Burdekin Bites 27 October 2006

1. 30 October – 3 November Ecotourism Australia International Conference
2. 10 November Ministers Award for Coastal Custodians 2006 due
3. 15 – 18 November International Not-for-profit Convention and Exhibition 4.
4. 21-23 November First National NRM Conference
5. 23 November CHRRUP AGM and General Meeting
6. Spot Scene of the Week
7. Sharing the knowledge
8. Glove-Box guide to assessing your land
9. Results of Black Throated Finch annual bird count
10. Results of the CRC NRM regional weeds survey
11. Biodiversity Incentives Report released
12. Designer Carrots Symposium Proceedings
13. Back on Track Prioritising species for conservation
14. Read the latest about the Blueprint for the Bush
15. Drought hits one third of rural jobs in Qld
16. First $350m of drought package
17. ACF GreenHome Guides
18. Apologies from Deb Cavanagh

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1. 30 October – 3 November Ecotourism Australia International Conference

Ecotourism Australia’s 2006 International Conference is presenting a program relevant to all nature based and ecotourism operators, State and Regional Tourism organisations, National Parks and Protected Area Managers, Government agencies, Guides, students and individuals. For more information about the conference call The Conference Secretariat Ph: 07 3352 3833 or email: Email: secretariat@ecotourism.org.au

http://www.ecotourism.org.au/conference/program_06.asp

2. Minister's Award for Coastal Custodians

Nominations are now open for the Minister's Award for Coastal Custodians 2006 . Entries close on Friday 10 November 2006. The Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, is accepting nominations from organisations or individuals for the $5000 Award. The national winner will be announced during Coastcare Week in early December 2006. The Award encourages community custodianship of Australia's coastal and marine environments, fostering cooperative partnerships between individuals, organisations, schools, business and industry. Through these partnerships, Australians are working together to preserve the health, integrity and diversity of their coasts and oceans. For more information on the Minister's Award, including eligibility criteria, visit Minister's Award for Coastal Custodians 2006

3. 15 – 18 November International Not-for-profit Convention and Exhibition

Otherwise known as INCE this conference focuses on all things related to managing a not for profit including: communication and marketing; organisational development and planning; fundraising; financial management and governance. It is being held at the Sunshine Coast. For more information go to www.nfpn.com.au or Tanya at tanya@nfpn.com.au or phone (07) 3210 2288.

4. 21-23 November First National NRM Conference

The first National NRM Workshop to be held on the Gold Coast 21 to 23 November 2006. It will bring together all 56 Regions to “Share The Experience”. The program is hosted by the QLD Regional Groups Collective, on behalf of the National Chairs Working Group and with the assistance of Land and Water Australia and with the support of the Australian Government. For more information go to: http://www.regionalgroupscollective.com.au/01_cms/details.asp?k_id=42

5. 23 November CHRRUP AGM and General Meeting

Followed by a Xmas party. Contact Liz Alexander 4982 2996

6. Spot Scene of the Week

Each week our GIS team will provide a snapshot of a location of interest in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Region. This weeks scene is of Kinrara Crater (18° 24' 51"S 144° 54' 53"E) which is approximately 85km southwest of Mt Garnet as the crow flies. For more information about our GIS programme contact doug.willis@BDTNRM.org.au

http://webgis.bdtnrm.org.au/spotscenes.htm

7. Sharing the knowledge

BDTNRM is now able to use the valuable knowledge that is known to graziers with the formation of the Land Management Advisory Group. The LMAG will provide a sounding board for project officers who are seeking advice on projects aligned with the grazing community, and strengthen the ties between BDTNRM staff and the grazing community. The LMAG is comprised of ten graziers from throughout the Burdekin region, who all have diverse backgrounds and are united in their efforts to improve our country. For more information contact Kate.Masters@bdtnrm.org.au

8. Glove-Box guide to assessing your land

BDTNRM and DPI&F are refining the ABCD framework and applying it to land types in the Burdekin. One of the products is a glove-box guide for graziers to rapidly assess their land. The LMAG gave a swag of ideas on the form of this product, drawn from experiences of using other publications such as Grass Check and the ‘Is Your Pasture Past It?’ guide, and also gave advice on the best times to take the photos which will appear in the guide. This guide will enable graziers to monitor their land and see if it is going forward or backwards over a number of seasons. For more information contact Kate.Masters@bdtnrm.org.au

9. Results of Black Throated Finch annual bird count

Townsville/Thuringowa’s Black Throated Finch annual waterhole count was strongly supported as 7 coordinators, covered 16 sites with 40 volunteers. The Black Throated Finch count was similar to 2005 with up to 270 birds counted on one day. Volunteers also saw 104 additional bird species. For more information and to get a copy of their very informative newsletter contact Marnie McCullough marnie.mccullough@dpi.qld.gov.au

