The Bugle - 26 June 2009
In news this week
Regional NRM group stories
- SEQ Catchments make the move to a new region
- Mining and regrowth on QMDC member meeting agenda
- NQ Dry Tropics welcomes Landcare announcement
- Naturally resourceful in Boulia
- Pasture cropping on Harrami trial
- Cane farm and reef set to benefit
- SGC completes successful traditional owner workshop
- It is Performance Reporting time again
- Million-dollar offensive to kill invasive weed
- Water market and termination fee rules signed
- More landholders support wildlife protection
- Recovery grants available for north west Queensland
- Desert Channels workshop looks at farm carbon costs
- Queensland Landcare Awards closing date extended
- Schoolyard warriors wanted
- Get a job in NRM!
Regional NRM group stories
SEQ Catchments make the move to a new region
SEQ Catchments are moving to new premises and establishing a regional hub in Laidley.
SEQ Catchments CEO Simon Warner said "We have the opportunity to take up modern and functional offices in the Lockyer Valley Regional Council Offices in Spicer Street, Laidley and establish an SEQ Catchments community regional hub.”
"This is an indication of SEQ Catchments' commitment to the community, and we hope this move will continue to build on the close relationship we have with both the community and Lockyer Valley Regional Council," Mr Warner said.
SEQ Catchments Community Partnerships Manager Ross Bigwood said people are invited to drop in to discuss management of their property, or seek advice about issues such as grazing strategies, erosion control and NRM.
For the last four years, SEQ Catchments have been operating from the Lockyer Catchment Centre at Forest Hill which will be closing its doors after 13 years of being the focus of Landcare and catchment management in the Lockyer.
For further information about SEQ Catchments visit the SEQ Catchments website.
Mining and regrowth on QMDC member meeting agenda
Queensland Murray-Darling Committee (QMDC) holds several meetings each year to give member organisations and community representatives a chance to have direct contact with QMDC executive members to help build policies and direction for the future.
QMDC Chief Executive Officer Geoff Penton said “Our organisation has a range of activities and initiatives to not only directly help improve and maintain our natural resources but to also boost the capacity of the communities within the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin.”
QMDC’s next meeting will be at the Moonie Sports Club from 10am-2pm on 3 July and QMDC officers will provide information on landscape-wide feral animal management, the Harrisia Cactus control program at Goondiwindi, Learning through Landcare activities and the QMDC strategic plan, at the meeting.
“The impact of extractive industries on the Basin’s natural resources will be one of the big agenda items at our next member meeting,” Mr Penton said.
Mr Penton said as well as mining, the meeting would also be a chance to discuss QMDC’s position on the current moratorium on endangered regrowth in Queensland.
Please RSVP for catering purposes to 4637 6200.
NQ Dry Tropics welcomes Landcare announcement
NQ Dry Tropics welcomes a recent move by the Australian Government to continue to fund the national network of local landcare facilitators. This will include one position for the Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM region.
Immediate funding will be provided to NQ Dry Tropics to allow the organisation to once again employ and host a dedicated landcare coordinator, initially until the end of the year.
Seen as critical for engagement of landholders and continued land and water management improvements, the landcare facilitator will promote sustainable farming practices to help secure the productivity of agriculture in the face of climate change.
NQ Dry Tropics Chief Executive Officer Bob Frazer said “The position will also build on our already-strong relationships with landcare and other community-based land and water management groups.”
From next year, coordinator positions will be funded under an open, competitive process to ensure broad representation across different regions and agricultural industries.
For further information please visit the regional landcare section NQ Dry Tropics website.
Naturally resourceful in Boulia
Ladies from across western Queensland braved the cold to attend Desert Channels Queensland's (DCQ) Naturally Resourceful Women's Workshop at Boulia on 16 and 17 June.
DCQ hopes delivering Naturally Resourceful Women's workshops will help build on the resourceful nature of local women, enhancing their involvement in the community and building their skills, knowledge and understanding about NRM and property planning.
The course aims to encourage participants to take responsibility and action for improved management of the environment, improving their understanding of the links between good NRM practices and social and economic viability. It is also hoped participants will gain self-confidence so they can be more vocal advocates for continued learning within their communities. The course also provides a pathway for women to take leadership responsibilities within the NRM field and within social, producer and political committees.
The group attending at Boulia learned how to write grants, work on gross margins, took the DiSC personality test and then did succession planning. The group continued to work through dinner with a biodiversity presentation provided by Steve Wilson.
For more information about Naturally Resourceful Women's workshops visit the DCQ website.
