The Bugle - 04 July 2008
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories- Rural schools get a taste for culture
- Southern Gulf Catchments donates to Mount Isa Community Helicopter
- Gladstone area in good hands as resource group grows
- Cross regional project enhancing biodiversity hotspots
- Model makeover for Bowenville retreat
- War against water weed well under way
- Secure your spot at the Fitzroy Flood Forum
- Industrious new role for the DCQ region
- Retiring George shy about his long-held passion
- Creativity to flow for film competition
- Funding to help irrigation providers adapt to climate change
- Release teams prepare to make whale journeys smooth sailing
- Australia officially free of equine influenza
- Free Coastcare grant writing workshop
- Report alerts Australian agriculture to impacts, options and priorities
- 2008 SEQ Living Landscapes Forum set for Boonah
- New Weeds CRC website: 'drop a dot'
- Symposium early bird registration offers tempting 'worm'
- Breathe Easy – the 3-in-1 solution
- AgForward workshop update
- Get a job in NRM!
Regional NRM group stories
Rural schools get a taste for culture
The five-day Bush Tucker and Culture Tour visited rural and remote schools in southern Queensland last week, promoting local Aboriginal culture.
Over 480 students from 16 schools participated in the tour, which was organised by staff from the Queensland Murray Darling Committee (QMDC).
Cultural presentations included a session on bush tucker presented by chef Dale Chapman from The Dillybag, a native bush tucker business. Students were able to sample a range of traditional foods, including bush honey, emu meat and bush tomato relish.
Aboriginal dancers were present to teach the students traditional Gamilaraay and Yeralaraay dances, and gave them the opportunity to get painted up using traditional colours and ochre. Other students learnt the skills behind throwing a boomerang and making it come back.
QMDC organiser Tim Knox said that he was really pleased so many students were able to attend the tour. "The smaller, more remote schools often miss out on events such as this due to distance," he said. "It's fantastic that we were able to reach these students, so they can learn about Aboriginal culture, in particular Gamilaraay culture first hand."
The Bush Tucker and Culture Tour visited Bungunya, Dirranbandi, Begonia, Mitchell and Dulacca State Schools. For more information, contact Tim Knox on 4637 6270.
Southern Gulf Catchments donates to Mount Isa Community Helicopter
Southern Gulf Catchments (SGC) has donated $500 to the Mount Isa Community Helicopter which works closely with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The donation follows a talk given by CEO and Pilot Alex Dorr and Aircrew member Glen McIntyre to SGC staff about the operation and use of their newly purchased Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs).
"Donating to this privately funded search and rescue service was the least we could do to ensure our staff’s safe return should they find themselves in an emergency while working in this remote region," says SGC CEO Donald Coventry.
"We appreciate the time they took from their busy schedule to come and talk to our staff about the appropriate situations to use EPIRBs," said Mr Coventry.
To learn more about donating to the Mount Isa Community Helicopters or becoming a volunteer, please visit its website.
Gladstone area in good hands as resource group grows
Gladstone region's environment is in good hands with two new staff boosting the capacity of the area's NRM group.
The new field officers bring the total number of staff at the Boyne Calliope Sub-region (BCSR) of the Fitzroy Basin Association to five.
New field officer Rowan McKay hails from New South Wales and was working as a strategic planner before being lured to Queensland by the warm weather and the chance to work in the outback.
Also new to the BCSR team, Sarah Steel traded her life in strife-torn Afghanistan to take up the challenge of preserving rainforest remnants in the Gladstone region.
Ms Steel, together with husband Jens and son Jack, spent two years in Afghanistan where she worked for the United Nations managing road construction contracts before returning to her former home in Gladstone to join BCSR.
Ms Steel and Mr McKay join a team that includes coordinator Kristy Dalton, administration assistant Allison Fowler and water quality officer Rachel Bryan.
The BCSR staff can be found at the library complex in the Gladstone Regional Council, Calliope Shire Offices.
Cross-regional project enhancing biodiversity hotspots
A new cross-regional project Enhancing Biodiversity Hotspots along Western Queensland Stock Routes has been launched as part of the initiative Back on Track - species prioritisation framework, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Australian Government.
The project will identify and prioritise biodiversity values on the stock route network (SRN) of Western Queensland (an area that is over half the size of the state) and develop biodiversity best practice management information resources for managers of SRN lands.
The various habitats in the SRN region support a number of high priority species for conservation including the kowari, plains wanderer and woma. These priority species were identified through the Back on Track - species prioritisation framework which aims to identify actions that will benefit multiple priority species.
