1354278_southern_queensland_landscape

Project Update: Protecting the Brigalow Belt in Southern Queensland

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 03:16:23 GMT

With our team working alongside landholders to turn planning into practical, lasting outcomes on the ground, our project, Protecting the Brigalow Belt in Southern Queensland , is well underway.

This project supports landholders to protect remnant and fragmented Brigalow vegetation, while strengthening the long-term sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems across the region. By aligning conservation outcomes with grazing enterprise needs, the project recognises that healthy landscapes and productive businesses go hand in hand.

Across southern Queensland, we are currently partnering with around 50 landholders to address priority challenges such as weeds and pest animals, alongside targeted property improvements that benefit both production and nature. Supported on-ground activities include both weed and pest management, fencing to improve grazing control and protect remnant vegetation, and infrastructure such as alternative watering points to better manage livestock access and reduce pressure on the Brigalow scrub.

A key focus of the project is improving the condition and connectivity of Brigalow habitats, particularly along important corridors and remnant patches. These areas can provide critical habitat for nationally significant species including koalas, the Yakka Skink and the Northern Quoll. Strengthening these systems helps conserve threatened Brigalow Belt ecosystems while maintaining the shade, shelter, soil health and water retention benefits that are so valuable to grazing.

We sincerely thank every landholder who is partnering with us on this project. Your stewardship, local knowledge and commitment are central to the success of this work. Collaboration between landholders, First Nations people, government and local communities remains at the heart of achieving lasting improvements for the Brigalow Belt, now and into the future.

This project is funded by the Australian Government under Saving Native Species and delivered by Southern Queensland Landscapes, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners Panel.

Working Together to Protect Koalas and Riverine Woodlands at Biddenham, Augathella

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 07:20:52 GMT

West of Augathella, along the winding Nive River, sits Biddenham , a family-owned cattle property run by Guy Newell and his wife Natalie. The river forms a defining feature of the property, supporting riparian landscapes and providing important habitat for native wildlife alongside productive grazing land.

In early 2025, we approached Guy to explore opportunities to work together on landscape and biodiversity projects. At the time, our Western Koala Project was underway, alongside the Coolibah–Black Box and Poplar Box Project, both of which strongly aligned with the natural values present at Biddenham . With extensive areas of Coolibah–Black Box and Poplar Box Grassy Woodland threatened ecological communities (TEC's), particularly along the Nive River corridor, the property was well placed to support these initiatives. These TEC's also provide important habitat for native fauna including Koalas and Rufus Bettongs, with existing records and on-ground evidence confirming their presence in the area.

As part of the project activities, we collected an environmental DNA (eDNA) water sample from a local waterhole to investigate the presence and abundance of native fauna, as well as potential pest species. An acoustic recorder was also deployed to help monitor wildlife activity across the site, providing valuable data to inform ongoing conservation and management efforts.

A key focus of our support at Biddenham has been weed management, particularly targeting Mother of Millions and Tiger Pear, invasive species that can significantly impact native fauna and degrade threatened ecological communities. Through a combination of biological control and targeted herbicide treatments, we have worked alongside Guy to reduce these weed pressures and protect the health of the riparian corridor.

Guy has also actively participated in pest management programs, taking part in the initial aerial pest control operation in May 2025, followed by a second program in November 2025. These efforts targeted feral pigs and feral cats, helping to reduce threats to native species and safeguard the ecological integrity of the TEC's along the river.

Building strong relationships with landholders is central to Southern Queensland Landscapes’ work, and it has been a pleasure to collaborate with Guy and Natalie at Biddenham . Their willingness to engage in conservation projects while continuing productive land management demonstrates the value of partnership in achieving positive outcomes for landscapes, wildlife and rural communities.

This project is funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by Southern Queensland Landscapes, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

Our Visit With The Bunya People’s Aboriginal Corporation

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:30:06 GMT

Members of the Southern Queensland Landscapes team recently spent time on Bunya Country with the Bunya People’s Aboriginal Corporation, whose work involves Healing Country and strengthening Songlines through on-Country projects and partnerships.

We were grateful to be welcomed onto Country to listen, yarn and learn, and to introduce the Growing Climate Smart Grazing in the Condamine River Basin project, which forms part of the national Climate Smart Agriculture Program. Spending time together on Country created space for open conversations, allowing shared priorities to emerge naturally and respectfully.

These early discussions explored healthy Country, cultural burning practices and caring for landscapes in ways that honour First Nations knowledge systems that have guided land stewardship for tens of thousands of years.

By walking gently alongside Traditional Custodians, these conversations are helping shape the Growing Climate Smart Grazing program so that works will:

• Respect and align with First Nations land management knowledge

• Support cultural aspirations and practices

• Strengthen connections to Country

• Build genuine partnerships

We recognise that First Nations peoples are the original land managers of southern Queensland, and their knowledge, cultural obligations and connection to Country remain vital to how we care for landscapes today and into the future.

Southern Queensland Landscapes sincerely thanks Bunya People’s Aboriginal Corporation for welcoming our team and sharing wisdom and perspectives that will help guide this work.

Media Release - Southern Queensland Landscapes Announces New Board Director Appointments

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 04:44:53 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes is pleased to announce key leadership changes following its 2025 Annual General Meeting, including the appointment of Anthony Glasson as the organisation’s newest Board Director.

Anthony, who operates Picarilli Merinos near Thargomindah, brings broad experience in primary production, regional leadership and natural resource management. His long-standing involvement in rural industries and commitment to sustainable land stewardship will be pivotal in supporting Southern Qld Landscapes delivery under its NRM Regional Plan, Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities .

Southern Qld Landscapes also confirms the reappointment of Directors, Louise Winten from Morven and Pippa Jones from Goondiwindi. Both Directors bring substantial governance experience and strong regional perspectives, and their renewed terms will continue to support their commitment to community-led outcomes. Additionally, Southern Qld Landscapes acknowledges the contribution of retiring Director Hollie Grimwade, whose service has strengthened their strategic direction and regional engagement.

Board Chair, Kimberley Swords said “these appointments reflect the stability and capability of Southern Qld Landscapes governance and the organisation’s strong focus on delivering real outcomes for our communities.”

In welcoming and recognising the Directors, Ms Swords said: “I am very pleased to welcome Anthony Glasson as a new Director of Southern Qld Landscapes. Anthony brings a wealth of practical knowledge from his leadership of Picarilli Merinos and a deep commitment to our region. His understanding of land stewardship and his passion for community-led change will be invaluable. I also congratulate and warmly acknowledge the reappointment of Directors Louise Winton and Pippa Jones. I also want to sincerely thank our retiring Director, Hollie Grimwade. Her commitment, professionalism and regional understanding have been significant assets throughout her tenure.”

“I would also like to acknowledge our dedicated staff, who continue to deliver meaningful outcomes for landholders, partners and communities. This year, we delivered more than $9 million worth of project activity across the region, with on-ground and in community work to support sustainable agriculture and build community resilience,” said Ms Swords.

Members also voted at the AGM to adopt a new modernised, constitution in line with contemporary not for profit governance expectations. Southern Qld Landscapes looks forward to working under its renewed Board leadership to advance regional priorities, continue strong partnerships, and deliver tangible benefits across the Southern Queensland region.

Media Release - Southern Queensland Landscapes to Deliver $9 Million Projects to Improve Grazing Land Along Key Waterways and Protect Koala’s in the States Southwest

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 02:26:09 GMT

Southern Queensland is set to benefit from a major investment in Queensland’s natural assets, with more than $9 million allocated through the Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Management Expansion Program and delivered by Southern Queensland Landscapes.

Southern Queensland Landscapes will receive $6.6 million to work with landholders to improve more than 124,000 hectares of land and vegetation adjacent to key waterways by installing fencing and watering points to better manage grazing. A further $2.5 million is allocated to the improvement of priority koala habitats and support animal movement and survival across Southern Queensland. This targeted action to remove key threats including wild dogs and invasive cactus species.

Southern Queensland Landscapes CEO, Gillian Meppem said “the investment highlights the vital link between healthy landscapes, productive agriculture, resilient koala populations and thriving waterways.”

“We are looking forward to delivering two key projects in partnership with landholders, through the Natural Resource Management Expansion Program. These projects are focused on protecting our waterways through improved grazing management and supporting thriving koala populations across Southern Queensland.”

“Better grazing management, strategic fencing, and improved stock water infrastructure will enhance ground cover and protect waterways, ensuring our landscapes are more capable of resisting and recovering from natural disasters and the impacts of a changing climate.”

“We are improving koala habitat by tackling key threats such as wild dogs and invasive cactus and supporting greater genetic diversity to ensure thriving koala populations across southern Queensland,” she said.

Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development, The Honourable Dale Last, said “the funding demonstrates the Queensland Government’s strong commitment to supporting regional communities and natural resource management.”

“When we came into government, we promised we would double funding for NRM organisations, and we would ensure our regional workforce would benefit, and we are delivering on that promise.

“These NRM organisations are leading the way in safeguarding our natural resources, and that’s why we’re proud to support them and invest in Queensland’s future.”

The NRMEP is a partnership between the Queensland Government and NRM Regions Queensland to deliver $117.84 million in on-ground land, water and biodiversity programs over the next three years.

Natural Resources Recovery Program Update

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 06:01:18 GMT

We are seeing fantastic momentum across the region, with strong interest from landholders in improving land condition. Even better, clusters of neighbouring properties are getting involved, a promising sign for achieving landscape-scale change that supports water infiltration, soil health, and resilient groundcover.

To help visualise this, Projects Lead Payel Sinha, developed a set of clever graphics that capture the essence of the NRRP program. The circular diagram below shows how water, soil, vegetation, grazing, and ecosystem balance are interconnected, all working together to support healthier landscapes.

Right now, our team is working closely with participants to develop agreements and monitoring plans. You’ll hear us talk about LCATs, the Land Condition Assessment Tool, an app we use across Queensland to track improvements in land condition.

We are proud to be engaging with Mardigan and Bidjara Nations, exploring how our program can support knowledge sharing and upskilling for First Nations involvement in natural resource management. Want to see what that looks like in action? Check out Mardigan’s plan we are supporting . We look forward to broadening engagement to support other Nations.

In May, we hosted a Landscape Restoration Day near Mungallala with 18 landholders. It was a fantastic day of on-site learning, mingling, and sharing ideas for improving property health. Let us know what kinds of events you would like to see in your area, as we are interested to support initiatives that matter most to you.

This project is funded by the Queensland Government's Natural Resources Recovery Program.

The 2025 National Landcare Conference

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:56:13 GMT

We were honoured to have CEO Gillian Meppem, Richard Turnbull, Dr Payel Sinha and Uncle Kevin, a Margany Elder from near Quilpie, come together on the Gold Coast for this year’s Landcare Conference, representing our vision, work and cultural partnerships across the region.

Dr Payel Sinha delivered a presentation on the Natural Resource Recovery Program: A Holistic Approach to Restoring Landscapes , showcasing how integrative, place-based strategies can unite ecological health, cultural values and community resilience.

One of the highlights of our participation was the poster we presented on the Manu Manu Creek Fish Traps at Quilpie, telling the story of Uncle Kevin Collins and the heritage of the Margany People.

Here are some of the poster highlights:

• The fish traps along Manu Manu Creek are estimated to be over 5,000 years old. These sites were integral gathering places for First Nations peoples, especially for catching Gulu (yellowbelly fish).

• The project builds on a cultural heritage agreement made in 2008 between the Margany People and the Tully family landholders to jointly protect and restore the traps.

• Supported by funding from the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Recovery Program, the project includes activities such as:

Traditional cool burning
Water quality monitoring
Pest management

The project aims to integrate First Nations knowledge, culture, and science with sustainable land management. Margany Elders guide youth involvement in understanding seasonal flows, restoration techniques, and mapping tools (like drone mapping), building capacity and cultural continuity.

As Uncle Kevin shares, “My people have a deep connection with the land and water, the animals and plants. Country is at the heart of our spiritual identity. We have a responsibility to protect not just the physical aspects of our heritage, but also our stories, language and lore.”

This is more than a heritage project, it’s a model of collaboration between Traditional Owners, landholders, youth, and government, aiming for outcomes that respect culture, restore landscapes, and build legacy.

The 2025 Australian Cotton Research Conference: Supporting Sustainable Cotton Farming in Australia

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 01:52:19 GMT

The rapidly evolving global market for agricultural commodities, including cotton, was front and centre at the recent Australian Cotton Research Conference held in Narrabri, NSW. A key theme throughout the event was the increasing pressure climate change places on cotton production and how the industry is adapting through innovation and research.

Andrew Davidson of Southern Queensland Landscapes introduced an innovative national project funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC). The project focuses on mapping woody vegetation across cotton farms in Australia, a crucial step toward better understanding on-farm biodiversity and supporting sustainability goals.

The project uses a cutting-edge methodology developed by Southern Queensland Landscapes, drawing on a national dataset curated by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). What makes this approach unique is its ability to consistently measure vegetation across state and territory lines, overcoming long-standing challenges caused by fragmented and inconsistent regional datasets.

The initiative is a true collaboration between the cotton industry, Natural Resource Management (NRM) groups, and NRM Regions Australia. Together, they aim to build a national picture of woody vegetation cover, including how much of it connects to larger, regional biodiversity corridors.

Why It Matters...

This vegetation data will provide a scientifically robust and cost-effective indicator of potential biodiversity on cotton farms. In practical terms, it can help:

• Support cotton growers in meeting environmental standards for market access

• Inform risk management strategies and conversations with financiers

• Align with international frameworks such as:

- The Science-Based Targets for Nature

- The Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework

- The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

As the cotton industry looks to remain competitive and resilient in a changing climate, initiatives like this are critical. They help position Australian cotton as a globally trusted, environmentally responsible product.

Board Update July 2025

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 01:33:17 GMT

A Message From Our CEO, Gillian Meppem

During our recent board meeting in Charleville, held with our new Chair Kimberley Swords, we were pleased to formally recognise former Southern Queensland Landscapes Director and respected Charleville local, Karen Tully, for her outstanding service to both Southern Queensland Landscapes and its predecessor, South West NRM. The board also took the opportunity to acknowledge the valuable contributions of past Director Bruce ‘Barcoo’ Scott, who was unable to attend as he was supporting the Charleville community in his role as CEO of Murweh Shire.

As Karen spoke of her experience working in the NRM sector, I reflected on how much the sector has changed but also on how much remains the same. The funding has certainly changed significantly, with the reduced expenditure now directed toward specific programs of work, often across specified geographies, rather than the previous model of funding local community organisations whose stakeholders would then determine the local priorities. It is not for me to judge which is better but simply acknowledge that it has changed. What remains the same is the humbling dedication of individuals and organisations across communities and landscapes who remain willing and able to support natural resource management.

Whilst we will always have significant seasonal variability across southern Queensland, recent long drives have provided me with an opportunity to marvel at the current winter landscape, by and large it’s looking lovely for this time of year. Hearing from colleagues around the nation at a recent NRM Regions Australia event, reminded me to appreciate these bountiful times, we know the season can change swiftly.

