Florestina Day
The recent rain held off long enough for a Florestina Day to go ahead in Tambo (in the Desert Channels region) two weeks ago.
The workshop was to raise awareness of this particular weed and present past and current research on this pest. It was scheduled for 30 November but with the rain, many participants were unable to attend. Numbers were good at the recent workshop.
Following on from Tambo, spotting, identifying, collecting and bagging were the lessons learnt at a recent Weed Spotters Workshop held at the Desert Channels Queensland office in Longreach.
Participants went out into the field, spotted parthenium growing beside the road, bagged and tagged it before returning to the office for further activities. It was a great day with everyone getting interested about weeds.
Brett Carlsson, pest management coordinator of DCQ, is asking everyone in the region to keep an eye on their patch and if unusual plants are spotted to give DCQ a call. Many trucks and cars pass through Longreach with weed seeds attached, and with the recent rain and warm weather, now is the prime time for weeds to spread and rapidly grow.
For more information, contact Brett Carlsson, DCQ, on 4658 0060.
Condamine's fruit and vegetable growers doing their part for NRM
A project recently completed by Growcom revealed that fruit and vegetable growers in the Condamine catchment are already hard at work on natural resource management (NRM) targets and that these NRM targets are closely aligned with NRM targets for the catchment as a whole.
The project, funded by catchment care body Condamine Alliance, saw Growcom meet with fruit and vegetable farmers in the Condamine catchment and seek to identify key NRM issues facing horticulture in the catchment.
Growcom's land and water field officer, Katherine McLoughlin, said "The project itself was aimed to assist growers to improve on-farm water use efficiency and found that a lot of the growers were already taking steps to improve water quality and water use efficiency".
NRM targets for landholders, industry and the catchment have all been shaped by the current drought conditions.
Many landholders were already aware of industry and on-farm NRM targets, however many were unaware of the targets for their local catchment plan.
The project helped to highlight the complete catchment NRM plan developed by Condamine Alliance and also showed that issues such as water use were universal among the plans.
"A lot of the growers of the Condamine catchment were already taking proactive steps to improve their water use efficiency because they recognised their NRM responsibilities and because of the lack of water available," Ms McLoughlin said.
"The growers are willing to make the changes needed but they need more support and in the future climate change researchers and industry could have a greater role to play in highlighting issues relevant to their industry. Growcom is currently negotiating to have a climate change module added to their popular FMS [Farm Management Systems]."
For more information visit the Growcom or Condamine Alliance websites.
NRM groups crucial to successful GABSI roll out
Queensland's regional natural resource management (NRM) groups are emerging as key players crucial to the successful roll out of the Australian and State Government-funded Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI).
Regional NRM groups met recently with representatives from the Queensland Great Artesian Basin Advisory Council. The council provides strategic policy advice on the management of the Great Artesian Basin to the Minister for Natural Resources and Water, whose department coordinates GABSI in Queensland.
Geoff Edwards, South West NRM chief executive officer said regional NRM groups were crucial to achieving the best outcomes for both landholders and the environment.
"Conservation representatives on the council believe that broader land management and more significant conservation outcomes are possible, provided landholders are aware of some of the biodiversity issues arising from, but which are not addressed by, the GABSI program," Mr Edwards said.
"They have called on regional NRM groups to take the lead in addressing broader land management issues. GABSI should be seen as a tool by landholders and government to achieve better management, rather than an independent government program.
"Conservationists see providing information to NRM groups as an essential first step in achieving multiple outcomes and maximising the benefits of taxpayer-funded NRM programs."
For more information visit the Qld Regional NRM Groups Collective website.
Government updates
JSC says farewell to Mike Lee
Mike Lee, a member and long standing co-chair of the Joint Queensland-Australian Government NRM Steering Committe (JSC), is heading off into retirement.
This ends a career featuring significant periods of time both as a private sector water resources engineer in a number of firms and locations and as a public servant, mainly with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Although never working with the Department of the Environment, he has been a champion of the joint-team arrangement which has long been considered a model on the Canberra front.
But Mike has never been just another bureaucrat from Canberra and has enviable balance in his life. He is a confirmed Francophile, having become very competent in the French language and holding an executive position with Alliance Francaise in Canberra. He has done language courses in France itself and intends to continue these in retirement, as well as more advanced French cooking. Mike is also very musical as are his wife and children.
The Bugle is pleased to record that Mike plays tuba in a brass band that performs regularly in concerts and competitions. Mike has also been active in organising exchange visits with French bands. One special Australian band he helped organise, comprising musicians from a number of States and descendants of ex-servicemen, undertook a very well received visit to northern France in recent years, including visits to war graves.
Back home, Mike enjoys weekly tennis with friends as well as family, French, musical and gastronomic activities. He is partial to pastries post-tennis as well as to seafood and red wine, with sparkling burgundy being a known weakness.
Of course, it is Mike's outstanding contributions on the work front for which he is best known to Queenslanders. It has been his drive, passion and expertise that have ensured regions have matured and built momentum, that the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and the Natural Heritage Trust are producing such tangible outcomes on ground, and that this progress is being captured in sound reporting systems.