The project will be delivered by South West NRM, Desert Channels Queensland, Queensland Murray-Darling Committee and Southern Gulf Catchments, in partnership with the EPA, Department of Natural Resources and Water, local government and the wider community.
For further information on Enhancing Biodiversity Hotspots along Western Queensland Stock Routes email project coordinator Bryan Walsh or senior conservation officer David Murphy.
For further information on the 'Back on Track – species prioritisation framework' visit the EPA website.
Model makeover for Bowenville retreat
Regular visitors to Bowenville Reserve, a popular fishing spot on Oakey Creek, may not recognise the place.
It has been transformed with newly planted native tree seedlings and the erection of barriers to keep campers away from the banks, as well as snags placed in the river for fish habitat, and interpretive signs explaining all the work.
Hundreds of river red gum, she-oak, weeping myall, and black wattle seedlings have been planted by Toowoomba Regional Council staff and volunteers, as well as 600 lomandra to provide groundcover along the banks.
Condamine Alliance received funding for the work at Bowenville from the Australian Government Recreational Fishing Community Grants.
Dwindling numbers of native fish populations such as the Murray cod, golden perch and silver perch were also restocked with fingerlings at nearby Bowenville Crossing by local fishing groups.
Since the re-introduction last year of snags (trunks of specially selected dead trees) to the creek to provide habitat, native fish such as Murray cod and yellow-belly have returned to breed at the reserve.
Bowenville is considered a showcase for river reach management in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin since the work has been completed. Among recent visitors were members of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission Native Fish Strategy group, hosted by Condamine Alliance.
Visit the Condamine Alliance website for more on the project.
War against water weed well underway
From South America to CSIRO laboratories in Brisbane, and at selected locations around Australia including Lake Macdonald near Cooroy, continuing the war against one of Australia's worst water weeds is well under way, with encouraging signs emerging from a research project into the aquatic weed, cabomba (Cabomba caroliniana).
The project has identified several new agents that have potential to be effective in the control of cabomba in Australia.
Cabomba is an aquatic weed native to South America that was once commonly used in aquariums. It is difficult to control because chemical and physical control methods have so far been the only, and expensive, control options.
Weeds and pest coordinator with the Burnett Mary Regional Group, Nora Brandli, said that the aim of the research is to effectively manage the cabomba weed without the use of chemicals.
"This is such a terrible weed, with the potential to spread right through Australian aquatic habitats, so an effective biological control would be fantastic," she said.
The project is a joint initiative of Noosa and District Landcare; the Burnett Mary Regional Group; CSIRO Entomology; Noosa Shire Council; Lake Macdonald Catchment Care Group; the Australian Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts; the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; and Land and Water Australia.
For more information contact Nora Brandli at the Burnett Mary Regional Group on 4181 2999.
Secure your spot at the Fitzroy Flood Forum
The Fitzroy Flood Forum, from 5-7 August, will offer a chance to reflect and discuss how flooding in early 2008 affected the Fitzroy Basin region.
Water quality officer for the Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) Nathan Johnston said the forum would include a launch event on the fifth, and two days of engaging presentations on the sixth and seventh.
"Significant flood events like that don't happen very often, but they can have lasting impacts on our lives, our environment and our economy, some positive and some negative," Mr Johnston said.
"This forum will draw the community together to discuss the effects, how we coped, and how we can better prepare for the future."
Mr Johnston said FBA was also looking for the most majestic, moving and funny images captured during the floods earlier this year for the Flood Foto Competition, being run in conjunction with the forum.
"We want to see images that convey both the power, size, and destructive nature of the flood itself, as well as the emotions people felt as a result of the flood," Mr Johnston said.
Registrations are now open for the Fitzroy Flood Forum and details about attending and entry information for the Flood Foto Competition can be found on the FBA website.
Industrious new role for the DCQ region
Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ) this week welcomed Colleen James as their new industry liaison officer.
Supporting the community within DCQ's region by providing timely and professional communication of industry-based pastoral and NRM information will be one of Colleen's main activities.
Such information will be shared with a range of stakeholders including landholders, governments, pastoral companies, rural town communities, indigenous groups and landcare groups.
Colleen will also be actively promoting a range of services available to producers from agencies, private consultants, bankers and financial institutions as well as keeping up-to-date with current and emerging community issues.
"I am thrilled to be working with such a successful regional body as DCQ. I am looking forward to meeting people from across the region who look to us for up-to-date, relevant and important information," said Colleen earlier this week.
For more information on the work of DCQ, call 4658 0600.