June Board Meeting in Charleville

The Southern Queensland Landscapes Board recently gathered in Charleville to acknowledge and celebrate retired Board Members Karen Tully and 'Barcoo' Bruce Scott. Director Graham Cooke took a moment to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding contribution of long-time supporters, Karen and Bruce.

Board Director Graham Cooke said, "Bruce Scott joined the board in 2020 and with him, he brought excellence in governance knowledge and financial skills. His understanding of the country in South West Queensland is unparalleled, as is his connection to the community in the region. Fellow Board Members were very fortunate to learn from and work with Bruce throughout his time as Director. Bruce retired from the Board in 2024 after accepting the role of CEO at the Murweh Shire Council."

"On behalf of the board, I am also delighted to recognise Karen for the dedication, support and personal sacrifice she has made over the years. I first met Karen in 2018 when she was an active member of the Southern Queensland Landscapes Foundation Committee. At the time, we were navigating the complex process of bringing together three Regional NRM organisations into one. It was no small feat."

"Those early days involved long meetings, often in Toowoomba, requiring hours of travel and time away from home. But Karen’s commitment never wavered. After much collaboration and negotiation, Southern Queensland Landscapes came together as the new NRM late in 2018. Karen’s objectivity, impartiality and were always obvious, she demonstrated a grass roots know how and played a key role in helping shape what Southern Queensland Landscapes is today."

We would like to thank Karen and Bruce for their contribution and dedication to Southern Queensland Landscapes over the years and wish them well into the future.

Monitoring to Protect Threatened Habitat in Southern Qld

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 04:53:29 GMT

Project Officers Katrina Higgins and Erin Landsberg recently joined Rose and Weston from Boobook Ecological Consulting in Roma, to complete field monitoring in the Murweh and Maranoa districts. This monitoring measures the value and health of Coolibah, Poplar Box, and Brigalow habitat. During this time, we deployed acoustic recorders and motion-sensor wildlife cameras, and took DNA samples from nearby water sources to ascertain the fauna within these threatened habitats.

We recorded the species present, level of recruitment, and evidence of ecological impacts (from drought, flood, fire, and/or human and pest), as well as measured the health, condition, and average size of the relevant species. This is recorded in the form of digital surveys, photos, and physically collecting samples. We collected over 100 samples over the two sites (Morven and Surat), and these samples are sent away to be evaluated and catalogued at the Herbarium and may even be archived ... where they could outlive us!

Monitoring was completed at:

• Poplar Box habitat in Morven common/reserve

• Coolibah habitat in Surat Reserve

• Brigalow habitat in properties around Mitchell

Southern Qld Landscapes to Support the National Soil Monitoring Program

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 04:17:27 GMT

Playing a Leading Role in the National Soil Monitoring Program

Queensland’s regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisations are playing a leading role in the National Soil Monitoring Program (NSMP), one of Australia’s most ambitious efforts to assess and improve soil health. Funded by the Australian Government through the Natural Heritage Trust and led by CSIRO, the NSMP will involve sampling at approximately 3,000 sites nationwide over three years, more than 850 of those in Queensland, with a focus on key agricultural zones.

Queensland’s NRM groups have formed northern and southern clusters to deliver the program, contributing valuable expertise from over 25 years of on-ground experience. Southern Queensland Landscapes will lead delivery for the QLD South cluster of regions. The data collected will provide a nationally consistent picture of soil condition and health, enabling better decision-making for farmers, land managers, and policymakers to support sustainable, climate-smart agriculture.

Jayne Thorpe, Business Development Manager at Southern Queensland Landscapes said, “In total, the QLD South cluster will collect 565 soil samples over the course of the project. That will work out as 11.3 tonnes of soil sent for analysis!”

Understanding Natural Capital Markets

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 03:00:44 GMT

1. What is Natural Capital?

Natural capital refers to the natural resources and ecosystems, like soils, native vegetation, water, and biodiversity, that underpin productive farming and provide essential services such as clean water, healthy soils and carbon storage. For Queensland landholders, this means your land’s value now includes the environmental benefits it delivers, not just crops or livestock.

While the term Natural Capital has risen to prominence with government, industry and the public in recent years, the sustainable use of our natural capital, its maintenance and improvement have been fundamental to regional NRM organisations since inception. Identifying and assessing our natural assets are foundational to the development of our regional NRM strategies and plans which guide our operations and provide us with the knowledge and expertise to play a key role in Australia’s efforts to manage and enhance our Natural Capital.

2. Why Does Natural Capital Matter in Agriculture?

Australian agriculture is experiencing a shift where nature and production are seen as interconnected assets. This approach is being driven by both market demand and new government policies, with natural capital now influencing land values, investments, and farm business resilience.

3. How Can Farmers Monetise Natural Capital?

Natural capital markets allow landholders to earn income by improving or protecting their land’s natural assets. The most common ways to participate include:

Carbon Credits:  Under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme, farmers can generate credits by adopting practices like reforestation, soil carbon improvement, or avoided clearing. These credits are regulated by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) and can be sold to the government or private buyers.

Biodiversity Certificates:  The new federal Nature Repair Market, established by the Nature Repair Act 2023, allows farmers to earn tradable biodiversity certificates for projects that restore or protect native ecosystems. The CER also administers this market, ensuring robust oversight and scientific credibility.

Land Restoration Fund (LRF):  Queensland’s LRF builds on the federal framework, offering extra incentives for projects that deliver both carbon abatement and environmental co-benefits, such as improved water quality or habitat restoration. The LRF works in tandem with the ACCU Scheme and prioritises projects that support regional sustainability.

More Information:

�� www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/natural-capital/explained

�� www.cer.gov.au/schemes/australian-carbon-credit-unit-scheme

�� www.qld.gov.au/environment/climate/climate-change/land-restoration-fund

�� www.nrmrq.org.au/queensland-nature-fund-natural-capital

�� www.legislation.gov.au/C2023A00121/latest/text

Southern Queensland Landscapes appoints Kimberley Swords as Board Chair

Tue, 06 May 2025 05:23:53 GMT

The Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes is pleased to announce Kimberley Swords has been appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors. Kimberley began her working life as a large animal country vet, after student practical experience across Southern Queensland in Goondiwindi and Injune. Kimberley’s strong interest in natural resource management and regional communities has led her to contribute across a wide variety of industries including the public sector, where she rose to the role of Deputy Secretary in the Australian Government and led environmental approvals, heritage and marine. Her extensive leadership experience incorporates many board roles, including as a current serving member of the CS Energy board.

“Following an extensive recruitment phase, where the Southern Queensland Landscapes Board were gratified to receive several high-quality applications, we are delighted to announce the subsequent overwhelming member endorsement of Kimberley as Board Chair. The appointment of a new Chair in any organisation represents an opportunity for refreshment and renewal and the Southern Queensland Landscapes Directors and staff are looking forward to working with Kimberley to deliver our Strategic Plan” said acting Southern Queensland Landscapes Chair, Louise Winten.

Kimberly looks forward to engaging with stakeholders across Southern Queensland, with her first full board meeting set down for late June in Charleville. “It is an exciting and challenging time for the region, as we lean into the changing climate, different economic opportunities, and the next generation of regional leaders. I look forward to connecting and collaborating across our communities to better understand how Southern Queensland Landscapes can support sustainable environmental outcomes that materially improve the lives of people living and working in Southern Queensland,” she said.

The position of Chair became vacant following the retirement of founding Chair, and long term supporter of regional natural resource management, The Honourable Bruce Scott, AM, at the end of February 2025. Bruce made a significant contribution to Southern Queensland Landscapes during his time as Chair and the Board thanks him for dedication, time, energy, and commitment to the organisation.

Southern Queensland Landscapes is one of 11 Queensland-based Natural Resource Management (NRM) organisations. Spanning 314,398 square kilometres, the our footprint encompasses the Condamine catchment, Qld Murray Darling Basin and the south-west Mulga Lands. Southern Queensland Landscapes relies on evidence based information, supported by First Nations knowledge, to effectively balance productivity and environmental outcomes that support the regional communities within our landscapes.

Whyalla Feedlot, Texas Qld

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 05:45:08 GMT

Screen Type

Self Cleaning, Self Propelled Cylinder Fish Screen

Screen M anufacturer

AWMA

River Catchment

Dumaresq River

Whyalla Beef has grown to become one of Australia’s largest, state-of-the-art feedlots. Located in Southern Queensland, Whyalla Beef produces premium grainfed cattle, two of the Group’s Wagyu brands – Wild Rivers Purebred Wagyu and Oakey Premium Wagyu – are all finished at the Whyalla Beef feedlot before moving to the Group’s processing plant-based at Oakey.

A Self Cleaning, Self Propelled Cylinder Fish Screen was installed at Whyalla Feedlot , Texas by Texas Pumps and Irrigation in 2022. The screen is driven via an internal propeller that rotates as water is pumped through the suction line. There are no external power requirements necessary to operate the screen. Internal and external brushes ensure that the screen remains clean, and any entrained debris is returned to the river. The screen is suitable for flows up to 12 ML/day based on approach velocity of 0.12 m/s.

Features of the Installed Fish Screen

• One AWMA-manufactured fish screen was fitted to the current irrigation system.

• The screen is self-cleaning, driven via an internal propeller that rotates as water is pumped through the suction line.

• Internal and external brushes ensure that the screen remains clean, and any entrained debris is returned to the river.

Why This Matters

Protects native fish populations by keeping them in the river where they belong.
Prevents debris from entering the pump, improving efficiency.
Simplifies maintenance, even during high river levels or floods.

Vacant Board Chair Position at SQ Landscapes

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 02:57:08 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes is seeking an experienced and influential Board Chair to lead a multi-skilled Board in managing natural resources across Southern Queensland. This is a 3-year remunerated role based in Toowoomba, QLD, with the flexibility to manage from anywhere in Southern QLD.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Substantial experience leading diverse Boards

• Strong relationship-building and leadership skills

• Expertise in environmental and agricultural matters

This role is an opportunity to shape the future of natural resource management, working closely with land managers, community leaders, and industry professionals.

Are you ready to make an enduring impact? For more details and to apply, visit www.windsor-group.com.au/job/board-chair-natural-resources-peak-body or contact Mike Conroy at apply@windsor-group.com.au.

We Farewell the Outgoing Board Chair, The Hon Bruce Scott AM

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 07:51:58 GMT

This week marked the final Board meeting for retiring Southern Queensland Landscape Chair, The Hon Bruce Scott AM. The Southern Queensland Landscapes Board hosted a function at Gip’s restaurant in Toowoomba, joined by past Directors, industry stakeholders and the Southern Queensland Landscapes Management team, where Bruce was warmly acknowledged and thanked. Bruce offered special thanks to his dear wife Joan for her support during his period of service to Southern Queensland Landscapes, in particular the warm country hospitality she has offered to many visitors to Roma. Bruce also recognised and thanked Southern Queensland Landscapes Company Secretary Pam Murphy, who has supported Bruce in his service to Southern Queensland Landscapes since the organisation’s inception.

As is well known, Southern Queensland Landscapes is the result of combining stakeholders from Condamine Alliance Limited, Queensland Murray Darling Committee Incorporated, and South West NRM Limited. Mark O’Brien was chair of South West NRM, Graham Cooke was President of the Queensland Murray Darling Committee, and George Moore was chair of Condamine Alliance. The three companies formed an interim committee to establish Southern Queensland Landscapes which Mark O’Brien chaired. This committee became the interim Board on 1 July 2018. The first general meeting of the company was held on 28 October 2018 in Roma with the first chair, Hon Bruce Scott AM duly elected. From that day onward, Bruce immersed himself in the role giving many hours of his time to ensuring the success of the organisation. Through his role as Chair of Southern Queensland Landscapes, Bruce became a director of NRM Regions Queensland, the state level organisation representing 12 NRM groups in Queensland. Bruce leaves a legacy of understanding and advocating for Southern Queensland people and places, politics in general, business leaders, agricultural and community leadership and an ongoing commitment to First Nation Peoples across the region.

Following Bruce’s retirement, current Deputy Chair Louise Winten will step into the role of acting Chair whilst the Board undertakes recruitment for Southern Queensland Landscapes’ next Chair. Director Chris Joseph will step in as acting Deputy Chair during this time.

Moolabah, St George Qld

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 08:50:29 GMT

Screen Type

Self Cleaning Floatation Fish Screen

Screen M anufacturer

KleenScreen, NZ

River Catchment

Balonne River

Hamish McIntyre is the Managing Director of McIntyre Agriculture, including the property Moolabah , a family owned farming and livestock business he runs with his wife, Mary and three sons, Stirling, Finlay and Campbell. The business comprises 143,800ha of grazing, dryland farming and irrigation country situated in the St George, Dirranbandi and Quilpie Districts. A self cleaning Floatation Fish Screen was installed at Moolabah St George by Warrego Water Services in 2023. Floatation is used to keep the fish screen at the surface for shallow water situations. The screen is designed to work with a third to a half sitting out of the water. It can operate in water depths as shallow as 125mm.

Features of the Installed Fish Screen

Efficient Cleaning: Adjustable rotation direction clears debris effectively.
Effective Water Intake: Draws water from below, keeping the screen mostly above water.
Superior Backwash: Above-water backwash ensures thorough cleaning and debris removal.
Built to Last: Made with durable stainless steel and thermoplastic materials.
Designed in New Zealand for Australian conditions.

Why This Matters

Protects native fish populations by keeping them in the river where they belong.
Prevents debris from entering the pump, improving efficiency.
Simplifies maintenance, even during high river levels or floods.

Wallumba Feedlot, Wieambilla Qld

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 08:04:02 GMT

Screen Type

Self Cleaning Cylindrical Fish Screen

Screen M anufacturer

AWMA

River Catchment

Condamine River

Southern Queensland Landscapes, as part of the Fish Friendly Water Extraction Project, recently installed a cylindrical fish screen on the property Nangram , part of the Wallumba Feedlot. Nangram is located on the Condamine River and is made up of nine irrigated centre pivots. As well as providing forage sorghum grazing to background cattle for the feedlot, Nangra m also grows all the silage to be used at Wallumba Feedlot.

Wallumba Feedlot operations embrace the principles of ecologically sustainable land management. They recognise that a healthy, diverse and resilient landscape is essential if beef production is to remain viable in Australia.

Though testing is in its early stages, the screen has already demonstrated its ability to protect native fish and prevent debris from entering the pump. Monitoring is being undertaken by Redleaf Environmental.

The Filter Installation

One AWMA-manufactured fish screen was fitted to the current irrigation system.
The screen is self-cleaning, driven via an internal propeller that rotates as water is pumped through the suction line.
Internal and external brushes ensure that the screen remains clean, and any entrained debris is returned to the river.

Why This Matters for Farmers:

Protecting Fish Populations → Ensures native species thrive while maintaining biodiversity.
Reducing Infrastructure Maintenance → Fish screens help prevent debris blockages and extend the life of pumps.
Regulatory and Financial Advantages → Demonstrating environmental responsibility could support water license security and financial incentives from institutions.

