The Queensland Government has announced the protection of the largest remaining continuous stretch of open eucalypt bushland in South East Queensland — the Flinders Karawatha Corridor. The corridor extends from Karawatha Forest in Brisbane’s southern suburbs to Flinders Peak, on to the south side of Ipswich and down to the Wyaralong Dam near Boonah. The corridor is about 563.5km² or 56 350 hectares in size and about 60km long. The area’s natural values and rural pursuits are under intense pressure from urbanisation and other uses as the population continues to increase in South East Queensland.
SEQ Catchments has unveiled a new website and launched a Facebook page to engage with as many people as possible to help protect the biodiversity, catchments and waterways of South East Queensland which includes Brisbane and other major urban and peri-urban areas. The new website includes a more interactive media section, easier to understand information, as well as downloadable maps, case studies, and an events calendar.
The South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP) is one of the most comprehensive marine, estuarine and freshwater monitoring programs in Australia. It delivers a regional assessment of the ambient ecosystem health for each of South East Queensland’s (SEQ) 19 major catchments, 18 river estuaries, and Moreton Bay, highlighting where the health of waterways is getting better or worse. The 2011 Ecosystem Health Report Card has been released providing insight into the health of South East Queensland’s waterways and Moreton Bay following the January 2011 flood.
The National Water Account 2010 contains a set of water accounting reports for eight nationally significant water management regions. Reports are now available for the Adelaide, Perth, South East Queensland, Canberra and Sydney regions with Melbourne to be available in upcoming releases.
The new Glossy Black-Cockatoo Conservation Guidelines launched this week summarise the ecology, threats and appropriate research and management actions for addressing the conservation needs of this threatened species. The conservation guidelines have been developed by the Glossy Black-Cockatoo Conservancy. Formed in 2005, the conservancy is a partnership between government, community groups and business to facilitate improved conservation outcomes and inform management responses to protecting the vulnerable glossy black-cockatoo across the South Wast Queensland and Northern NSW region.
Floating Land is one of Australia’s leading Green Art events. Re-engaging the community with nature, exploring environmental and cultural matters through art has sparked the imagination of artists, writers, performers, musicians, photographers, academics and scientists. In 2011 Floating Land is celebrating its sixth year as a ten-day program of workshops and events, bringing people from across the Asia-Pacific together with communities on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The focal venue is Boreen Point at Lake Cootharaba in the UNESCO-listed biosphere of Noosa, with satellite locations at Coolum and Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast.
The coincidence of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and Information Awareness Month offers the opportunity to explore how well our urban communities are using information and knowledge in regard to natural disasters. In early January this year the media carried horrific images and stories of the loss of life and damage caused by flooding in the southern Queensland towns of Toowoomba and Grantham and in the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich. Surprise was expressed at how such severe events could have happened. But the reality is that these floods have their predecessors, as explored in the article Queensland floods: information, history and knowledge.
The coincidence of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry and Information Awareness Month offers the opportunity to explore how well our communities are using information and knowledge in regard to natural disasters. The purpose of Information Awareness Month is to increase public awareness of information and its place in all aspects of daily life.
In early January this year the media carried horrific images and stories of the loss of life and damage caused by flooding in the southern Queensland towns of Toowoomba and Grantham and in the cities of Brisbane and Ipswich. Surprise was expressed at how such severe events could have happened. But the reality is that these floods have their predecessors. Read the rest of this entry »