10. Results of the CRC NRM regional weeds survey

Progress with this nation wide weed project can be followed at www.weeds.crc.org.au/projects/project_4_2_3.html

For more information contact Meg Robertson Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management meg.robertson@csiro.au

11. Biodiversity Incentives Report released

As part of this $192,500 project, Burdekin Dry Tropics and River Consulting worked with landholders in the Bowen, Broken and Bogie River catchments to develop incentives focused on conserving biodiversity. The landholders in these sub-catchments stood out from other regions within the Burdekin Dry Tropics as being interested in incentives and open to novel approaches, including debt-for-conservation-swaps. The project was undertaken under the National Action Plan on Salinity and Water Quality's Social and Economic State-level Investment Program (SE05). To see a copy of the report go to our website /initiatives/seo5.html

For more information contact Kate.Masters@bdtnrm.org.au

12. Read the latest about the Blueprint for the Bush

Bush e-Telegraph aims to keep rural Queenslanders informed of the progress of the Blueprint for the Bush implementation. It also features stories of rural people and communities and highlights their achievements.

Read the first edition of Bush e-Telegraph

Visit the Blueprint for the Bush web site

13. Back on Track Prioritising species for conservation

Back on Track is designed to prioritise species, regardless of their current classification under state and Commonwealth legislation, to better reflect the level of management required to conserve Queensland's native wildlife. Since October 2005, about 2600 species covering the freshwater fish, marine and terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles, sharks and rays, grasses, orchids, Cape York plants, palms, sedges and some rainforest plants have been assessed. By December 2006 another 1000 plant species will be assessed.

In July, a cross-regional workshop was held to encourage the exchange of biodiversity conservation information across regions. During the workshop, BDTNRM and participants from 11 other NRM regions had the opportunity to exchange ideas and develop cross regional conservation projects to focus funding. To learn more about Back on Track, contact the EPA's Sara Williams . sara.williams@epa.qld.gov.au

14. Designer Carrots Forum Proceedings

BDTNRM and Seventy-six other representatives of regional NRM groups, research institutions, industry groups and government departments from across Australia came together at the Designer Carrots Symposium in Brisbane. Participants shared the lessons from seven trials of market-based incentives regional NRM groups undertook through the National Action Plan on Salinity and Water Quality's Social and Economic (SEO5) project. These projects undertaken by Queensland's NRM groups were considered to be the cutting edge for cost-effective incentive design and included conservation tenders, stewardship payments, debt-for-conservation swaps and community-based social marketing. For more info on market-based incentives, visit the incentives database or phone John Mackenzie on 3224 7741.

Visit the incentives innovations web page . Download the participants' handbook

Find out more about the Designer Carrots Symposium

15. Drought hits one third of rural jobs in Qld

Around a third of jobs in the agriculture sector have disappeared in the current drought, reflecting the economic pressure building on rural communities in the state, according to the Queensland Farmers' Federation. Drought is hitting many industries hard, particularly the cotton, dairy, beef, and horticulture industries, with cane farms in the Mackay region also affected. While the northern half of the State has had too much rain – slicing around $200 million off the value of the cane harvest – the southern half of the State is rain-deprived. Source: The Age http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Drought-costs-jobs-says-farmers/2006/10/23/1161455652690.html

16. First $350m of drought package

The Prime Minister, John Howard, has announced the first part of Federal Cabinet's drought package and promised to offer help to more types of producers and extend the amount of time it is offered. Federal Cabinet is working on a package worth about $750 million. The Federal Government has spent more than $1 billion on drought relief so far. Mr Howard says there has been a significant policy change because irrigators and dairy farmers will be eligible, as well as dry land farmers. "All eligible producers in 18 exceptional circumstances declared areas in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT will receive an extension to their income support and interest rate subsidies until the 31st March 2008," Mr Howard said.

17. ACF GreenHome Guides

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is progressively producing a series of GreenHome Guides for each state. Guides for NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Soutern Queensland are currently available, and other states are to follow soon. They have loads of practical tips and things you can do to green up your everyday life. To download the GreenHome Guides visit http://www.acfonline.org.au/default.asp?section_id=163

18. Apologies from Deb Cavanagh

My apologies for last week’s unformatted version of the Bites. I sincerely hope it did not inconvenience you unduly. If (heaven forbid) this happens again you can access a properly formatted version on our website. If you would like to see last week’s Bites in its proper format go to /news/burdekinbites/131006.html

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