Burradoo Plains, Hopeland Qld

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 05:27:13 GMT

Screen Type

Self Cleaning Floatation Fish Screen

Screen M anufacturer

KleenScreen, NZ

River Catchment

Condamine Branch (Chinchilla Weir)

Greg Bender, an entrepreneurial cotton and crop farmer from Hopeland, near Chinchilla, has been using the fish-friendly screen installed by the Fish Friendly Water Extraction Project on his property, Burradoo Plains . Greg observed countless small fish that had been sucked into the irrigation system after pumping. A self cleaning Floatation Fish Screen was installed by Warrego Water Services in 2024. Floatation is used to keep the fish screen at the surface for shallow water situations. The screen is designed to work with a third to a half sitting out of the water. It can operate in water depths as shallow as 125mm.

Though testing is in its early stages, the screen has already demonstrated its ability to protect native fish and prevent debris from entering the pump. Monitoring is being undertaken by Redleaf Environmental.

Features of the Installed Fish Screen

Efficient Cleaning: Adjustable rotation direction clears debris effectively.
Effective Water Intake: Draws water from below, keeping the screen mostly above water.
Superior Backwash: Above-water backwash ensures thorough cleaning and debris removal.
Built to Last: Made with durable stainless steel and thermoplastic materials.
Designed in New Zealand for Australian conditions.

Why This Matters

Protects native fish populations by keeping them in the river where they belong.
Prevents debris from entering the pump, improving efficiency.
Simplifies maintenance, even during high river levels or floods.

Struanville Farming Co, Bowenville Qld

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:20:27 GMT

Screen Type

Two Self Cleaning Cylindrical Screens

Screen M anufacturer

AWMA

River Catchment

Gowrie Oakey Creek

Southern Queensland Landscapes recently visited Matt Finch’s property, Struanville Farming Co, to gain insights into his water extraction system, discuss the upcoming installation of a fish-friendly screen, and explore modern irrigation practices' environmental and economic benefits.

Matt, a forward-thinking farmer, is committed to sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and efficient water use. His passion for protecting native fish populations while improving agricultural infrastructure makes his property an excellent case study in balancing farming with environmental responsibility.

The Filter Installation Plan

Two AWMA-manufactured fish screens will be fitted to Matt’s new pump station.
The screens will be self-cleaning, featuring a hydraulic retrieval system that can be controlled remotely via a mobile device.
A concrete headwall and protective rock structures will be installed to shield the screens from flood debris and enhance system longevity.

Why This Matters for Farmers:

Protecting Fish Populations → Ensures native species thrive while maintaining biodiversity.
Reducing Infrastructure Maintenance → Fish screens help prevent debris blockages and extend the life of pumps.
Regulatory and Financial Advantages → Demonstrating environmental responsibility could support water license security and financial incentives from institutions.

Coolibah, Condamine Qld

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:20:19 GMT

Screen Type

Self Cleaning Cylindrical Screen

Screen M anufacturer

AWMA

River Catchment

Condamine River

David Grace, a highly regarded farmer and horse training instructor, has been using the fish-friendly screen installed by the Fish Friendly Water Extraction Project on his Condamine River property, Coolibah . David observed countless small fish that had been sucked into the lagoon after irrigation pumping. After running the pumps through the fish screen, zero fish were drawn through the system, a significant win for fish conservation and sustainable water use.

Though testing is in its early stages, the screen has already demonstrated its ability to protect native fish and prevent debris from entering the pump. Monitoring is being undertaken by Redleaf Environmental.

"A real positive outcome for native fish and farming."

David Grace

Features of the Installed Fish Screen

• Handles up to 10-12 megalitres per day, meeting the irrigation needs of the property.

• Designed to withstand high-flow events, ensuring durability during dynamic river conditions.

• Self-cleans using a propeller-driven system, keeping 2mm openings free of algae and silt.

Why This Matters

Protects native fish populations by keeping them in the river where they belong.
Prevents debris from entering the pump, improving efficiency.
Simplifies maintenance, even during high river levels or floods.

Revitalising the Condamine Headwaters: A Testament to Community and Conservation

Wed, 25 Sep 2024 00:09:15 GMT

The Condamine Headwaters, a critical ecosystem in Southern Queensland, has long faced threats from sedimentation, habitat degradation, and thermal regime changes. The Blackfish Project, dedicated to reversing these impacts, unites scientists, landowners, and the community in a shared mission to restore and protect this vital environment. At its core lies the river blackfish, a sensitive indicator of the overall ecosystem health.

Central to the project's success is the unwavering commitment of landowners like Paul Graham. Inspired by the project's vision, Paul reached out to SQ Landscapes seeking support for a solar pump and tank to divert his cattle away from waterways on his property. Paul's deep-rooted love for his land, captured in his humorous quip "I love my land more than I love my wife," is a testament to the powerful connection between people and place that drives conservation efforts.

Paul Graham and Project Officer Bree Humes observing Paul's native aquatic biofiltration system with visually clear water during a site visit.

Paul's property near Killarney serves as a living example of the project's impact. With funding from the Native Fish Recovery Strategy, the installation of a solar pump has already yielded positive results. Project Officers Breanna Humes and Agaba Hannington were impressed by Paul's dedication to land management, as evidenced by his extensive property tour showcasing thriving waterways, pastures, and innovative energy solutions.

Paul's journey reflects the broader community spirit that underpins the Blackfish Project. His willingness to adopt sustainable practices, such as fencing off natural springs and piping water overflow, demonstrates the power of individual action in driving collective change. Moreover, his efforts to control invasive species like wild tobacco contribute to a healthier ecosystem for both blackfish and other native species.

Overlooking Paul's Native Fish Sanctuary where the surrounding native aquatic biofiltration system channels into this larger dam depicted in the photograph.

The Blackfish Project extends beyond scientific research and on-ground actions. It is a catalyst for fostering strong community connections. By working closely with landowners like Paul and incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge from the Githabul Nation, the project has created a powerful platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration.

As we look to the future, the Blackfish Project stands as a beacon of hope for the Condamine Headwaters. It is a testament to what can be achieved when science, community, and passion converge. By prioritizing the health of the river blackfish and the broader ecosystem, we are safeguarding a vital resource for generations to come.

SQ Landscapes is honoured to have been part of this transformative journey, working alongside dedicated individuals like Paul Graham to create a lasting legacy for the Condamine Headwaters.

This project is funded by the Native Fish Recovery Strategy. The Native Fish Recovery Strategy is funded under the joint programs and coordinated by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. The joint programs promote and coordinate effective planning, management and sharing of the water and other natural resources of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Check out more stories from the Upper Condamine!

Small Town Takes Big Steps Towards Recovery of Blackfish Populations

Githabul artist highlights plight of Blackfish through art

Strategy on the Agenda at SQ Landscapes Board Meeting

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 23:36:19 GMT

The Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes recently met in Toowoomba. In addition to the Board meeting, Board and Executive worked through updating SQ Landscapes’ strategy.

Company Secretary Pam Murphy highlighted the importance of the latest Board meeting and what it means for the company’s future.

“The updated strategy will help SQ Landscapes deliver sustainable natural resource management (NRM) outcomes that improve the lives of people in regional communities now and for the future,” Pam Murphy said.

“We’re excited to continue delivering value for our region and build Flourishing Landscapes and Healthy Communities across Southern Queensland under the guidance of the Board,” Mrs Murphy said.

Members of the Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes and Executive Leadership Team (left to right): HR and Business Systems Lead Claire Ryan, Chief Operating Officer Andrew McCartney, Directors Chris Joseph & Louise Winton, Company Secretary Pam Markey, Board Chair The Hon. Bruce Scott AM, Acting CEO Leanne Stevens, Directors Pippa Jones, Graham Cooke, & Trish McKenzie, & HENRY REED CEO Georgia Henry

SQ Landscapes' Annual General Meeting 2023

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:55:38 GMT

Annual General Meeting

When: Wednesday, 13 December 2023

Where: Online via Zoom

Time : 9.00am for 9.30am start

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Southern Queensland Natural Resource Management Ltd trading as Southern Queensland Landscapes

Wednesday 13 December 2023

9.30am

Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Annual General Meeting will be held virtually this year on 13 December 2023 .

The Annual General Meeting provides the opportunity for the organisation to report on its activities for the year 2022/2023 .

Company Secretary Pam Murphy advised that members wishing to attend virtually should contact companysecretary@sqlandscapes.org.au to obtain a Zoom link .

Director elections have now been completed for both East and West voting regions. Results are as follows:

West Voting Region: No election was required as there was one nomination received, therefore sitting Director Bruce Scott OAM – Charleville has been re-elected West Voting region Director.

East Voting Region: An election was required with five eligible members contesting the East Voting region. Following completion of the election and the counting of postal votes, sitting Director Graham Cooke – Jondaryan has been re-elected East Voting region Director.

Learn How Sophie and Adrian Transformed Their Wallet and Soil at “Bellhaven Brook”

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 21:52:25 GMT

When Sophie and Adrian McInnerney began adopting their “paddock to plate” experiment into their lambing business, they quickly discovered how a new and exciting approach to running their enterprise transformed their resilience and soil health.

Multi-species cover cropping was the answer, and now their business has become a diverse enterprise that has embraced variations in livestock feed and crop rotation, building riparian fencing, and investing in healthier soils.

This has opened the young couple to new opportunities to create new revenue streams, protect their business against natural disasters, drought, and prepare for economic hardships.

Their property, “Bellhaven Brook”, located just an hour east of Goondiwindi, was the site of Macintyre Ag Alliance’s latest Multi-Species Cropping Field Day. With the support of Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes), the event aimed to promote the McInnerney family’s new land practices, offering an opportunity to educate land managers in the region of new ways to strengthen their property and enterprise.

SQ Landscapes’ Goondiwindi-based Project Delivery Officer Keith Walker joined land managers for the workshop and highlighted how multi-species cover cropping could pave the way to rebuilding healthy soils and farming enterprises.

“What was great about visiting ‘Bellhaven Brook’ is that you don’t have to be a scientist to understand this stuff. The idea is to just try and experiment like the McInnerneys did,” Keith Walker said.

“These cover cropping systems are all about building your experience, experimenting and slowly developing a healthier and richer soil profile; which is the basis of all businesses; cropping and grazing alike.” Mr Walker said.

“It was interesting to see the range of people, the ages from young and old, and the differences in enterprises. It’s a reminder that this genre of agriculture is starting conversations,” he said.

“It’s all about implementation on the ground and getting the results for less money and experimenting with what people are doing.”

Multi-species cover cropping involves planting a diverse range of plants including native grasses, legumes, and vegetation to provide a wider selection of feed for livestock while also returning nitrogen to the soils.

Transitioning to multi-species pasture might pose initial challenges, but the results are easy to notice on properties like “Bellhaven Brook” and Keith believes it's worth the effort to experiment.

“With these visits, you can see the planning, the process, the implementation of what they wanted to do and now we’re seeing the results,” Keith Walker said.

“They’ve done well in not only building healthier soils and redefining how they manage their property, but also adopted a paddock-to-plate mentality with their lambing products which has been diversifying their business,” Mr Walker said.

“As a result, their demand is growing more. The value-adding of their grazing with the cover cropping adoption and new grazing management are all enhancing their soil health and creating greater fertility, greater opportunity and enhancement,” he said.

The workshop also featured guest speaker Ian Beard, an experienced melon farmer from Chinchilla and Millmerran, who discussed his journey in experimenting with cover cropping on his own properties for over ten years.

“I’m here to talk about multi-species from a farmer’s perspective. I’m just trying to pass on practical applications and encourage people to try small areas to see if it works for their areas,” Ian Beard said.

“It all comes down to soil health. It draws out the nutrients that are difficult to ordinarily reach and helps to stop things like erosion and evaporation in the process. When it’s managed well, it’s one of those things that makes your property more profitable and sustainable,” Mr Beard said.

“As years go on more people are doing it. It was great to interact with growers and see the engagement and interest,” he said.

“The McInnerneys still have a way to go in their own journey, but they’ve made a great start by introducing simple changes like crop rotation, cover cropping, and giving their soil the right attention it needs.”

“Cover cropping is giving extra diversity and synergies for the soil. The soil is reasonably light on their property and it can only do what it can do…but with a bit of help we can slowly make it do more!” Ian Beard said.

Visitors for the field day also enjoyed a field walk with the McInnerneys and listened to Ian Moss from F.A.R.M. Agronomy who discussed the changes in the soil first-hand.

Tommy Carroll, Macintyre Ag Alliance’s Vice Chair remarked on the opportunities of this workshop and its wide lineup of presenters tailor-made for the local community.

“We’re really grateful to be given the opportunity to promote such a valuable event for our community and spread the word on these useful practices,” Tommy Carroll said.

“What the McInnerneys are doing here is producing a great product, with a regenerative focus, and it’s in line with what we want to advocate for,” Mr Carroll said.

“Our field days are often about sustainability and creating solutions; improving outcomes,” he said.

“Increasing year on year their production and marketing; without damaging and actually improving their soil.”

“So it was a very interesting day, to go on a paddock walk and look at the condition of the soil and the impact of what multi-species cover cropping is having…which is evident with these changes to their practices,” Tommy Carroll said.

“I hope people go away from this with something new and are encouraged to experiment on their property to build on damaged or vulnerable soil to improve profitability and production,” Mr Carroll said.

“We’re really grateful to be given the opportunity to promote such a valuable event for our community and spread the word on these useful practices,” Tommy Carroll said.

Queensland Department of Resources Senior Project Officer Kate Brandon remarked that the government was proud to support local events like the field day.

“We funded today’s field day with the Macintyre Ag Alliance as part of the Natural Resources Recovery Program; so this is the product of the funding,” Kate Brandon said.

“These events are important because we have a commitment to our natural resources and building the capacity of land managers like the McInnerneys,” Ms Brandon said.

“We’re really proud to be doing our part in assisting the community in building healthier and sustainable landscapes,” she said.

This project was funded by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Recovery Program and the Australian Government’s Murray Darling Healthy Rivers Program.

Learn more here: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/natural-resource-recovery-program

How Camels and Cool Burns are Transforming Risdon Stud

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 22:03:00 GMT

Cool burns, camels, and funding for local farmers were on the agenda at 'Risdon Stud' as land managers Nick and Liz Suduk hosted the Southern Queensland Landscapes and Department of Resources site visit to showcase the success of the Natural Resources Investment Program 2018-2022 (NRIP).

Risdon Stud, south of Warwick, was primarily a high-intensity horse stud, but under new ownership with the Suduk family, the focus has been on restoring productivity and landscape health.

“The Suduks participated in the NRIP project, where they received on-site guidance from First Nations fire practitioner Robbie Williams from Fire Lore, for cool burning in native vegetation areas,” Project Delivery Lead Natasha Mylonas said.

“This was their first exposure to this type of burning and they have since embarked on a journey towards building their confidence in applying it elsewhere on the property,” Ms Mylonas said.

“The NRIP project also supported livestock fencing, largely to exclude cattle from a large patch of remnant vegetation, combined with weed management in that remnant vegetation,” she said.

“It is really difficult to muster out of the remnant vegetation, so the fencing has meant easier mustering of the cattle, as well as reduced weed spread and damage to the native vegetation in the patch.”