Pasture cropping on Harrami trial
The economic viability of planting winter cereal crops directly into dormant grass pasture to improve soil health was the drawcard at a ‘Healthy Soils: Pasture Cropping’ field day on Monday at ‘Roselea', a Harrami district grazing property 40km south of Biloela on the Burnett Highway.
For the past two years, Noel, Marie and their son Michael Moretti, have been trialling this pasture cropping technique to build soil fertility while boosting farm profitability.
The field day was organised by Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries Extension Officer Valeria Berry who has led a three-year Healthy Soils: Healthy Future project in conjunction with Fitzroy Basin Association's Innovation Project - Soil Carbon in Central Queensland.
Ms Berry said the field day’s keynote speaker Colin Seis was a pioneer of the pasture cropping management principles. He successfully adopted the technique 15 years ago on his farming and grazing property at Gulgong in central New South Wales.
Noel Moretti said his family opted to trial the pasture cropping concept after hearing Mr Seis address a soil carbon workshop at Kingaroy in 2006.
Ms Berry said having an autumn-winter pasture dormancy period was critical to allow the cereal crop to fulfil its potential so the challenge for the Moretti family was to adapt the pasture cropping knowledge to fit the variability of Central Queensland's climate.
Mr Moretti said this year's on-farm trials aimed to use a range of cereal lines and varietal selections to identify those that could produce a profitable grain crop while building long term soil health and fertility.
For further information about the project, please email Valeria Berry at Biloela Research Station or call on 4992 9156.
Cane farm and reef set to benefit
The first artificial wetland of its type in the Burdekin region will be developed as one of the outcomes from a workshop held by NQ Dry Tropics and WetlandCare Australia. The workshop aimed to bring cane farmers and wetland construction experts together in the Burdekin and was funded under the Australian Government’s Reef Rescue initiative.
Team Leader with WetlandCare Australia Nic Cobcroft said cane growers Vince and Rita Papale have seized on an opportunity of funding support to rehabilitate a former wetland, which until now has been a less productive and seasonally wet area of the farm.
Mr Cobcroft said,“the wetland will help to improve water quality leaving the property and entering the Great Barrier Reef and spoil from the site will be used to boost overall farm productivity.”
Vince Papale said, “the idea for resurrecting the wetland came from looking at cane farms in the Mackay and Tully districts where artificial wetlands are being used with great success.”
“The environmental benefits are also pleasing with the likelihood of fish and wildlife attracted to the wetland as well as providing an educational tool for the younger generations,” he said.
Nic Cobcroft said many species of fish have lost access to an estimated 80 per cent of their original range as up to a half of the Lower Burdekin’s large natural wetlands have disappeared. The remaining lagoons are under continual threat from aquatic and terrestrial weeds.
NQ Dry Tropics Reef Rescue Project Manager Linda Hygate said, “We hope that this example will encourage other growers to follow suit.”
For further information please visit the NQ Dry Tropics website.
SGC completes successful traditional owner workshop
Southern Gulf Catchments (SGC) have completed a traditional owner workshop which included sessions on women's business, stone tool making, caring for country and cultural tourism.
The Southern Gulf Catchments had between 60-70 people attend the successful workshop with other items discussed at the workshops including current government policies and a number of new useful technologies.
Southern Gulf Catchment’s Cultural Project Officer Tanya Willis said the workshop was a collaboration between Southern Gulf Catchments and the two other NRM groups in western Queensland: Desert Channels Queensland and South West NRM.
The three NRM groups have pooled their resources and are now sharing their knowledge and traditional owner networks.
Southern Gulf Catchments hopes to host a workshop next year with the support of funding from the Australian Government's Caring for our Country initiative.
For further information visit the Southern Gulf Catchment website.
Government updates
It is Performance Reporting time again
It is nearing that time of the year again, Performance Reporting. Queensland regional NRM bodies reported some impressive outcomes for the last period July to December 2008 and we are expecting some great results for this reporting period.
Performance reporting is a hectic time for regional NRM bodies, Cape York service delivery agents, industry groups and both the Queensland and Australian governments. Performance Reports are due on 12 July.
All groups should have received a letter from the Joint Queensland and Australian governments Steering Committee (JSC) or the Joint Strategic Investment Panel (JSIP) outlining the 2008-09 performance reporting requirements.
For this reporting period the requirements include a narrative report; financial report; milestone/output report; progress report and a non-mandatory plan report.
enQuire, Queensland’s uniquely designed web based application for contract management and reporting is being used by most groups, to capture the reporting information of most of the groups participating in this performance reporting period.
The information provided in the reports will undergo comprehensive quality assurance by both the Queensland and Australian government officers, prior to being presented to the JSC / JSIP at the end of August for future investment decisions, actions and recommendations.