At the office, Mike is regarded with respect and affection by all colleagues for his wisdom, empathy, helpfulness and calm, practical nature. This is shared by all Queensland Government officers lucky enough to have also worked with him. Mike's desire for simplicity and sense in communications, and priority focus on supporting the regions, have benefited everyone.
This is reflected in the great esteem in which he has been held by the huge range of regional bodies and stakeholders with whom he has had contact. Mike sees these trips and contacts as the most enjoyable part of his job and looks forward to continued, regular trips around Australia in retirement. Everyone involved in natural resources in Queensland express their thanks to Mike and wish him a long and happy retirement.
New national park in Moreton Bay
Teerk Roo Ra (Peel Island) National Park and Conservation Park have been declared on heritage-listed Peel Island in Moreton Bay.
Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Minister, Andrew McNamara, was joined by Quandamooka traditional owners, former lazaret staff and patients, conservationists and history buffs for the announcement earlier this week on North Stradbroke Island.
"The island has enourmous significance for the traditional owners, has a fascinating history as a lazaret, and is important for its conservation values," Mr McNamara said.
"The park name Teerk Roo Ra, pronounced took-a-ra, reflects the Quandamooka name for the island.
"The Quandamooka people still maintain their respect for and connection to the land," he said.
There are many significant cultural and heritage sites on the island, including middens full of shells.
"The island has a chequered history. From 1907 until 1959 it was used as a lazaret for people suffering from leprosy," Mr McNamara said.
"Many of the lazaret buildings are still there, and some have been restored. Peel Island is Australia's only lazaret designed on the isolation method that survives substantially intact.
"With the addition of Teerk Roo Ra National Park and Conservation Park the area of national park in Moreton Bay has increased to more than 19 500 hectares," Mr McNamara said.
"Seventy-four bird species have been recorded on the island as well as eight reptiles, two frogs, three mammals and a sub-species of agile wallaby that is unique to Peel, North Stradbroke, South Stradbroke and Russell islands."
The island has sedgelands, melaleuca swamps, low-open and tall-open forests. It is fringed by mangroves, coral reefs and significant beds of seagrass.
Making it easy to search for incentives
The NRM incentives database is the most comprehensive database in Australia for funding opportunities and incentives available for NRM and one of the most visited pages of the Regional NRM website.
The NRM incentives database is a helpful tool for keeping track of what funding is available for NRM activities. Recently, Land and Water Australia added the database as a component of the NRM Toolbar, an initiative of their Knowledge for Regional NRM program.
The searchable database lists incentives offered by local councils, regional NRM bodies, state and federal government agencies and non-government organisations. Incentives are available for over 30 NRM activities, including fencing, revegetation and soil management.
Searching the database involves selecting the type of activities you wish to undertake, the incentive provider, or your region. You are then provided with a comprehensive list of all matching incentives, a description and links to the providers' websites.
For more information, please email Shion Yee on 3224 7734 or visit the NRM incentives database online.
Heed dingo advice on Fraser Island
Christmas holiday visitors to Fraser Island are being urged to heed dingo safety information, consider staying in fenced campgrounds, and act responsibly around the animals.
Minister for Sustainabiliy, Climate Change and Innovation, Andrew McNamara, said families with children should be particularly watchful.
"Fraser Island is a fantastic place to spend the holidays, but people need to be careful to follow the dingo safety information that Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service provides to all visitors and residents," Mr McNamara said.
"The threat of attack is real - a little girl was bitten in April this year.
"Groups with children and young teens are urged to stay at fenced campgrounds at Central Station, Dundubara, Lake Boomanjin, Dilli Village and Waddy Point (top) campgrounds.
"People should always stay with their children and not let them wander out of sight, and visitors and residents of any age should walk in groups rather than alone.
"Dingoes are not like domestic dogs. Despite their shy and hungry appearance, these are wild, unpredictable animals.
"People feeding dingoes, or leaving food out that attracts dingoes will be fined. Rangers have a 'zero tolerance' approach to these offences," Mr McNamara said.
Feeding dingoes and leaving food exposed are offences which attract on-the-spot fines of $225 or court penalties of up to $300. For more information visit the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service website.
Reef updates
Great Barrier Reef will be first casualty of acid seas: study
According to new research, in less than 50 years, oceans may be too acidic for coral reefs to grow because of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels by humans.
And unless carbon dioxide emissions fall in the near future, existing reefs could all be dying by 2100, scientists said.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral expanse, and Caribbean reefs will be among the first casualties, according to the scientists who worked on a major coral project worldwide.
"We need rapid reductions in carbon dioxide levels," said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine science professor at the University of Queensland and a lead author of the study (published in the latest issue of the journal Science).
"The impact of climate change on coral reefs is much closer than we appreciated," he said. "It's just around the corner."
The study found emissions of carbon dioxide, the main "greenhouse" gas contributing to global warming, are boosting acidity so much that sea water covering 98 per cent of all coral reefs may be too acidic by 2050 for some corals to live, and while others may survive they would be unable to build reefs.