“Outside of the NRIP project, they maintain a herd of agisted camels as part of their weed management strategy and experimented with fire to manage wattle regrowth,” Natasha Mylonas said.

The Suduks have experimented on their property with a diversified business model including utilising camels for weed eradication and opening up their property for tourism and camping.

“During the COVID-19 lockdowns, we were given the opportunity to find new ways to bring income into the property and find better ways of managing the land,” Liz Suduk said.

“This opened us up to the idea of cool burning, which was very different from the much quicker, hotter, and destructive techniques we were previously using,” Mrs Suduk said.

“While cool burning is a lot slower, it’s a safer and more effective method as it burns what it needs to burn and is easier to manage. Following Robbie Williams’ visit last year, we have been given the tools and knowledge to conduct safe burning on our own and this has allowed us to eliminate or nearly eliminate stubborn Black Wattle in some of our Category X country that we’ve previously struggled to clear,” she said.

“The use of camels have also helped, as they clear weeds and other pests that cattle don’t eat or fire can’t reach. They’re a funny, awkward animal, but they have a dramatically smaller impact on the land than other livestock might.”

“Cool Burning has been a far more successful method for us than anything else we’ve tried in the past,” Nick Suduk said.

“I’m spending less on diesel, I’m less dependent on looking at chemicals or other control methods, and this has been a far better way to control bushfires for us,” Mr Suduk said.

“The burning, alongside diversifying our practice, has allowed us to stay viable and to manage the land in a more productive way,” he said.

“The burning, alongside diversifying our practice, has allowed us to stay viable and to manage the land in a more productive way,” Nick Suduk said.

Staff from the Department of Resources, including Acting Manager Daniel Savill, joined SQ Landscapes’ Acting CEO Leanne Stevens, Acting Chief Operating Officer Andrew McCartney, and Project Delivery Lead Natasha Mylonas at the property south of Warwick to learn about the on-the-ground successes of the NRIP project the Suduks demonstrated.

“It was really good to see the ongoing change in land management practices that occurred because of previous investment with SQ Landscapes in the NRIP program,” Daniel Savill said.

“Seeing the change in attitude and the ability for land managers to take this knowledge and apply it has been great to see,” Mr Savill said.

“This project was funded by the NRRP, and SQ Landscapes have worked with the land managers to do a wonderful job of rebuilding our natural landscapes and assisting farmers to adopt a more sustainable practice, including at Risdon Stud,” he said.

“In 2022 we launched the Natural Resource Recovery Program (NRRP), so there is opportunity for natural resource management groups to apply for funding to do programs just like this.”

SQ Landscapes Acting CEO Leanne Stevens highlighted the project’s successes and remarked that the on-ground works at Risdon Stud was just one of many recovery sites as part of the program.

“Seeing Risdon Stud take on the project so well is always great to see. We’re particularly pleased with the level of First Nations involvement in demonstrating how Cultural Burning can assist in maintaining the healthy balance between Black Wattle and other vegetation to assist land managers in maintaining a healthy landscape,” Leanne Stevens said.

“Ultimately these practices help drive healthier landscapes, particularly with the reduction of weeds and fuel loads which protect land managers from dangerous bushfires and reduce costs incurred in managing the land,” Ms Stevens said.

“We’re excited to work with land managers like the Suduks in future projects like the NRRP program which will target bare ground, reduce erosion, and improve soil infiltration,” she said.

“SQ Landscapes is very grateful for the funding we have received from the Queensland Government to make these changes a reality and without this vital support, many of the land managers we have worked with would not have seen the same level of improvement as we have seen here today.”

This project is funded by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program.

Learn more here: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/natural-resource-recovery-program

Cultural Burning Returns to Mt Tabor on Bidjara Country

comms@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 20:57:33 GMT

Fire is crucial to maintaining our landscapes. That’s according to fire practitioner Robbie Williams, who accompanied Southern Queensland Landscapes earlier this year to bridge fire practitioner knowledge with First Nations Peoples across the southwest.

Robbie has since returned to the region - this time accompanied by members of our Charleville team as he hosted training along the slopes of the culturally significant site of Mt Tabor, just outside Augathella.

“This is the continuation of what we achieved last time we were in the southwest,” Robbie Williams said.

“Last visit, SQ Landscapes connected me with local First Nations mobs including Kunya, Bidjara, Mardigan, Boonthamurra, Kooma, Kullilli, and Murrawurri,” Mr Williams said.

“During this visit, many of these mobs agreed to trial fire practitioner training for young men in the area to bring burning back onto Country; and that is exactly what we’re here to do today!” he said.

“It’s really inspiring to see these communities taking on the opportunity to learn about burning and we’re hoping this will develop into businesses the local mobs can build to manage their Country.”

Growth Facilitator and Gomeroi man Geoff Reid, lead the facilitation during the last trip, and assisted by Cunnamulla-based Mardigan man and Project Delivery Officer Jackson Shillingsworth. Geoff was also joined by members of the Charleville Team including Project Delivery Officers Kat Best and Ollie Scully; along with the Queensland Rural Fire Service, Murweh Shire Council, and Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

“This was a particularly special trip as we embarked on a journey to Goorathuntha (Mt Tabor) - a sacred place of the Bidjara Peoples,” Geoff Reid said.

"The main goal of this event was to foster collaboration between different agencies; including Fire Lore and the Bidjara Peoples," Mr Reid said.

"By combining Western and First Nation sciences, we aim to pass on invaluable knowledge to the next generation and establish an Indigenous ranger and fire practitioner crew," he said.

“Not only that, but Robbie is providing valuable training for local mobs to open new businesses and revenue streams and encourage younger people to take a more active approach in helping heal Country.”

"The main goal of this event was to foster collaboration between different agencies; including Fire Lore and the Bidjara Peoples," Mr Reid said. Photo courtesy of Kat Best.

Cultural Burning doesn’t just open up new business opportunities however. It also performs a crucial role for agencies and landholders, by preserving native landscapes, reducing fuel loads, supporting vulnerable soil health, managing pests like weeds, encouraging rain and improving water infiltration.

"Mt Tabor is an absolute gem, and we were in awe of the Bidjara Peoples' dedication in caring for this remarkable site," Geoff Reid said.

"Witnessing the new connections formed and future plans being made left us inspired and hopeful for what lies ahead!" he said.

The visit also provided Project Delivery Officers Kat Best and Ollie Scully an appreciation for the local sites and were a reminder of the benefits Cultural Burning poses for native wildlife and vegetation.

“It’s an ecologically significant site; you have Mt Tabor in the foothills which has a unique topography that hosts a wide range of ecological communities and habitats,” Ollie Scully said.

“Cultural Burns are integral to promoting ecological growth; without destroying. It’s a hazard reduction and also focuses on landscape maintenance,” Mr Scully said.

“By its way of promoting biodiversity, it accounts for the small and large animals; there’s such a high survival rate and lots of research showing the benefits,” he said.

“A lot of the young fellas were coming from all over and getting integrated; people from council, government, Rural Fire Service, working with First Nations and with nothing but positive outcomes. It’s one of those awesome moments where you’re not there to talk about conflicts or problems.”

“You’re there to promote a management technique that is culturally important and beneficial from a land manager’s perspective as well,” Ollie Scully said.

“Being on Bidjara Country and making those connections and getting to know each other is so important and as ecologists we love to learn from First Nations,” Mr Scully said.

“We can provide a western science perspective that compliments their rich understanding of Country,” he said.

“Being on Bidjara Country and making those connections and getting to know each other is so important and as ecologists we love to learn from First Nations,” Ollie Scully said. Photo courtesy of Geoff Reid.

The training conducted at Mt Tabor marks the beginning of a continued relationship that has been fostered between First Nations communities, local government, emergency services, and SQ Landscapes to build the capacity of rural communities to better manage Country.

With continued training across regional communities, the foundations laid at Mt Tabor can be utilised as a blueprint for other communities to return Cultural Burning practices to Country, build businesses and shared opportunities, and reduce the destructive impacts of bushfires.

To learn more about Robbie Williams and his fire practitioning you can visit fire-lore.earth

Fire Practitioner Shares Fire Lore with First Nations Elders: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/fire-practitioner-shares-fire-lore-with-first-nations-elders

Digital Artist Named Overall Grand Prize Winner of First Nations Art Competition

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 20:41:26 GMT

Winners in the Southern Queensland Landscapes and University of Southern Queensland’s 2023 First Nations Art Competition have been announced to a crowd of more than 150 people in Toowoomba.

Overall Grand Prize and Digital Medium Category winner has gone to Robert Claude Manns for his piece ‘Mandan’.

"I wanted to express the fractured relationship that I have with some of the Mandandanji People. Unfortunately many of us feel connected to our Nation, but not always the people," Robert Manns said.

"My piece was assisted through artificial intelligence (AI) art and I found that to be a really powerful tool in discovering how I wanted this art to go," Mr Manns said.

"I've always been artistic, and I wanted to explore Indigenous art, but I wasn't great at it and I found the style difficult to personalise. AI and digital art has allowed me to connect with Indigenous art in my own way and explore things the way I wanted," he said.

"I'm really glad it worked out and people liked the art!"

"In truth, I thought I might only get an encouragement award, but to first see I won the digital art and then the Overall Grand Prize was just spectacular. There were tears in my eyes. I wasn't expecting to get so far!" Robert Manns said.

"I want to thank everyone who made Indigenous art through the millenia; otherwise I wouldn't have done it," Mr Manns said.

"Shortly before he passed away, my dad put me onto the competition and I thought I'd give it a go. I wish he was here to see it, as he was my inspiration for making this art." he said.

"He was my inspiration and my supporter through it all."

'Mandan' by Robert Claude-Manns

Category awards also went to Tamay Beam for ‘Never Giving Up’, and Ella-Louise Knox for ‘River Links’, and Valerie Murray for ‘Connectiveness Through Every Stitch’; meanwhile Highly Commended was Andrew Nelson for ‘Part 2: Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up on Country Kooma’, Chris Valle for ‘Beginning of Creation’, Sienna Wilson for ‘Circle of Life’, Adrian Bauwens for ‘Bonye Jairowar Connections’, and Jo Chapman for ‘Pink Women’.

SQ Landscapes Acting CEO, Leanne Stevens said it’s been an amazing night celebrating the incredible talent of First Nations artists from across 15 of the 28 Nations right throughout Southern Queensland.

"Of the 28 Nations in our patch, it was great to see 15 Nations represented in the entries for the competitions," Leanne Stevens said.

"In particular the two Mardigan and one Gamilaroi junior entries which were amazing to see as well. It's inspiring to see more young people taking part in the competition this year," Ms Stevens said.

"It's really exciting to see the competition to expand to the 3D mediums and the digital mediums as well and sets the stage for future expansion with next year's competition,' she said.

"The competition has grown and grown over the year and it's great to see some of the organisation improving alongside the University of Southern Queensland coming on board as a partner to help make this even bigger and better than last year."

Meanwhile, University of Southern Queensland Curator (Arts and Exhibitions), Brodie Taylor said it was an honour to host the collection and celebrated the university's partnership with SQ Landscapes.

“It was a special project for us to be involved in this year, not only to host the gallery, but also to partner directly with SQ Landscapes to make a second year of the competition a reality,” Brodie Taylor said.

“The university generously assisted in the sponsorship of the award night and we were delighted to take part again this year,” Mr Taylor said.

“I think the artists can be proud of what they have achieved tonight. They represented their region and community with pride and what is on display here sets a high standard for Southern Queensland,” he said.

Competition judges Uncle Colin Jones and Sue McMaster remarked that the quality of artists’ work had only improved in the competition’s second year of running.

“Quality is very important. The entrants demonstrated they upped their game this year and we can see better quality control on the works present,” Uncle Colin Jones said.

“Our art is a story. It’s a language and it differs from what a Western concept of language is, so it’s far more profound and makes art like this so special to see,” Mr Jones said.

“I was really impressed with the calibre of artwork we saw tonight. There’s a real improvement in technique, materials used, and you can start to see their individual tone really shine through the art,” Sue McMaster said.

“It was very difficult to narrow it down to a handful of artworks to award!” Mrs McMaster said.

Artwork from finalists in the 2022/23 First National Art Competition will be on display at the University of Southern Queensland Art Gallery from 8 July to 1 September 2023.

Some of the art on display is for sale and all enquiries regarding purchases should be emailed to art@sqlandscapes.org.au

SQ Landscapes is an independent non-government-organisation (NGO) owned by its community, and is dedicated to helping landholders understand their landscapes, adapt to challenges and be excellent stewards of their country.

SQ Landscapes acknowledge, respect and learn from the First Peoples of the 28 Nations in the Southern Queensland Landscapes area and further afield. We pay respect to the Elders: past, present and future for they hold the memories, traditions, culture, science and knowledge and hope of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples across our nation.

Learn more: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/2023-first-nations-art-competition

Diversifying Your Agricultural Business into Retirement to Lever Off Natural Assets

commssupport@sqlandscapes.org.au (Kellie Stewart) — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 23:45:57 GMT

By Kellie Stewart

When land managers Phil & Anne Donges entertained the idea of retirement they looked to the natural assets of their property located between Yelarbon, Inglewood and Texas to provide the answer.

For almost 90-years ‘Glenarbon’ had supported generations of the Donges family; with key crops and land use pivoting numerous times as a result of market demands, economic climates and practice change.

“Glenarbon was established back in 1932; our family came out then and it was to grow tobacco, that was in the middle of the depression,” Phil Donges said.

“Five years ago we sold our main farm about 10-kilometres down the road and we decided to go into semi-retirement keeping about 100-acres of the original farm along about 1-kilometre of the Dumaresq River,” Mr Donges said.

“We’re using Glenarbon now to run a few head of steers and then we’ve also gone into this eco-tourism where people can come and enjoy the environment like we like it ourselves,” he said.

“We saw the ecotourism as an opportunity to give us some extra income by going into the camping side of things, but also to diversify our business so that we could in tougher seasons rely less heavily on livestock and more on the natural assets of the farm.”

By excluding livestock access to the river Phil Donges has stabilised the riverbanks, improved vegetation cover and increased biodiversity.

In 2022 the Donges partnered with natural resource management group Southern Queensland Landscapes to further protect the pristine stretch of the Dumaresq River by fencing off the riparian zone to livestock.

SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Officer Sophie Parker said by removing livestock access to the waterway the Donges have increased biodiversity, and improved the water quality for native fish living there.

“The State and Federal Government have invested in the Northern Basin Fencing Program to reduce erosion along the riverbanks, help farmers maintain their stock and exclude them from the waterways and to improve the water quality and biodiversity of the rivers as there are over 50-species of fish in these waterways,” Sophie Parker said.

“Part of that funding was given to Phil and Anne to fence off their waterways from stock and maintain some of the beautiful riparian areas that they have on their property,” Ms Parker said.

“Phill and Anne have diversified the business on their property multiple times; they make a point of not interfering where they can and allowing nature to take its course; by doing this they’re ensuring that the biodiversity values remain high,” she said.

“This is a win-win all round for Phil and Anne as they enter retirement, but also for their business which has pivoted again to embrace changing environments and for this stretch of the river which is being protected and valued for its natural beauty and the role it plays in maintaining a sustainable and healthy river system and the native animals that supports.”