Retiring George shy about his long-held passion
For all his years as a crop and pasture management guru for Condamine Alliance and the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F), very few people have known George Lambert's passion for butterflies.
During his career as a pasture agronomist for DPI&F on the Darling Downs and in north-central Queensland, George spent so long on the road he was able to build up quite a collection from among the country's 416 species of butterflies.
Many of his colleagues at the Alliance found out about his pastime only when George confirmed he would retire at the end of June, after more than 40 years' service, including stints in Dalby, Monto and Mackay for DPI&F and the past four years in Toowoomba with the Alliance.
Condamine Alliance CEO Phil McCullough paid tribute to George for his tireless efforts in sharing his knowledge of pasture and stock management techniques with countless landholders throughout the catchment and beyond.
George may continue to surprise, even in retirement, because apart from his agronomic expertise and love of butterflies, he is also a talented soccer coach and – wait for it – a keen surfer.
Condamine Alliances wishes George, and his wife Marlene, a happy, healthy, (and busy), retirement.
Government updates
Creativity to flow for film competition
Queensland film makers, digital artists and animators are being called upon to enter Liquid Lens, a water-themed short film competition with one of the industry's biggest prize pools.
Natural Resources and Water Minister Craig Wallace said the competition Liquid Lens, presented by the Bligh Government and Riverfestival, invites participants to reflect upon the future of our waterways and to present their vision of what's to come for Queensland's natural environment.
"This is the fourth year running that the State Government has sponsored Liquid Lens, helping to raise awareness of one of our most precious resources," Mr Wallace said.
"The Bligh Government is delighted to support the competition this year, which offers cash and Macbook prizes to the value of $32 000."
Minister Wallace said participants were encouraged to be as creative, comical or poignant with their entries as they wished and to experiment with any genre, be it comedy, animation, drama, thriller or something entirely different.
The entry deadline is 18 July. There are separate categories for secondary school and tertiary students and an open category for professional and amateur film makers to produce a short film, animation or digital snapshot.
Liquid Lens forms part of the 10-day Riverfestival, which this year runs from 29 August to 7 September, and is centred on the theme of 'A Future of Extremes'.
Entry forms and guidelines on the Liquid Lens competition can be found at the Liquid Lens website.
Additional information on the Riverfestival website.
Funding to help irrigation providers adapt to climate change
Irrigation water providers in the Murray-Darling Basin can apply for up to $500 000 funding each to help them modernise their water delivery infrastructure.
The funding aims to help Basin irrigation water providers plan for a future with reduced water availability by providing support for them to make their facilities efficient and sustainable.
"Australia's climate is changing and we have less available water than ever before. So we must make every effort to use the water we do have more efficiently," federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong said.
"Under this new round of Irrigation Modernisation Planning Assistance, corporations operating irrigation delivery systems can apply for funds to help make their systems viable for the future.
"With many irrigation systems in Australia more than 80 years old, and with climate change reducing available water, we need to work to modernise these systems.
"This funding will help irrigation providers develop modernisation plans for their regions to upgrade irrigation infrastructure and assess options to adapt to a future with less water," Senator Wong said.
Guidelines and application forms are available from the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website.
Environmental offsets policy to guide Queensland development
The Queensland Government has moved to ensure that environmental values aren't lost as a result of development across the state.
The Queensland Government environmental offsets policy, which took effect from 1 July, will assist the Government and the public to protect Queensland's environmental values.
Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara said the policy is a milestone for Queensland environmental protection.
"It provides an overarching framework for the transparent and consistent use of environmental offsets," Mr McNamara said.
"The policy will help achieve ecologically sustainable development to improve our quality of life now, and preserve the unique environmental values of Queensland for the future.
"Environmental offsets will be required from developments approved by state decision makers after all avenues have been utilised first to avoid and then to minimise the environmental impact," Mr McNamara said.
The environmental offsets policy is available on the Environmental Protection Agency website.
Release teams prepare to make whale journeys smooth sailing
Preparations have been stepped up for this year's whale migration season with Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) officers undertaking annual training in marine animal release techniques in Mackay next week.
Primary Industries and Fisheries Minister and Member for Mackay Tim Mulherin said that due to the ever-increasing whale population travelling Queensland's coastline, it was crucial that DPI&F's Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol officers were up-to-date on response techniques to free entangled animals from shark control equipment.
"Entanglements in shark control equipment generally occur later in the migration season around August and September when young inexperienced whales are on their way back from the northern breeding waters," Mr Mulherin said.