For further information please email Catchment Programs’ Claire Carter.
Million-dollar offensive to kill invasive weed
Queensland is joining forces with other states to mobilise reinforcements and dollars with a war chest of $1.3 million to fight the highly invasive pest siam weed.
At present, siam weed is only found in Queensland, but it poses a serious threat to grazing and horticultural land and to conservation areas throughout tropical Australia.
The Northern Territory, New South Wales and Western Australia governments are concerned at the potential impact of the weed and have agreed to contribute funding towards a national eradication effort.
The funds will put more eradication teams into the field and fund more helicopter surveys, extension staff and research programs.
Infestations of siam weed in north Queensland have been contained in the Innisfail/Tully and Townsville/Thuringowa areas, and sites around Innot Hot Springs and Mossman, with local eradication from parts of these sites.
The aim is to eradicate the weed completely within 10 years and this funding would provide the necessary resources for the next 12 months.
Biosecurity Queensland is urging people to keep an eye out for this scrambling weed that produces distinctive clusters of white or lilac flowers and has triangular leaves.
Colour photographs and more information about siam weed are available on the Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries website. Suspected sightings of this weed should be reported to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.
Water market and termination fee rules signed
Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong has signed the water market (transformation) rules and termination fee rules applicable in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Both sets of rules contain transitional periods to allow the irrigation industry time to adjust their existing arrangements to comply with the rules.
Senator Wong said,"I have decided to extend this transition period to allow stakeholders further time to adjust to these important changes. The water market rules will now commence on 1 January 2010 and the termination fee rules will start on 1 September 2009."
The new rules will enable individual farmers to apply to transform water held as a share of a group licence into an individual statutory entitlement that can be freely traded; and establish a consistent basis for setting termination fees, to provide for the ongoing costs of maintaining irrigation networks, when an irrigator terminates access to the network.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will release guidance material to assist operators and irrigators in applying the new rules.
Further information about the water market rules and termination fee rules can be found on the Australian Government’s Environment website.
A copy of the rules and associated explanatory statements will be available on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments website upon registration.
More landholders support wildlife protection
Vulnerable native wildlife such as rare frogs and glossy black-cockatoos in many areas have a better chance of survival thanks to another 20,000 hectares being protected through agreements between private landholders and the State Government.
Thirty-one graziers and other landholders across Queensland have signed nature refuge agreements protecting more than 750,000 hectares. This brings the total number of nature refuges in Queensland to 338 and gives extra protection to a number of vulnerable and endangered species, including the Fleay's barred frog, the koala, the glossy black-cockatoo and the Albert's Lyrebird.
Nature refuges help 'join the dots' between national parks, providing wildlife corridors which will help to give native species a way of moving safely between protected areas. The new refuges include a nationally important wetland and springs in the Great Artesian Basin as well as the Barrine Park Nature Refuge which connects the Atherton Tablelands' iconic Lake Barrine rainforest to the expansive World Heritage Area to the east.
Under the agreements landholders undertake natural habitat conservation programs on their properties and maintain them. Sixteen of the new nature refuges will receive funding through NatureAssist, the incentive component of the Nature Refuge Program under the State's Blueprint for the Bush initiative. More than $740,000 is being provided to the owners of these new nature refuges to help them protect their conservation values.
Further information about the Nature Refuge Program is available from Department of Environment and Resource Management website or by phoning 1300 130 372.
Recovery grants available for north west Queensland
Producers and small businesses affected by flooding in Hinchinbrook, Burke, Carpentaria, Cloncurry, Croydon, Doomadgee, Etheridge, McKinlay and Richmond will soon be able to apply for further assistance under a Federal and State Government initiative.
The Australian and Queensland governments have agreed further assistance is required after widespread flooding in the north west from January to March this year. Some small businesses are still struggling to recover from the flood events, while many farmers have completed first round mustering and are recording stock losses. The recovery grants of up to $15,000 will be made available to eligible producers and small businesses.
These recovery grants will be offered to assist in clean-up and restoration activities. These grants could be used by small business operators and primary producers to help cover the costs associated with recovery activities such as flood clean-up, debris removal and restoration work. For producers the grants could cover restoration of fields and pastures, river and creek bank restoration, and repairs to communally used or shared infrastructure, such as cane haul out roads.
The recovery grants will be administered through QRAA and be payable upon proof of expenditure. Amendments to the Rural and Regional Adjustment Regulation 2000 will be made and further information about eligibility, once finalised will be available on the QRAA website.
The closing date for applications will be 30 November 2009.Inquiries and to register interest in relation to the recovery grants and concessional loans should be made to QRAA on 1800 623 946 or on their website.