The Donges partnered with SQ Landscapes to install fencing along the riverbanks and exclude access to the river by livestock with the view of improving water quality for native fish.

The Donges also believe the ecotourism side of their agricultural enterprise now plays a very important role in educating people about the importance of sustainable land management practices.

“Most of the people that come out, do like to spend some money in the country towns and working in with other local businesses just shares that money around and the fact that we are only two hours from Toowoomba and three hours from Brisbane, people don’t mind travelling out here and the fact that we have been getting a large number of return visitors who love to come here and most times they bring other family and friends out too or introduce others to come out and enjoy it as well; you know they have the opportunity to kayak here, and swim or fish in the river which is really great,” Anne Donges said.

“Working with nature and you know you can always see the improvement in the soil and the pasture that grows and the camping side of things you’ve got the people you meet and it’s really great to give them an education and for us to see them happy makes us happy,” Mrs Donges said.

“Most people when they arrive say “wow” and in five minutes they say yes we will come back and we will be bringing mum and dad or whoever and that does happen,” Phil Donges said.

“It’s just a combined thing, the livestock and the ecotourism together, that has made it really worthwhile,” Mr Donges said.

Landscape restoration and rehydration reverses years of damage

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 05:47:05 GMT

It’s amazing how quickly a landscape can rebalance itself according to Jarrod and Sam Thomson of ‘Gum Gully’, located some 14 kilometres south of Drillham in Queensland.

The couple purchased the 820 hectare property in 2020 and since then have been working to reverse landscape damage caused by years of drought and overgrazing.

“Gum Gully is a very diverse farm with a lot of timber ranging from Mallee box to belah, sandalwood and a lot of native pastures,” Jarrod Thomson said.

“It’d been really knocked around by the droughts and our main goal was how do we bring back this place to make it a viable enterprise again?” Mr Thomson said.

“Quickly realising that we had to rehabilitate the land and rehydrate it fast; desertification had set in and we were struggling to grow galvanised bur,” he said.

Rehydration works included some contouring and soft engineering works combined with farm dams to slow the flow and manage water across the property to maximise each rain event regardless of whether it was 10mm or 100mm.

Some contouring, soft engineering work and farm dams are helping to slow the flow, and improve the soil moisture profile, so the Thomsons can maximise their rainfall regardless of whether it is 10mm or 100mm in an event.

These works to slow the flow on ‘Gum Gully’ were timely with the next two years providing good rainfall and the infrastructure in place to minimise sheet erosion on sparsely vegetated pastures while at the same time improving the soil moisture profile through increased infiltration.

“We’ve been here coming up three years now. We’ve also done a heap of pasture improvement and we’re now starting to see higher quality pastures come through which is obviously more beneficial for our livestock,” Sam Thomson said.

“Currently we’ve just got a handful of goats on the place and they’re really here as a weed management tool, but we project in the next 18 months to two years that we will have saved enough of a vegetation bank to reintroduce cattle through a cell grazing system,” Ms Thomson said.

“And that the pastures will be mature enough and have established enough ground cover and seed bank to self-generate and support a permanent livestock enterprise,” she said.

The Thomsons also reached out to natural resource management group, Southern Queensland Landscapes for advice and funding assistance to break up the compacted, pan-soil layers and improve biodiversity through multi-species pastures.

Native grasses have quickly reestablished the landscape and the Thomsons project they will be able to permanently support livestock in the next 18 months to 2 years.

Project Delivery Officer Isabella Murphy said it’s been a pleasure working with two such motivated and out-of-the-box thinkers.

“I met Jarrod and Sam after they applied through our online Facebook application process for some assistance and funding for soil health and vegetation improvement through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program,” Isabella Murphy said.

“They’ve only been on property about three years but they are doing some amazing things out here and we’ve been able to work with Jarrod and Sam on planting some multi-species pastures to improve soil health and naturally cultivate the soil through deep tap roots; as well as trialling vegetation mulching to improve vegetation condition,” Ms Murphy said.

“We've been able to help them out on their journey to make that land a little bit more productive while maintaining habitat values and the ecosystem,” she said.

Contouring has enabled the Thomsons to slow the flow thereby reducing sheet erosion from unvegetated pastures, and improved soil moisture content due to increased infiltration.

Partnering with SQ Landscapes has provided the pair with a good sounding board and source of knowledge and advice.

“It was a huge help from Southern Queensland Landscapes; we reached out to them via Facebook and it’s been great in the way that we have had people backing us and giving us different perspectives and ideas that we might not have considered or thought about,” Jarrod Thomson said.

“Being out in the paddock, taking a shovel out and having a look at the soil; looking up at the trees, the birdlife that has come back 10-fold from when we first got here, just with what we have done to date is really gratifying and just shows how quickly the system can correct itself when given the chance,” Mr Thomson said.

“Seeds are naturally there. The environment is going to fix itself, the important thing to take away from it is weeds aren’t your enemy; they are friends that are covering the ground, so leave them be and more of your grass species will come up eventually,” he said.

‘Gum Gully’ is a 820-hectare property located 14 kilometres south of Drillham, Queensland and featuring Mallee box, belah, sandalwood and native pastures.

When asked what can others learn from their story, the Thomsons said just listen and learn everything you possibly can from anyone who is willing to share what they are doing because it's all valuable.

“Be a sponge and soak up every bit of information that you can get. Everything! It might be miniscule, but it's all relevant,” Sam Thomson said.,

“Everything brings a different perspective, you might not need it at that time, but there’s no reason why you won't think of it and remember it 10-years down the track,” Mr Thomson said.

“We’re on track to both be full-time on the farm within the next three years; that’ll give us enough time to finish putting up the infrastructure and to get cattle in, which is that next phase so ideally we kind of want to have as much done as what we can before we both settle on farm,” he said.

The Landcare Farming Program (LFP) is a joint partnership between the Landcare Australia and National Landcare Network, and funded by the Australian Government's National Landcare Program to strengthen the connection between landcare and Australian agriculture.

Tree Planting and Truth Telling at Gummingurru

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 05:25:26 GMT

Reconciliation was on the agenda at Gummingurru for National Reconciliation Week. First Nations, local community, and avid gardeners came together for a round of truth telling and tree planting.

Located north of Toowoomba, Gummingurru is an ancient and sacred site for Western Wakka Wakka Peoples, serving as a stopping point for First Nations Peoples on their way to the Bunya Mountains.

Western Wakka Wakka man Shannon Bauwens, a First Nations man from the Bunya Peoples’ Aboriginal Corporation (BPAC) led the event with a smoking ceremony and a round of truth-telling at the yarning circle near Gummingurru.

“Reconciliation is about talking to each other. Coming together and making something positive as a community,” Shannon Bauwens said.

“This yarning circle we are standing in now represents thousands of years of storytelling,” Mr Bauwens said.

“Today is all about sharing our stories and finding new ways to come together as a community; whether you are Indigenous or not,” he said.

“We have people from all different Nations, from Western Wakka Wakka, to Bunjalung, Gomeroi, and more.”

“Reconciliation is about talking to each other. Coming together and making something positive as a community,” Shannon Bauwens said.

Reconciliation was on the agenda at Gummingurru for National Reconciliation Week. First Nations, local community members, and avid gardeners came together for a round of truth telling and tree planting.

Located northwest of Toowoomba, Gummingurru is an ancient and sacred site for not only the traditional owners, but for many First Nations Peoples serving as a ceremonial staging ground on their way to the gatherings in the Bunya Mountains.

Shannon Bauwens, a First Nations man from the Bunya Peoples’ Aboriginal Corporation (BPAC) led the event with a smoking ceremony and a round of truth-telling at the yarning circle near Gummingurru.

“Reconciliation is about talking to each other. Coming together and making something positive as a community,” Shannon Bauwens said.

“This place we are standing in now has thousands of years of history and has always been a place of imparting traditional knowledge and cultural observance, where K’gippa (the initiates) would go through their rites of passage on their journey into manhood,” Mr Bauwens said.

“Today is all about sharing our stories and finding new ways to come together as a community; whether you are Indigenous or not, as this celebrates and honours the traditions of this place; coming together and sharing” he said.

“We have representatives from many different Nations with us today, just as it was in the old days.”

“Gummingurru represents reconciliation in ways very few sites today can.” Shannon Bauwens said.

Gummingurru represents a significant cultural and spiritual site in First Nations history and highlights the interconnectedness that First Nations Peoples had.

“In the old days, you had thousands of people traveling vast distances, some hundreds of kilometres, to visit the Bunya Mountains and partake in the Bunya Nut Festival; thought to be the largest known gatherings in pre-colonial Australia,” Shannon Bauwens said.

“Gummingurru was one of these staging points and also served as an initiation site for young men,” Mr Bauwens said.

“This site is estimated to be around 4000 to 6000 years old and was used until the late 1800’s before First Nations Peoples were forcibly removed from their tribal lands and relocated to missions such as Taroom, Purga, Cherbourg, and Palm Island,” he said.

“They were then were forbidden to practice our customs, speak our language or even function as normal families, due to the segregation in these institutions.”

“Toowoomba is full of avid gardeners, so we had lots of people who even brought in their own shovels, trowels, and just started planting!” Mr Reid said.

“Gummingurru is now under the First Nations stewardship once again, thanks to relationships our ancestors had with some of settlers in the region,” Shannon Bauwens said.

“Gummingurru represents reconciliation in ways very few sites today can.” Mr Bauwens said.

“The property where the bora ground lies was selected by Alfred and Jane Walker in 1882. It was they who saw the Aboriginals using the bora ground, and were of the belief, “to let them be, as so much had already been taken from them already” which was a very enlightened position at the time,” he said.

“Ben Gilbert, purchased the property from Jane Walker in 1948. After hearing reports of stone circles from Errol Beutel, who collected stone artifacts in the area, and from Ben's young daughter who had been playing in the “Fairy Rings”, Ben decided to investigate further,” said Jean Gundry, Ben Gilbert’s daughter who attended the event.

“In 1960 the Queensland Museum confirmed the existence of significant initiation grounds and the site was mapped and properly recorded by the Queensland Museum. Ben then took care of the site until the hand-over in 2000,” Mrs Gundry said.

The bora ground was returned to First Nations People 2000 and was named Gummingurru by the elders meaning “man of the river”, referring to the southern extent of the Wakka Wakka Language, the Condamine River,” Shannon Bauwens said.

“The site is under the direct custodianship of the Gummingurru Aboriginal Corporation. Unlike other Indigenous sites, it was the care of non-Indigenous people like Ben that ensured the site’s original condition was maintained,” Mr Bauwens said.

“That’s why Gummingurru is such a special place for reconciliation because it proves that we can all work together and that we can move forward as a nation towards reconciliation,” he said.

Following the yarning, guests took part in planting over 200 trees from three different native ecosystems including rainforest, semi-evergreen vine thicket, and open woodland species.

Led by SQ Landscapes’ Toowoomba-based Regional Agricultural Landcare Facilitator and Gomeroi man Geoff Reid, the guests were supported every step of the way through the event.

The Toowoomba team assisted in coordinating with guests on planting, signing in guests as they arrived, and providing logistical support to BPAC and the Gummingurru Aboriginal Corporation in running and promoting the event.

“It was an energetic day. Everyone really soaked in the yarning and truth-telling and then when it came to planting, folks rolled up their sleeves and got into it,” Regional Agricultural Landcare Facilitator Geoff Reid said.

“Toowoomba is full of avid gardeners, so we had lots of people who even brought in their own shovels, trowels, and just started planting!” Mr Reid said.

“It’s not often that you see communities so eager to do things together like this and it really sang home that today was about coming together, reconciling over the past, and building something new and positive for the future,” he said.

“We had over 70 people come to this event from all walks of life to participate and without that whole community involvement, this event wouldn’t have been possible.”

This project was funded under the Queensland Government’s Celebrating Reconciliation Grants program.

Lorinda Otto Joins Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Team as Incoming Roma Node Manager

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 05:01:13 GMT

Meet Lorinda Otto. She is Southern Queensland Landscapes’ latest addition to the team as our Relationship Lead and the incoming Roma Node Manager for the Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales Innovation Hub.

Lorinda joins our team with a wealth of experience in stakeholder engagement and community networking, working with government, non-government, community organisations, farmers, small businesses, and apprentices/trainees.

“I’m all about connecting land managers and helping them understand how to become connected with innovation, upskilling, resilience, and cost-saving programs.” Lorinda Otto said.

“My parents were farmers. Farming is in my blood and I have a passion for our environment. Outdoor experiences have helped shape who I am today.” Ms Otto said.

“I was born in South Africa and I attended university in Johannesburg and initially started in the dental industry as an oral hygienist, but when we emigrated to Australia, I decided to be a stay at home mum for three years before later working at Queensland Health for nine months.” she said.

“Following my work with Queensland Health, I worked briefly in the energy industry at Powerlink for 18 months which opened a door for me to work at Santos in their administration, community engagement, and data catchment fields.”

“That opportunity led me into the government sector where I enjoyed five years in the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training, as their Senior Field Officer conducting key stakeholder engagement, supporting small business, and also monitoring the progression of apprentices and training programs,” Lorinda Otto said.

“I worked across seven western shires, many of which are in SQ Landscapes’ catchment including Bulloo, Murweh, Ballone, Maranoa, Quilpie, and the Western Downs - alongside Banana and Blackall,” Ms Otto said.

“I want our agricultural sector to be strong and healthy and I believe I have a role to play in that!” she said.

Lorinda’s team includes Ally Southern, an Adoption Officer based in St George. They will work closely across the SQ Landscapes region to help land managers drought-proof their property and prepare for a more resilient industry.

As the incoming Roma Node Manager, Lorinda will have lots on her plate, but she’s eager to rise to the challenge and bring her unique style to the role!

Small Town Takes Big Steps Towards Recovery of Blackfish Populations

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 03:51:46 GMT

The Killarney community came together at Browns Falls to celebrate the achievements of the River Blackfish project, which saw people from all over the Southern Downs join to save a locally threatened fish species. It’s a success story of hope, science and community coming together.

Over two years, Southern Queensland Landscapes, local land managers, First Nations, government departments, environmental organisations, and members of the community worked together to undertake actions that will reduce sedimentation and increase the thermal habitat in streams - two vital requirements for Blackfish persistence and recovery.

“What makes the Blackfish such a fragile species is that they can only survive in very specific temperatures; below 28 degrees celsius,” Project Delivery Officer Breanna Humes said.

“That means that when temperatures rise beyond that, Blackfish really struggle and you start seeing populations decline,” Miss Humes said.

“We are so fortunate to see these populations persisting and it was inspiring to see the broad mobalisation and passion of the local community to help the plight of Blackfish,” she said.

“Today also demonstrated how proud Githabul Nation was to be involved in this project at every step - not only in driving the promotion and raising awareness of this issue, but also in sharing valuable Traditional Ecological Knowledge.”

“When I started on this project, I wanted to showcase what the River Blackfish and the waterways on Githabul Country mean to us,” Nathan Charles said.

The project saw Githabul Nation members including Melissa Chalmers and artist Nathan Charles use their skills, local knowledge, and connections to raise awareness and support the project.