"Unless we take action soon there is a real possibility that coral reefs, and everything that depends on them, will not survive this century," researcher Ken Caldeira said.
Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens that are made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important nurseries and shelters for fish and other sea life.
Australian and Caribbean reefs are at the greatest risk because they already have lower carbonate-ion concentrations and therefore would reach critical levels sooner, said Hoegh-Guldberg.
Natural resources news
Improved pest database to protect agriculture
An important tool for protecting Australia's precious natural environment and agricultural industries has been updated and improved.
A CSIRO team at the Tasmanian ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) Centre has recently completed a comprehensive upgrade of the Australian Plant Pest Database (APPD), a national online database of pests and diseases of Australia's economically important plants.
Dr Ian Naumann of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry says that the APPD is a powerful tool for decision making.
"The APPD provides information on the existence and geographic location of plant pests and diseases and provides a capability vital to the national economy," he says.
"It provides a powerful critical support to decision making during emergency management of incursions by exotic species and is a powerful tool for evaluating proposals for new imports and supporting measures to exclude potentially harmful organisms."
The initial phase of the project, completed in April 2002, allowed searching across a number of reference collections that include pest and disease records held by a large number of organisations across the country.
Previously, only a relatively small number of these collections had transferred information into databases that were accessible to agencies and organisations involved in plant health. The linking of these to create a larger, internet-based, national database was therefore a major step forward, achieved through a partnership of CSIRO and Plant Health Australia.
Rescue mission to save one of NSW's rarest plants
A rescue mission has been launched on the New South Wales south coast, spearheaded by Booderee Botanic Gardens to save one of the state's rarest plants from extinction.
Booderee has joined forces with Landcare, Woollongong Botanic Gardens and the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra to collect and grow the first ever comprehensive greenhouse collection of the nationally-endangered Bomaderry zieria.
Booderee park manager, Scott Suridge, said the small shrub, which looks like a boronia, is found nowhere in the world except Bomaderry Creek near Nowra.
"Since the Bomaderry zieria was first studied in detail a decade ago, numbers have dropped by 10 per cent, a real worry when you've got less than 1200 of them in the entire world," Mr Suridge said.
"One of the 23 strains of the species is already extinct and others are teetering on the brink, so when local Landcare expert Terry Barratt recommended we launch a botanic gardens rescue mission we jumped straight on board."
In July, around 1000 cuttings were taken from the wild plants and sent to botanic gardens in Booderee, Woollongong and Canberra where they can be preserved, studied and even reintroduced into the wild if necessary.
Terry Barratt from the Bomaderry Creek Landcare Group has carried out the only detailed study of the Bomaderry zieria, and he identified many of the different strains through genetic testing.
"This plant is really fascinating - it's lost the capacity to produce seeds, so to reproduce it has to send suckers up from the existing roots," Mr Barratt said.
"Now that we've got a reliable stock of plants...we can get stuck into studying it in more detail, it could be an interesting PhD project for an up and coming botanist!"
New scholarships for drought affected communities
Rural families and communities, struggling with the on-going drought, are being offered a new scholarship at The Cathedral School.
The full boarding scholarships, which are to be means tested, are the result of a significant donation by a generous benefactor.
Canon Nairn, Principal for The Cathedral School, said that the scholarships would offer families in drought affected rural communities the opportunity to enhance and continue their children's education.
"The Cathedral School prides itself on being a caring, supportive Christian school community, where students benefit from excellent academic and extra-curricula programs. The scholarship is a way that The School Community can assist others who, due to the on-going drought, are not as fortunate as others.
"Based on financial need and academic merit, the scholarships will provide successful recipient families with the means to continue with their children’s education, despite the hardship of the drought," Canon Nairn stated.
"A scholarship of this nature is a rarity and a wonderful opportunity."
Applications for the means-tested scholarships will open early in 2008, and will add to a number of non means-tested scholarships offered by The Cathedral School, including General Excellence, Church, Boarding and Music scholarships
With students from Hughenden, Winton, Mount Isa, Mossman, Tennant Creek, Cape York and Torres Strait, The Cathedral School provides rural and remote families with state of the art boarding and educational facilities.
Enquiries regarding the means tested Scholarship, or other scholarship can be made by emailing the registrar, Toni Lanphier, or calling 4722 2000.
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:
Community group: Landcare Queensland
Title: Senior Project Officer
Tenure: Full-time
Closing date: COB 25 January 2008
Location: Brisbane
Landcare Queensland seeks a full-time senior project officer to manage a range of projects, events and campaigns within the landcare community. The key purpose of this role will be to ensure funding and resource needs of Landcare groups in Queensland are met.
For the full position description and selection criteria visit the Landcare Queensland website. For further information or to apply, contact Emma Trigg, manager, Landcare Queensland.
It is hoped that the successful candidate will commence as soon as possible in the new year, so expressions of interest before 21 December 2007 are encouraged.
Thought for the week
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
Agnes M. Pharo
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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 22 January 2009