Reef updates
ABS reef baseline study underway
The Australian Government Reef Rescue team has appointed the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to conduct a survey to provide a baseline of the current agricultural land management practices occurring in catchments draining into the Great Barrier Reef.
The survey will be designed to enable outputs for the 30 or so catchments within the six NRM regions adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
The survey will also allow tailoring of the questions to the particular land management practices associated with the agricultural activities in the region.
The adoption of improved land management practices is a critical factor in achieving improvements in natural resources. Identifying patterns in the adoption of land management practices, and changes in practices over time, will assist in the assessment of progress towards long term improvements in natural resources.
The Reef Rescue program is a component of the Australian Government's Caring for our Country initiative which provides assistance to land managers to accelerate the uptake of improved land management practices. These improved practices will reduce the run-off of nutrients, pesticides and sediments entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
For further information visit the Caring for our Country website.
Wetlands updates
Wetlands project at Byellee completed
Restoring the Byellee Wetlands to its natural glory was the focus of a major environmental conservation project which ended this week.
An army of volunteers is needed to assist with the `Revive Our Wetlands' program, a nationwide project funded by BHP Billiton to turn wetlands back to their natural state.
The Byellee Wetlands program, run by Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), started on 8 June and finished this week.
CVA Volunteer Engagement Officer Pamela MacDonald said the Byellee Wetlands was a locally significant wetlands area located just outside Gladstone.
Ms MacDonald said the wetlands site covers an area of Calliope River mangroves and saltpans through to permanent freshwater lagoons and contains a rich diversity of bird species.
She said the project focus was on the birds and wildlife within the wetlands with volunteers undertaking erosion control on the site.
"Revive Our Wetlands is a huge project happening all over Australia," Ms MacDonald said.
People interested in volunteering in a wetland restoration project can contact CVA on 4972 4969.
Natural resources news
Desert Channels workshop looks at farm carbon costs
Producers got on the front foot with the Australian Government's proposed carbon trading scheme at a number of Desert Channel's free workshops last week.
Run by Graeme Bell, principal officer of AgForce Projects, the workshops looked at how a property's carbon footprint is calculated and mitigated.
Mr Bell said he hoped these workshops assisted producers to calculate their carbon foot print and therefore anticipate any cost increases under a carbon economy.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics (ABARE) research released recently found farmers could have high input costs and lower prices from processors.
The report showed the economic value of farm production in broadacre industries could decline by between 0.3-1.9 percent in 2011 as a result of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme depending on the degree of cost-price pass-through from processors to farmers.
Mr Bell has been presenting the workshop to producers throughout south-west and central Queensland.
The Desert Channels workshops were held at Tambo, Barcaldine and Longreach last week.
For more information visit the Agforce website.
Queensland Landcare Awards closing date extended
Due to the number of enquiries for nominations, Landcare Queensland have extended the closing date for this year's Queensland Landcare Awards to the 10 July 2009.
So there is still plenty of time to get your nominations in.
Please find visit the Queensland Landcare Awards website for nomination forms and the guidelines.
Schoolyard warriors wanted
The Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Schoolyard Warriors Conservation Challenge, a hands-on, creative and exciting program designed especially for schools to get involved in conservation, is underway.
The challenge is in its second year and as part of the challenge, schools are encouraged to implement an environmental conservation project within their school or local community to show how they are making a difference to local environmental and wildlife conservation.
Schools participating in the challenge will be in the running to win a $2000 grant, donated by Australia Zoo, to further develop their conservation project.
Every school that participates will also receive a free curriculum resource pack, designed to enhance the learning of environmental and wildlife conservation in the classroom.
The 2009 challenge will incorporate Steve Irwin Day (15 November) fundraising activities where schools will be asked to participate in a day of fundraising for global wildlife conservation.
For details call Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors on 1800 334 350 or email Schoolyard Warriors.
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 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/organisation: Terrain Natural Resource Management (Terrain)
Title: Team Leader - Hinchinbrook
Tenure: Full-time or part-time
Salary range: $65,920 to $80,000 (negotiated dependent on qualifications & experience)
Location:location to be negotiated within the Wet Tropics region, Queensland
Contact:If you're interested in this position please email karen@terrain or phone 4043-8000 or visit Terrian's website to obtain the relevant selection pack.
Closing date: 29 June 2009.
Thought for the week
Happiness is not in our circumstances but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are.
John B. Sheerin
We welcome your contributions and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions for The Bugle please contact Carl Glen or Ruthie Adams.
The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Catchment Programs, the Department of Environment and Resources Management, highlighting regional NRM activities around Queensland.
Last updated 03 July 2009