“When I started on this project, I wanted to showcase what the River Blackfish and the waterways on Githabul Country mean to us,” Nathan Charles said at a recent community day for Blackfish near Killarney.

“The riverways are vital and we all hold a special connection to the land,” Mr Charles said.

“It was a real privilege to take part in this project and see that our local mobs are involved in the issues that affect Country,” he said.

“We have a lot to offer as First Nations Peoples and I’m proud of what we were able to give to these efforts.”

“Land managers were supportive of this project and they were enthusiastic to explore actions they could take on their properties to be a part of something positive,” Natasha Mylonas said.

The project also saw SQ Landscapes work alongside land managers to identify localised risks, mitigate threats on properties and drive community change and recovery.

“Land managers were supportive of this project and they were enthusiastic to explore actions they could take on their properties to be a part of something positive,” Project Delivery Lead Natasha Mylonas said.

“They were vital in ensuring actions were taken now so that the River Blackfish populations have an increased chance of surviving and thriving in the long run,” Miss Mylonas said.

“Our approach was largely focussed on mitigating livestock impacts on streams by installing new fencelines, creek crossings and off-stream watering points. We also initiated tree planting along bare sections of the creek on some properties ,” she said.

“So, by revegetating banks and reducing the need for livestock to access the stream, sediments entering the waterway will reduce, stream banks will stablise, and shady and cool zones will offer Blackfish reprieve, especially during extreme heat events. We couldn’t have done this without the support of land managers who really put in the hard work to make this happen.”

“We extend our gratitude to the community for their interest and support. Moving forward, we remain committed to fostering partnerships with Githabul Peoples, land managers, government, and the wider community,” Natasha Mylonas said.

“While we celebrate our achievements, we acknowledge that the journey to restore Blackfish is far from complete. We emphasise the importance of ongoing action and vigilant habitat monitoring to ensure the sustained recovery of Blackfish,” she said.

This project was funded by the Native Fish Recovery Strategy.

Project to recover bare ground in Southern Queensland

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Fri, 05 May 2023 01:31:25 GMT

A project aimed at reversing damage causing non-productive bare ground is underway in Southern Queensland.

The ‘Creating Flourishing Landscapes to Support Healthy Communities’ project is a $2.1M investment through Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Recovery Program.

Southern Queensland Landscapes Chief Executive Officer Paul McDonald said the project will help land managers improve some of the state’s most important environmental, grazing and cropping assets.

“In the next 14 months SQ Landscapes is working with land managers in the Lower Warrego, Traprock and Mitchell areas to improve soil health and land condition directly across more than 46,000 hectares initially, working towards 162,000 hectares later in the program,” Paul McDonald said.

“This work helps land managers to mitigate the impacts of drought, flood, fire and climate change as well as further develop local knowledge and foster strong community partnerships,” Mr McDonald said.

“We will be working with land managers to target weeds, address erosion, install off-stream watering points and fencing for better grazing management; soil testing to inform appropriate actions to improve land condition; slowing the flow of high velocity water; and, assisting land managers to improve pasture composition,” he said.

“By addressing bare ground areas in these three priority areas, the landscape’s resilience and ability to respond to natural disasters and climate change improves while at the same time supporting land managers to adopt more sustainable practices, and ultimately, their local economies.”

The project will focus on improving soil health and land condition across approximately 162,000 hectares of land within the Lower Warrego, Mitchell and Traprock regions.

While there are many contributors to a lack of landscape health, bare ground is a classic sign of poor soil health.

“Bare ground amongst other impacts, raises soil temperatures well beyond ideal conditions for microbes to flourish and starves them through reduced soil organic matter,” Paul McDonald said.

“Bare soil can reduce soil carbon storage and increase carbon entering the atmosphere contributing to global warming and leaving soil at risk of being blown or washed away through wind and water erosion,” Mr McDonald said.

“Australia’s ancient soils are typically low in organic matter and nutrients and highly susceptible to erosion. Inappropriate grazing, drought, poor water infiltration, soil compaction, pasture dieback, unsuitable pasture species, erosion, weeds and pests contribute to bare ground potential and further compound the major challenges land managers have with successful management of their country” he said.

“We estimate in the Lower Warrego area there is more than 499,000 hectares of above average bare ground on grazing floodplains across 104 rural properties."

Bare ground is unproductive and at greater risk of erosion or being blown away.

“Eight percent of the grazing flood plains in the Mitchell region also have above average bare ground…and in the Traprock area, bare ground is impacting the important headwater of the Border and Upper Condamine Rivers.”

“This project will help land managers address the impacts of bare ground in these three regions, and in turn, may benefit graziers, viticulturalists and agriculturalists supplying some of the best Queensland produce both domestically and internationally.”

Land managers in the Lower Warrego, Mitchell and Traprock areas interested in finding out more about the project and how to apply for funding assistance to address bare ground on their property should visit https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/natural-resource-recovery-program.

Sustainable Farming Techniques Secures Future for Next Generation

commssupport@sqlandscapes.org.au (Kellie Stewart) — Wed, 03 May 2023 23:07:02 GMT

by Anna Battle

Looking to the past has enabled an Inglewood land manager to seek solutions for the future sustainability of his farm and secure its viability for the next generation.

Peter Ramsey was inspired to reinstate exclusion fencing around his 2,000 acre grazing property after he noticed the original fencing coming out to ‘Old Paisley’ in a 1927 black and white photo found in the local museum.

“My wife Julie and I live on a property here called ‘Old Paisley’ and her family have been here almost 100 years and we mainly run goats, cattle and a few sheep; and we have a 200-hectare soil carbon project,” Peter Ramsey said.

“We’ve been here two years full time, and our son Angus and his wife Emily and their daughter Zara are becoming part of the farm so they’ll be fourth and fifth generation people who have been on this property,” Mr Ramsey said.

“The things we are doing, I might not see some of them, but hopefully they’ll get the benefit of that,” he said.

“Behind me here is the original exclusion fence and in the last five years we have replaced that fence; my brother-in-law organised to get all the local farmers together, we had a meeting and as a result of that meeting, Ross and I went ahead and did the exclusion fence and since then they’ve all jumped on board and they are all getting the benefits of the State Government’s initiative and that is to fund these exclusion fences.”

Peter Ramsey of ‘Old Paisley’ at Mosquito Creek, discusses the positive effects of their new exclusion fence with SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Officer, Sophie Parker.

The reinstatement of exclusion fencing has allowed the Ramseys to better control wild dogs predating their goat herd and minimise unrestricted grazing of native pastures by large mobs of kangaroos.

“The fence has allowed us to do what we want to do now which is goats, cattle, sheep and the carbon but to control the kangaroos and the wild dogs,” Peter Ramsey said.

“First step for us was to put the exclusion fence up and then everything else followed. The goal going forward is to try and have the least number of livestock mobs possible so you can increase the intensity of the animals in the pasture while they are there,” Mr Ramsey said.

“We have a paddock that I did do some deep ripping and having contours helps to hold the water for a bit longer and the water has gone from leaving the paddock in two hours to about four days,” he said.

“We also have a Land for Wildlife area which Southern Queensland Landscapes set up seven years ago and we have a lot of koalas there.”

The ‘Land for Wildlife’ area at ‘Old Paisley’ was established seven years ago, and Peter Ramsey, pictured here with SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Officer, Sophie Parker, has noticed a significant increase in the numbers of koalas in the area.

Partnering with natural resource management group, Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes) has enabled the Ramseys to target harrisia cactus.

“So the harrisia cactus is a problem that we have in this country here in Goondiwindi and out to St George. SQ Landscapes, with an initiative they had, we were able to purchase some chemical and we’re eradicating harrisia from here,” Peter Ramsey said.

“I think the connections in the industry are really important because there is a lot of people out there that can help us and that’s the beauty, you are not here on your own; there’s a lot of real good local knowledge with Landcare and SQ Landscapes and congratulations on doing a great job,” Mr Ramsey said.

SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Officer Sophie Parker said it’s been a pleasure working with Peter and his family and sharing the success of the sustainable practices he is implementing on his farm.

“As part of the National Landcare Program Peter had received funding from the Regional Land Partnerships Program to specifically target harrisia cactus,” Sophie Parker said.

“But, Peter has also done a range of sustainable trials off his own back and he’s always keen to have a go at anything; this is important as he is able to share his own experiences with neighbours, the local community and then the global community,” Ms Parker said.

Exclusion fencing was the first of a raft of sustainable agriculture practices employed by Peter Ramsey and his family at ‘Old Paisley’, with a view to increasing the grass cover, water holding capacity and eventually stock levels on the property.

Since reinstating the exclusion fence, tackling harrisia cactus and focussing on slowing the flow of water across his property Peter Ramsey said these improvements have translated to an uplift in income.

“Our income has gone up because we were running 50 cattle and selling the weaners and now we are running 25 cows and about 700 nannies but we are producing more kilos,” Peter Ramsey said.

“And with the soil carbon project its a win-win-win because as the soil carbon goes up it's the first time farmers are being paid for something that doesn’t leave the farm; infiltration will go up, our water holding capacity will go up and we’ll grow more grass and we will be able to hopefully run more animals, but run them so we have got more resilience,” Mr Ramsey said.

Fire Practitioner Shares Fire Lore with First Nations Elders

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 03 May 2023 22:48:04 GMT

Robbie Williams' job is far from ordinary. A unique set of skills and over 60,000 years of First Nations lore is key to what makes him the first line of defence against devastating bushfires. Now he is sharing that knowledge with the First Nations mobs of Southern Queensland.

Robbie is a Fire Practitioner, a trained First Nations individual who manages and protects Country by regulating excessive fuel load through cool burns - a strategic burning of vulnerable landscapes to mitigate available fuel for bushfires during dry seasons.

“Because our landscapes get so dry during the summer periods and drought, cool burning allows us to minimise the amount of fuel those bushfires can use,” Robbie Williams said.

“Unfortunately, due to poor management in many areas and excessive clearing, we have an imbalance on Country which actually makes us more vulnerable to bushfires; fortunately, cool burns are essential to managing this,” Mr Williams said.

“We can stop bushfires in its tracks by targeting what is most likely to get those fires going and to direct it away from particular areas,” he said.

“This is a slow method that’s controlled and strategic; we don’t just light a fire and leave it to go wherever it wants.”

Fortunately, Robbie isn’t on his own in the vast stretches of Mulga. Rather, he is joined by his father, Uncle Rob, and the local Elders of the land.

Joined by Elders and members of the Boonthamurra, Bidjara, Kooma, Budjiti, Kunya, Kullilli, Murrawarri and Mardigan Peoples, Robbie is here to share with local communities to reconnect with their fire culture of ages past and to provide new opportunities on Country.

“We’re not here to visit someone else’s Country and tell them what they should do. What we’re doing is introducing ourselves, sharing our stories and offering resources and support so they can do their own fire practitioner work on Country,” Robbie Williams said.

“One of Fire Lore’s biggest advantages is our insurance. Most fire practitioners have to be accompanied by Rural Fire Service or National Parks for insurance, but as ours are the same type as those organisations, we can do this work on our own which is really powerful for these mobs,” Mr Williams said.

“We have developed modules and training programs so we can visit Country, share with the local mobs how to manage fire, and then let them run it on their own terms. This allows them to heal Country and to get paid while doing it through Indigenous-lead employment,” he said.

“As Githabul People, we don’t want to be doing fire management for Budjiti mobs. We want Budjiti to manage their own Country.”

The visit allowed Robbie an opportunity to meet regional communities and to understand their lore, histories, and culture. Some of these sites included 3,500-year old Mardigan fish traps, the Kullilli sand hills at Thargomindah, and a sacred Mardigan men’s initiation site near Yowah.

“Seeing so many different sites really puts into perspective that this isn’t just one mob’s stories and lore. You find everywhere you go that we have the same rules and stories and that these mobs want to get back onto Country,” Robbie Williams said.

“They all believe in caring for Country. For building a healthy community. They have the same fire rules as Githabul does; like not burning the canopy and going against the wind,” Mr Williams said.

“They want to get back onto Country to start that healing of Country, but also to heal their communities. To bring employment and meaning to their young fellas and to finally start reconnecting with their history and Elders,” he said.

“We’re hoping that these Fire Lore branches can be the catalyst for that, because once we’ve got it started, there’s no going back. This is going to revitalise Murri communities in ways we’ve never seen before.”

“Catching up with Elders and men from Cunnamulla out at Jandell was also an amazing experience for us and for Robbie. Seeing how enthusiastic everyone was and we were all wanting to move in the one direction - caring for Country.” Geoff Reid said.

The visit was organised by Regional Agricultural Facilitators (RALF) Geoff Reid (Gomileroi) and Jackson Shillingsworth (Mardigan) through the Regional Land Partnerships program (RLP) and between them, they brought together their mutual connections throughout the region to make the tour possible.

“It was great to catch up with Elders and community around the Mulga Lands. Everyone was really engaged and they cared for Community and Country so much.” RALF Geoff Reid said.

“Going out to the Mardigan fish traps was really amazing; seeing how the First Peoples of this Nation found smart and innovative ways to catch fish was mind blowing. It felt like I went back in time! It was so special,” Mr Reid said.

“Spending time with the directors of Kullilli was also a great experience for us. We were able to bring SQ Landscapes, Bulloo Shire Council and Kullilli together for a yarn about bringing Traditional Burning back to the region,” he said.

“Overall the Fire Lore trip did what we were hoping. We wanted to bring the community together and see what interest there was to bring Traditional Burning back to the Mulga Lands,” Geoff Reid said.

Mr Reid also highlighted the success of the trip, pleased with the direction that the tour had taken and reflecting on the new connections that formed between Fire Lore and the local mobs.

“Everyone we met were super keen and optimistic about the future where we would get more people back to Country, caring for it and creating employment,” Mr Reid said.

“I don’t think we could have hoped for a better outcome than what we received,” he said.

“We were very fortunate to have Robbie and his father on Country to share their knowledge and help make this a reality.”

Learn more about Fire Lore: https://www.firelore.earth/

Learn more about the Regional Land Partnerships: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/environment-project---regional-land-partnerships

This program was funded by the Australian Government's Regional Land Partnerships program.

CEO’s Farewell to Poly Polglase

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:37:35 GMT

Contributed by Paul McDonald

I headed out to Charleville on 17 March to join around 150 people to help Neil (Poly) Polglase celebrate his retirement from his position as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Murweh Shire Council. Poly has led the Council’s team as CEO for over eight years and has been serving local government for over 36 years. As a key member of the Charleville and South West Community, he leaves a great legacy.

Since taking on the role as Chief Executive for Southern Queensland Landscapes, Poly has been a supportive partner in many initiatives including the work to re-life the former Department of Primary Industries “Croxdale” Research Station. Our company is the Trustee for the property and is keen to ensure it is again a knowledge centre for Rangelands agriculture and environmental understanding.

In Charleville, Cunnamulla, St George, Roma and Goondiwindi, local government is the cornerstone of the communities and Poly’s contributions to Charleville and surrounds leaves the town in great shape. Thanks very much Poly for all you have done over many years. No doubt you will have more time for the RSL and Bowls Club volunteering. We will miss your support and advice.