"Marine Animal Release Team (MART) training means our officers are well-prepared to respond to ensure caught animals have the best possible chance of survival," he said.
Shark nets and drumlines are in place off 85 Queensland beaches to reduce the risk to bathers from shark attacks.
Since 2000, 22 whales have been caught in shark netting in Queensland. Of these entanglements, 19 whales have been successfully freed by the MARTs.
One of the keys to successfully freeing an entangled animal is early notification. The public are encouraged to report suspected entanglements to the DPI&F Shark Hotline on 1800 806 891.
Australia officially free of equine influenza
On Monday Australia was declared officially free from equine influenza, making it one of the few countries in the world to eradicate the disease.
The last detected incidence of equine influenza was on 25 December last year and extensive monitoring since has not found any new cases.
Coordinated surveillance and testing over the last six months has included nearly 79 000 laboratory tests in NSW and Queensland alone and the reporting of nearly 600 suspect premises, which were then cleared.
The remaining emergency requirement, that people notify authorities of their intention to move horses or hold an event, is now lifted. However, most jurisdictions still require horse events to be registered.
To satisfy World Animal Health Organization requirements, Australia will maintain an effective surveillance system for equine influenza until the end of 2008.
A national equine influenza vaccine bank has been established and arrangements will be made to allow the rapid deployment of a vaccine in the event of any future emergency.
For more information on equine influenza in Queensland, visit the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries website.
Reef updates
Vessels seized during crackdown on illegal commercial fishing
Five commercial fishing vessels have been seized off Mackay and Gladstone as part a widespread investigation into illegal fishing in protected areas on the Great Barrier Reef.
The investigations by compliance officers from Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) follow tip-offs from people in the industry about illegal poaching by some operators.
Mick Bishop from GBRMPA said five commercial fishing dories were detected operating in no-take green zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park around Mackay and Gladstone, and search warrants were issued and the vessels seized.
Mr Bishop said he believed most commercial operators were doing the right thing as they realised sustainable fishing was important to the future of their industry as well as the future of the marine resources.
"It's disappointing that some commercial operators are illegally fishing in green zones," he said.
"It undermines the efforts of those commercial operators who are following the rules and it undermines the environmental benefits that these no-take zones will have for fishing in the future," Mr Bishop said.
Illegal fishing can be reported to GBRMPA on 4726 0510 (business hours) and 3830 8246 (after hours).
Visit the GBRMPA website for more information.
Spotting the killer hot spots
Advanced satellites and smart mathematics are enabling scientists to detect the events which cause mass bleaching of corals and disruption of marine food chains with unprecedented precision.
Killer hotspots of over-heated ocean water which destroy huge areas of coral and bring starvation to birds, fish and other sea creatures can now be pinpointed, thanks to a major advance in the use of satellite technology by Australian and American researchers working under the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility (MTSRF) program.
This is revealing the Great Barrier Reef's most threatened areas under global warming.
"Until now we have only been able to detect large-scale events under typical seasonal conditions," MTSRF team leader and University of Queensland researcher Dr Scarla Weeks said.
"These technologies will feed directly into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's management of the Great Barrier Reef.
"It means we can identify those areas most at risk of being hit by hot water, enabling managers and Reef visitors to take greater steps to protect them.
"It also means that we can observe coral bleaching events taking place, which were missed before because the satellite data didn't have the fine scales necessary," Dr Weeks said.
The report on the new technology appears in the Journal of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography.
For the full media release visit the University of Queensland website.
Wetlands updates
Wetland education products now online
The Queensland Wetlands Programme, in partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, has produced a range of interactive education and awareness-raising products dedicated to building community understanding of the importance of wetland catchments, particularly the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.
These educational products and information resources are helping to highlight the importance of maintaining healthy inland and coastal wetlands in the Great Barrier Reef catchment.
To check out what's available visit the WetlandInfo website.
Natural resources news
Free Coastcare grant writing workshop
Moreton Bay Coastcare is hosting a grant writing workshop for community organisations applying for Coastcare funding in the greater Moreton Bay district.
The workshop, which will be delivered by well known community engagement specialist and professional grant writer, Samantha Morris, will focus on giving community volunteers the skills and confidence to write winning grant applications.
Topics will include: project planning and development; understanding what funding bodies are really looking for; how to answer funding application questions; understanding the budget and acquittal process; and building successful partnerships.
Attendees are invited to bring along partially completed applications for review, discussion and improvement.