We also welcome Sabine Taylor as the incoming CEO. I had the pleasure of meeting Sabine on Poly’s night and discussing many issues of concern to the Rangelands communities. Sabine is a very capable CEO and will bring a new and exciting dynamic to the Shire and the South West. She outlined many initiatives she would like to pursue and I look forward to our company doing our part to support her efforts and those of Council. I predict exciting times ahead for Charleville and its communities.

Welcome Sabine and all the very best Poly. No doubt I will see you both around town.

Jobseeker turned business owner now to grow her own produce

commssupport@sqlandscapes.org.au (Kellie Stewart) — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:33:21 GMT

Thai-born Toowoomba resident Nayada Hansopa (aka Kanon), is a successful business woman.

Three years ago, with the help of the Australian Government’s NEIS scheme and for-purpose economic development group Many Rivers, she started the transition from Jobseeker and part-time cleaner to owner of a Thai cooking school and handmade condiments.

Chilli Kanon now supplies seven Toowoomba retail outlets and restaurants with delicious hand made curry pastes, oils and jams and is a regular at the Cobb & Co Farmer’s Markets; plus her chillikanon.com website hosts a convenient online shop supplying people throughout the Darling Downs.

This year, Kanon has set herself a new target to also grow the majority of raw produce used in her condiments right here in Toowoomba; which will not only ensure that her product is the freshest on the market but also boast the lowest food miles.

Food miles is a term used to describe the distance or journey your food takes to get to your plate. The average grocery shopping basket in Australia has travelled a staggering 70,000 kilometres*.

Over the past 8 months, Kanon and Irish born partner Jim Kelleher have transformed a half acre paddock on their small Hodgson Vale farm (8 acres) to a lush, green Thai garden.

“I love to cook and owned a beachside restaurant on Ao Yon Beach in Phuket for about seven years cooking traditional Thai meals for tourists and locals,” Nayada Hansopa said.

“Cooking has been my passion forever and I love to grow much of the produce I cook, so I know it is organic and with no chemicals and fresh,” Ms Hansopa said.

“When I first started Chilli Kanon I would buy most of my product from the markets, but when winter came I had to buy product from Bundaberg and the price was so dear; so being able to grow our own produce and dehydrate the chillis to be used in winter when we can’t grow them means we can keep our costs down and better manage our supply,” she said.

“Niche and boutique. We can’t compete with Coles. But we can offer a niche, boutique product that is grown here on the Downs where we live and that’s where we want people to be eating our product.”

Over the past 8 months, Kanon and Irish born partner Jim Kelleher have transformed a half acre paddock on their small Hodgson Vale farm (8 acres) to a lush, green Thai garden.

Currently the pair (who jokingly refer to themselves as ‘Thai-rish’) are getting their heads around how much product they actually need to grow to meet their current and growing demand.

“We bought a little tractor to prepare the soil and create the garden beds and incorporated tonnes of manure from Henry’s dairy on Hodgson Vale Road,” Jim Kelleher said.

“The garden is surrounded by an exclusion fence to keep the kangaroos and rabbits out; and there’s 30 rows, set one metre apart and 60 metres long which we have heavily mulched to control the weeds and retain moisture,” Mr Kelleher said.

“About a quarter of the garden is dedicated to chillies which is the main ingredient in much of Kanon’s handmade curries, oils and pastes, and the first crop we lost a lot to the mice and rats, which don’t seem to mind the hot chillis; so we’ve introduced some cats within the exclusion fence to control the pests and that seems to be working really well,” he said.

“We installed a drip fed irrigation system off the bore, which we had tested at Mt Kynoch and although it is high in calcium it has been found to be potable.”

Kanon is everyday all day in the garden tending to it.

“I am daily weeding, watering and training plants. I give the left overs or spoilt garden cuttings, fruit and vegetables to the chickens and ducks,” Nayada Hansopa said.

“I use white vinegar and chilli water to spray the plants with and keep them healthy of bugs; and I plant marigolds next to the cucumbers, melons, potato, lettuce, pumpkins and tomatoes because the bugs don’t like the smell” Ms Hansopa said.

“I used to water in the morning and the evening, but we found we were having problems with mould, so we’ve adjusted the water to just one hour in the morning and we’ve found we don’t have any problems with the mould anymore,” she said.

“With the strawberries, I grow the Japanese Jumbo and I challenge you to find a sweeter strawberry; you just have to make sure to prune off the runners to encourage the energy to be put into fruit rather than growing more plants and use egg hormone to really boost the fruit.”

Kanon swears by ‘egg hormone’ to stimulate plants and productivity which is commonly used and widely accepted as a gardening practice in her native Thailand.

“I’m from northern Thailand up near Loas so the galanga and lemongrass in my recipes is influenced from my home; even though I wasn’t allowed to cook at home because my Mum said I was too slow!” Nayada Hansopa said.

“The lemongrass grows like a weed here. It does drop off a little in winter, but we find if you cut off the leaves at the end of the season where the frost has damaged it, then it just goes again,” Ms Hansopa said.

“We’ve planted mock orange hedges around the edge of the gardens and bamboo to protect it from the weather and frosts, and this year I’ll put some plastic up around the plants that feel the cold to protect them better” she said.

“I think in another 8-12 months we will really be where we want to be with the garden.”

For more information on ‘egg hormone’ check out this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsCcba65jUs

Kanon and Jim have recently bought a machine from Thailand to assist with cooking the chilli.

“It was quite a sight when it was cooking time. Kanon would have five woks going simultaneously and she’d be wearing a mask and goggles because the chilli vapour would burn her skin and make her eyes red and sore,” Jim Kelleher said.

“The chilli burns if you don’t stir it constantly and poor Kanon would get tennis elbow from stirring the woks, because it could take up to 8 hours to reduce the fresh chilli to make her products,” Mr Kelleher said.

“So we bought this machine from Thailand to be able to stir and reduce the product for her, rather than Kanon having to do it by hand,” he said.

“JL Laboratories have done the nutritional value testing and longevity tests on her product. There is a lot to consider when you are manufacturing a food product in Australia and Kanon is determined to offer the best product she can.”

“We’ve got many, many mint because the bees love it; and with the rosella’s we are trying to mix up the list of plants in the garden and try new things and be inspired to use them in my cooking,” Nayada Hansopa said.

The heat of chillis is measured by the Scoville Scale and Kanon’s chocolate chillis must be harvested wearing gloves.

There’s a temporary bee hive in the corner with its residents busily buzzing around the garden naturally pollinating the plants.

“A long time ago we’ve been told the farm used to be an asparagus farm so we find little asparagus growing up in the paddock on occasion too,” Ms Hansopa said.

“The Rosella and asparagus are not Thai, but cooking and food is dynamic and it's exciting and fun to try new things and tastes,” she said.

“It’s like the pig weed for Australians, you don’t eat it, but in my country the Naturopaths believe it is very good for you and we use it in stir frys and salads.”

Check out this link to pig weed as a bushfood https://tasteaustralia.biz/bushfood/pig-weed/

The garden also sustains the household food needs for both Kanon and Jim, with oversupply being offered as fresh produce at the markets.

“About the only thing that we buy from the store is a little meat and some carrots. It’s traditional in my country to kill your own ducks and chickens but we don’t eat them on the same day as we kill them so that your body and spirit forgets. We wait a couple of days to eat,” Nayada Hansopa said.

“We’ve also got lambs which we will get a farm butcher to kill for us,” Ms Hansopa said.

“We’re hoping to offer cooking classes right here at the farm where people will be able to go down to the garden to collect the vegetables and herbs they need for cooking and see just how easy it is to have your own garden, cook your own food and taste just how good it is,” she said.

“We dream of being entirely self-sufficient, eat not much chemical in our food, no preservatives and if we can manage this with no idea, people can do it.”

Here is a list of all the plants growing in Kanon and Jim’s garden:

Tumeric, lemon bitter, cucumbers, winter melon, marigolds, lady finger ginger, white choko, pumpkin, galango, Thai spring onions, Thai sweet basil, Thai melon, rosella, asparagus, sweet potato, lemon grass, habanero chilli, cayenne chilli, chocolate chilli, thai spicy chilli, sweet corn, waxy corn, capsicum, strawberries, bananas, purple sweet potatoes, figs, white radish, black Russian tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, white turmeric, cucamelon, Thai snake beans, peanuts, bell peppers, ocra, pig weed, mint, taro, zucchini, artichokes and peaches.

To find out more visit:

Chilli Kanon : https://www.chillikanon.com/

Many Rivers : https://manyrivers.org.au/

NEIS : https://www.dewr.gov.au/new-business-assistance-neis/neis-training-support-and-payments

* https://www.ethical.org.au/3.4.2/get-informed/issues/food-miles-buying-local/

Art competition boosts confidence for Indigenous artists

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:17:19 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes) and the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) invites First Nations people from our 28 Nations in Southern Queensland to showcase their original works created within the last two years. The competition's theme, "Get up, Stand Up, Show Up," highlights the deep and enduring relationship between First Nations peoples and their land and environment, and to encourage artists to share their unique perspectives and beliefs.

The winners of the competition will receive a range of prizes that is valued up to $18,000, including cash awards and art supplies, and will be displayed at the University of Southern Queensland gallery.

Breanna Humes, the coordinator for the competition at SQ Landscapes, emphasizes the competition's importance in recognizing and supporting First Nations artists. She believes that First Nations art is an integral part of Australia's cultural identity and heritage, and the competition provides an opportunity to celebrate the creativity and diversity of First Nations artists and promote their works to a wider audience.

“The First Nations Art Competition is an important step to recognising the significant cultural value that art plays in Indigenous communities,” Breanna Humes said.

“Last year’s competition featured a wide range of contestants, from young Indigenous people all the way to some of our most recognisable Elders,” Miss Humes said.

“There’s also a diversity in Nations that participated, from Kooma to Bidjara, Gamileroi and more,” she said.

“We’re really excited to see who, and what, is submitted this year; particularly with the addition of new digital and 3D mediums.”

“Last year’s competition featured a wide range of contestants, from young Indigenous people all the way to some of our most recognisable Elders,” Miss Humes said.

The competition is also a way to address the ongoing issues and lack of recognition faced by First Nations artists, increasing public awareness and appreciation of their art and culture.

The competition panel includes renowned artists and First Nations experts including Uncle Wayne Fossey, Elder-in-Residence for the University of Southern Queensland, Uncle Colin Jones a Kaladoon and Nunuckle artist and Elder, and Sue McMaster from Murray’s Art and Framing. The judges bring a wealth of experience and expertise in contemporary art and a deep understanding of the cultural significance of First Nations art.

The 2023 First Nations Art Competition is currently accepting entries, with a submission deadline of Friday June 2, 2023. The winners will be announced by Friday 7 July, and the selected artworks will be exhibited in the University of Southern Queensland’s gallery.

The competition is also an opportunity for businesses and organizations to support and promote First Nations artists, either by sponsoring the competition or purchasing artworks for their corporate collections, providing valuable support to the First Nations arts community.

“The art competition has opened a lot of doors for me. I’m taking on commission work at the moment as well as a piece that will be on display at the UniSQ gallery next month,” she said.

Melinda Luscombe, the 2022 Overall Winner and 25+ Winner overwhelmingly encourages anyone interested to apply.

“When I entered, I was very shy and I felt that my art wasn’t going to be good enough compared to the other entries,” Melinda Luscombe said.

“But to my surprise, I actually won and that was a huge boost to my confidence. I didn’t expect to win, but seeing that I won the overall prize it really reminded me of the importance of being proud of our heritage and art and showing it to the world,” Ms Luscombe said.

“The art competition has opened a lot of doors for me. I’m taking on commission work at the moment as well as a piece that will be on display at the UniSQ gallery next month,” she said.

“This year’s theme is Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up; which is what I did last year. I am excited to enter again this year and really extend this theme into my art by showing up and acknowledging that there’s something to be proud of as an artist and to give it a go.”

To enter the First Nations Art Competition, visit: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/2023-first-nations-art-competition

The First Nations Art Competition is an initiative by Southern Queensland Landscapes and is supported by the University of Southern Queensland.

Scent training readies latest detector dog for koala spotting

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:05:44 GMT

Meet Hercules, Southern Queensland Landscapes’ latest Springer spaniel who after several months of extensive training will become the latest addition to the Conservation Detector Dog team. Nicknamed ‘Hakka’, when he graduates from training, he will be a recognised expert in detecting fox and koala scents; with those skills going on to assist in a variety of pest management and conservation projects.

Hakka’s handler, Project Delivery Officer and former Ugandan Wildlife Ranger Hanington Agaba is optimistic about Hakka’s transition into the team.

“Hakka is a massive upgrade for our team, particularly as our oldest detector dog, Rocky, begins to retire,” Hanington Agaba said.

“He’s already mastering the fox and koala scents, which is a terrific achievement given we only started training in late January,” Mr Agaba said.

“We hope to train him in as many scents as we need, but currently we are teaching him to identify fox dens and endangered koalas,” he said.

“While the training does encompass identifying scents, there’s other components too including bonding, obedience, and commands which will help him do the best job he can while in the field.”

Conservation dogs find, focus, and indicate on a particular scent, which is achieved through various training aids and exercises like use of a scent wall.

The training hones and builds on Hakka’s natural instincts and abilities. Dogs are uniquely skilled with excellent scent detection capabilities and intelligence for training that makes them ideal for this line of work.

So how do you train a young puppy to become a conservation detector dog? Well, there are a variety of methods which Mr Hanington employs to train new scents and behaviours; both at home and out in the field.

“We will often start our day with a walk, which gets him some exercise and also to help him become used to things like traffic, other dogs, and different environments. We never know where we might be working next, so being used to a variety of situations is very important,” Agaba Hanington said.

“Then, after a brief rest back home, we will start on the scent wall, which is a wall we have constructed with various holes carved out, which we then have fixed with different scents in a PVC pipe, moving them around every time so Hakka has to really work to locate them,” Mr Hanington said.

“I will use commands like “Find fox” or “Find koala” and he will know what I’m looking for. He will dart around trees, shrubs, and different obstacles where I may have hidden scents in the past, which helps him identify where foxes may lie,” he said.

“He will eventually make his way back to the wall, and will tap the right pipe with his nose and paws when he’s found it, repeating at least ten times to properly hone in on that behaviour and by the end he will know not only to search for the scent in different environments around the yard, but also learn that it won’t be the same spot, thanks to the scent wall.”

Conservation dogs are trained to develop absolute focus on their handler's directions and to ignore distractions.

Mixing scents around scent boards and different vegetation is key to training the puppy and the scents used vary between animals, but will often include different items such as fur and tails for foxes, and scat or skin for koalas; all are ethically sourced.

Different scents can be used to differentiate the animal, with koala scat generally placed at the base of a tree, while skin is hidden higher in the canopy to teach Hakka to identify particular scents and characteristics in different locations and to avoid him only looking for koala scents on the forest floor.

“Having koala scents near trees, and fox scents in deep shrub and waterways helps him identify where these animals might live. If we only relied on the scent wall, he would only look there, which isn’t what we want,” Agaba Hanington said.