The workshop takes place on 12 July from 9.00 am to 12.30 pm at Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre. The event is free of charge for community volunteers and support workers and morning tea will be provided. RSVP is essential and numbers are limited.
Contact Jennifer Singfield at Moreton Bay Coastcare on 3869 0359 or 0438 690 359 to reserve your place.
Report alerts Australian agriculture to impacts, options and priorities
CSIRO has released a national overview of climate change impacts and adaptation options for Australian agriculture.
Bringing together the latest science from research groups around Australia, the report includes chapters on each of Australia's major agricultural sectors, with a focus on steps that can be taken to adjust to the ongoing changes in our climate.
Prepared for Land and Water Australia (LWA) the report, 'An overview of climate change adaptation in the Australian agricultural sector – impacts, options and priorities', updates and expands the previous national synthesis done by CSIRO in 2003.
The report also emphasises the importance of building adaptive capacity among farm managers, agri-businesses and industry groups.
Visit the CSIRO website for more on the report.
2008 SEQ Living Landscapes Forum set for Boonah
The 2008 SEQ Living Landscapes Forum will be held in the country town of Boonah from 10 to 12 September.
The objectives of the forum will be to raise the profile of key regional landscape issues, to examine their policy position within state and local governments in Queensland, and to disseminate the South East Queensland experience of managing the regional landscape and rural production areas to a wider audience.
More information about the forum is available on the 2008 SEQ Living Landscapes Forum website.
New Weeds CRC website: 'drop a dot'
Users of the CRC for Australian Weed Management's (Weeds CRC) website will need to 'drop a dot' from the web address.
As of 30 June the website changed to www.weedscrc.org.au with the old address (www.weeds.crc.org.au) no longer supported after June 30.
Weeds CRC's web manager Kelly Nankivell said, "All of the CRC's many resources and publications aimed at farmers, agronomists, land managers, schools and researchers will remain available at the new web address.
"Almost all of these resources are freely available for download and while the website will no longer be updated after 30 September, it will remain online until approximately June 2010 at which time it will cease to exist," she said.
The change is one of the final steps in the wind-up of the Weeds CRC, which closed its doors on 30 June and will eventually be replaced by a new $15 million National Weeds and Productivity Research Program announced by the Rudd Government during the May Budget.
At this stage, there has been no confirmation as to where the new centre will be based. A skeleton staff will remain at the Weeds CRC head office in Adelaide until 30 November.
Symposium early bird registration offers tempting 'worm'
Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort on the gorgeous Great Barrier Reef has kindly donated an exciting resort package as an early bird registration prize for the 29th Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.
The symposium will be held on 17-19 February 2009 in Brisbane. Registrations need to be received by 15 September to be in the running for the resort package prize.
Symposium organisers are also calling for abstracts (full talks, speed talks and posters). Travel grants are also on offer to students and other participants who require support and would benefit from attending the symposium.
Submission and registration details are available on the symposium website.
Breathe Easy – the 3-in-1 solution
Every aspect of modern life demands that people consume some form of energy. Which means, directly or indirectly, everyone is emitting harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Greening Australia has a practical solution that everyone can take part in right now. Breathe Easy is a premium carbon offset product that provides an inspiring 3-in-1 solution to the climate change problem.
Visit the Greening Australia website for more information on offsetting household, business or corporation's carbon emissions.
AgForward workshop update
The AgForward team present a range of workshops to landholders, including GPS essentials, computer mapping, vegetation management, and AgForest's native forest field days.
Upcoming workshops include:
- 22 July: Camooweal - Computer mapping
- 22 July: Georgetown - Vegetation management workshop
- 23 July: Georgetown - Computer mapping
- 24 July: Hughenden - Computer mapping
- 24 July: Georgetown - Vegetation management (one-on-one assistance)
- 29 July: Daintree - GPS essentials
- 30 July: Daintree - Vegetation management
To register for the workshops contact Bree Robertson on 3238 6039. To register for the AgForests Field Day contact Rohan Allen on 0408 769 918.
More information on these workshops can be found on the AgForward website (under 'Workshops').
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 or NRMjobs 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 body: Queensland Murray-Darling Committee Inc (QMDC)
Title: Regional ecologist
Tenure: Full-time
Location: Toowoomba
Closing date: 14 July
The position of will provide specialist ecological and biodiversity planning input and support to a range of sustainable natural resource management activities across the Queensland Murray Darling Basin.
A position description can be downloaded from the Regional Groups Collective website or contact Tanya McKechnie at QMDC on 4637 6201.
Thought for the week
No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.
Elbert Hubbard
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Last updated 22 January 2009