“Once we’ve finished with the scent wall, we will then move to a nearby park or nature reserve for “field” training, which is very important as the parks, national forests, and hike trails we visit to simulate the environments he will work in,” Mr Hanington said.

“I will hide the scents in water pipes, in thick brush, under trees, in river banks, and many other areas which really push Hakka to search for the scents,” he said.

“It doesn’t take him long; he’s a very smart dog and there’s a real sense of accomplishment when he finds his scent.”

Springer spaniels are ideal for detection dog duties due to their drive and discipline.

Despite beginning training on foxes at the start of February, already by March Hakka began showing signs of mastering his basic commands and scent locating abilities.

“He’s progressing really well in this stage, which is a great milestone for the team. Soon we hope to have him move towards our next milestone,” Agaba Hanington said.

“The next milestone will involve him working with the other dogs in the team, Rocky and Cooper, with whom he is related by litters,” Mr Hanington said.

“This chapter of his training will ensure he is able to work flexibly with his fellow detector dogs in a positive way with the right behaviours we want to develop. It will also help us identify what behaviours he emits in the field when he locates the right animal,” he said.

“For example, if he finds a fox den, we want to know how he reacts; whether he dives into the den, tries to dig them up; or if he sits and stays put when he finds one.”

As a former Ugandan Wildlife Ranger, Agaba Hanington has worked extensively with Springer spaniels for conservation projects in the past, and is excited for his future work with Hakka.

“We already share a strong bond and he reminds me greatly of my previous dogs Mia and Pippa,” Agaba Hanington said.

“I’m very excited to get out in the field with him for some of our conservation projects,” Mr Hanington said.

“He will really thrive with our fox detection programs, as well as the recently-announced Koala project, which he will be instrumental in,” he said.

“I hope that we can train him in other areas as well, such as detecting native bird carcasses or different feral pests.”

“We are supporting the conservation power of these detector dogs by providing the team with koala scat collected from the floors of our exhibits for use in training.” Frank Mikula said.

The curator of Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Frank Mikula, said that the use of detector dogs like Hakka help support conservation efforts for endangered Koala populations.

“The use of detector dogs for conservation work is becoming more and more popular. The ability of the dogs to locate wildlife through scent is amazing and can certainly increase the accuracy of any field study,” Frank Mikula said.

“Koalas are arboreal animals and as much as you may think that they are easy to spot from the ground, their fur colouration and body shape does a great job of hiding them amongst the branches and leaves of the forest,” Mr Mikula said.

“Utilising detection dogs will mean that greater areas can be covered and surveyed more accurately. More accurate surveys mean better information to base management of the species off and hopefully improve the chances of making a positive difference to the koala population in Southeast Queensland,” he said.

“We are supporting the conservation power of these detector dogs by providing the team with koala scat collected from the floors of our exhibits for use in training.”

With the rising rate of extinction among many native species, the work of detector dogs and other programs to mitigate feral pests and support endangered species will only continue to grow more important.

Learn about how the Conservation Detector Dog team protects endangered species here:

https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/conservation-detector-dog-program

Learn more about Agaba’s story from Uganda to Southern Queensland here:

https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/decorated-ugandan-wildlife-warrior-takes-queensland-post-to-help-save-native-australian-animals

Federal government throws outback koalas a lifeline:

https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/federal-government-throws-outback-koalas-a-lifeline

Visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:

https://lonepinekoalasanctuary.com/

Simulation tests control of foot and mouth disease

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 23:42:06 GMT

If foot and mouth disease (FMD) hit Australia; could it be controlled?

That’s the $24 billion* dollar question being put to the test by scientists and biosecurity experts leading a simulated FMD outbreak on 60,000 hectares in the New South Wales region of Nullamanna.

Northern Tablelands Local Land Services (NTLLS) is heading up the $1.4M simulation in conjunction with the NSW Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NRM organisation Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes), 46 private land managers, 3 National Parks and 12 travelling stock reserves.

NTLLS Project Officer for FMD Prevention & Preparedness, Mark Tarrant said Nullamanna will be a world first proof of concept that an FMD outbreak could be managed through the intensive pest control of major disease carriers like pigs, deer and goats.

“We had a million options of sites to choose from, but the reason why we chose Nullamanna was because this is the first time that we have had the opportunity to apply research to onground outcomes; we’ve never had this opportunity anywhere else before on the back of research on the Nullamanna site by SQ Landscapes’ Darren Marshall,” Mark Tarrant said.

“There’s also multiple land uses, private land, grazing, cropping, private conservation, national parks and feedlots; so a lot going on there, plus because of the work Darren Marshall and the team from SQ Landscapes have been doing in the area we already had a semi-engaged community,” Mr Tarrant said.

“The simulation kicked off in November with a community engagement meeting where we announced the project and obtained consent from land managers for onground works. Then we used a thermal drone to survey 10,500 hectares, which was really critical for us to set a baseline of pig, deer and goat numbers; and that’s an actual count, no modelling,” he said.

“Then because we knew the core home ranges of pigs on the Nullamanna site we selected one of the travelling stock reserves as the simulated site of the outbreak; applied a 5km radius around that for intensive pest control and a further 10km radius as a buffer.”

“Feral pigs are social and live in family groups of up to 30 individuals; so when

you collar one pig and GPS track it you know where the other 29 are”. - Lachlan Marshall

January 2023, saw the team from SQ Landscapes move into the 5km zone to set up 40 traps and put GPS collars on 20 pigs to map their movements during the six month simulation; and on February 1 the LLS Feral Animal Shooting Team (FAAST) moved in to commence an intensive seven day aerial shoot.

SQ Landscapes Project Officer Lachlan Marshall said aerial shooting will continue on the Nullamanna site for the first week of the month, every month until May; with each aerial shoot followed by intensive onground trapping and baiting.

“During the first week of February FAAST got 833 pigs, 101 fallow deer, 75 feral goats, 31 foxes and 3 cats; then in the remaining three weeks of February we trapped a further 62 pigs,” Lachlan Marshall said.

“In the first week of March FAAST got a further 460 pigs, 65 deer, 126 feral goats**, 26 foxes and 4 feral cats; and another 6 pigs were trapped following the shoot,” Mr Marshall said.

(**Goat numbers increased from January results owing to an increase in land manager participation).

“In those first couple of days of an aerial shoot, the FAAST team will focus on the 5km radius wholly and solely; but by the third or fourth day the ferals have moved out to the 10km radius so they sweep out there and then move back into the 5km radius for the fifth, sixth and seventh day of aerial shooting,” he said.

“As feral numbers decline we’re hoping to really lever off the onground trapping, baiting and collars to zero in on where the remaining populations are in the landscape and really target our efforts with the aim of completely eradicating pests within the 5km zone.”

“It’s really exciting for us as this is the first time anywhere that this level of control has happened. If we are going to have an impact on feral pig populations and the risk they pose as carriers of diseases like foot and mouth, this is the project that is going to show it.”

Mark Tarrant said 833 pigs shot in the first week of aerial shooting was quite a high number given control programs on the site prior to the simulation.

“To shoot more than half of that number of pigs again 4 weeks later is hugely concerning and that is what I am finding really interesting with this project and we’ve got so many questions about that,” Mark Tarrant said.

“Even with the intel we had on the pigs whereabouts based on the GPS tracking of the collared pigs, our aerial shooters found it difficult to locate the pigs which shows you they are really good at hiding when they hear a helicopter,” Mr Tarrant said.

“So we’re going to overlay the collared ‘Judas’ pigs’ movements with the route of the helicopter and animate what the pig was doing when the helicopter flew over to learn more about their behaviour and find out how we can maximise our opportunity during an aerial shoot,” he said.

“Potentially the numbers in the second shoot may also have been achieved through a vacuum effect where neighbouring pigs are coming into the area because there are no pigs there.”

Originally the plan was to see if they could achieve local eradication within the 5km zone, but Mark Tarrant said eradication without fencing or some sort of barrier to minimise the vacuum effect would make it highly unlikely as an achievable goal.

“We’ve gone for the intensive control program which is where you go down the numbers path of reducing risk through reducing population numbers; the smaller you get the less risk,” Mark Tarrant said.

“But we’re going to have to deploy every trick in the play book to make that a reality, that is probably the screaming pig for me in this simulation; where ever a land manager is applying pest control it’s got to be an integrated pest control; aerial doesn’t stop it, onground doesn’t stop it, it’s got to be everything thrown at it in a coordinated and strategic way,” Mr Tarrant said.

“Historically we’ve undertaken one off aerial shooting programs and yielded over 3,000 pigs, which is a great result; but concerningly what we’ve learnt here with this program is there could still be 2,000 pigs left in the landscape which means we’ve actually had minimal impact,” he said.

“This simulation is teaching us that real control of ferals, particularly pigs is possible, but the effort and resources that have to be thrown at it to make a real difference is alarming; it’s a huge amount of work to reduce the numbers in a quick period of time and one that simply wouldn't be possible without the help and engagement of land managers.”

Meanwhile SQ Landscapes Vertebrate Pest & Wildlife Management Lead, Darren Marshall couldn’t agree more.

“We know that the ecology of a rainforest is hugely complex, but what we have tended to ignore or not think about is the complexity of humans in these scenarios and what my research has found is that you can’t save the forest without engaging the humans,” Darren Marshall said.

“I’m not sure it is possible to have a pig free Australia because people are the problem not the pigs and it’s the human dimension that doesn’t allow us to implement strategic control at a landscape level because land managers get side tracked on what they think are more important issues as pig populations decline,” Mr Marshall said.

“Some people like shooting pigs so they make sure they keep a few around and others keep pigs in the landscape because they make money out of them, so in addition to Mark Tarrant’s advice that this problem needs every tool in the tool kit to solve, it also needs 100% uptake and engagement of land managers,” he said.

“So to answer your original question, ‘If foot and mouth disease hit Australia, could it be controlled?’; I think we are going to find through this simulation that the answer is yes, but that it will be costly, a lot of work and will almost solely depend on everyone, not just some people, obsessively working together to blast these things out of existence.”

*It’s estimated that foot and mouth disease could cost Australian agriculture $23.6 billion dollars over a ten year period. - ‘ Consequences of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak ’

CEO's Report - ARTC Southern Darling Downs Community Consultative Committee

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:33:41 GMT

By Paul McDonald

I joined the Chairs of the Inner and Southern Darling Downs Community Consultative Committees, several fellow committee members, and Inland Rail staff and contractors on a two-day tour of the proposed route in Queensland and tour of the almost finished construction which has reached North Star as well as the now finished and in use section south of Moree.

As an aside, we were shocked at the very poor condition of the secondary roads and the obvious signs that the State maintained roads and highways were not coping well with the volume and nature of the freight loads they were carrying in New South Wales (and parts of Queensland). The effects of the recent wet period, along with the volume of produce which comes from the highly productive regions from Boggabilla, North Star, Croppa Creek, and across to Moree have left the local road network in a poor and in some cases, dangerous state.

The number of recently installed on-farm grain storage and handling facilities, all of which have been serviced by road freight since the closure of the NSW rail service in that region some years ago was notable. No doubt the new rail corridor will play a huge role in taking the burden off those roads which were never designed to perform the current tasks. The increased heavy vehicle traffic on these roads due to construction work will also be a factor to track in Queensland is New South Wales experience is repeated.

While it is not practical to report every detail of the discussions between CCC members and Inland Rail staff, the issues around impacts on individuals and communities are large in number. What became obvious was that those landholders that raised issues with the proponents had their concerns and impacts worked through with the result that some landholders were able to use the project to solve long term issues on their properties as well as mitigate the impacts.

Some of the impacts are serious and costly to deal with and in the instances discussed with us, they were addressed properly from what we saw. Members realised that we weren’t able to talk directly with those affected people and given the sensitive nature of those ongoing discussions, it would be highly improper for us to be involved at this stage. Importantly, we were assured that at the right time, we will have that opportunity, and it will be before construction comes to our communities.

Lastly, I have been personally concerned about several issues in representing our communities on the CCC. The major concerns lie around the construction of linear infrastructure on our Brigalow Belah ecosystems and soils. I am also concerned about the cumulative impacts of the infrastructure on our threatened ecological communities as well as the voracity of the flood modeling and practical outcomes.

What I observed and was told on the two-day trip has allayed many of my concerns; however, as always, these issues will need constant vigilance. Please contact either Andrew McCartney or myself if you wish to discuss community concerns about the project.

A summary of the trip on the 4th and 5th of February 2023 provided by our Chairs is:

Inland Rail Staff

All staff we encountered were professional and passionate about the project and were working hard to meet the needs of the project, affected landholders along the alignment and the various communities which will be affected during design, construction and operation.

They have an intimate knowledge of the alignment and the people and communities which are likely to be impacted.

We Visited:

The proposed site for the Goondiwindi Workers’ Camp at the Goondiwindi Showgrounds – up to 650-person capacity
Moree Workers camp – 350-person capacity
Laydown areas including one on private property
Active crossings
Completed bridges and significant sections of large culverts and measures to manage water flows during flood events
Quarry near completed sections of the line on the Narrabri to North Star (N2NS) Phase two section of the Inland Rail Program
The proposed site for the Whetstone Material Distribution Centre
The proposed site for the Moree Special Activation Precinct (SAP)

Observations

Goondiwindi will have several legacy assets /outcomes including capacity for 72 passenger planes to land, showgrounds which will have upgrades of several services and infrastructures such as access roads, power and water.

2. Efforts made to reduce impact on landowners and communities include:

Locations and design of rail crossings
Pedestrian safety features near a school
Land leased for a car park in Moree so local shops are not affected by vehicles using public car parks
Completed works where there has been 1 in 200-year flooding with no major structural or water flow issues
All Inland Rail and some contractor vehicles are monitored for compliance purposes and tracking
All Inland Rail and contractor vehicles are branded. Not all sub-contractor vehicles are branded. Unfortunately, a number of branded Inland Rail vehicles have been stolen so some have had branding removed but magnetic signage is used when on-site
One small township had a number of truck movements where it was not possible to deliver materials to site by rail. Inland Rail worked with the community and contractor(s) to ensure the safety of the community
Contractual penalties may be applied if there is significant non-compliance with contractual or other requirements
Most of the area we visited were brownfield sites, that is, existing track which is completely upgraded
Working with local authorities on a range of issues so the best outcomes are achieved for Inland Rail, the local authority and the communities
The processes for approval in New South Wales are different to Queensland however similar standards apply to the whole project
Staff, contractors and property owners are updated on events which may impact them on any given day, for example, there was a serious accident which resulted in a road closure so a text was sent to all people who might be impacted
The Community Engagement number is monitored 24/7 during construction.
In one instance where a Landholder owned land on both sides of the corridor, he successfully requested the water flow across the corridor be altered from where it currently goes to lessen the impact on a sensitive cropping area, and increase the flooding in a less sensitive area

Bulloak butterfly buoyed by community backing

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:33:39 GMT

A native butterfly species may be on the brink of extinction, but this community in Southern Queensland won’t go down without a fight.

Local community organisation Macintyre Ag Alliance is hosting its second Bulloak field day and planting event to raise awareness of the plight facing a little-known native insect; the bulloak jewel butterfly (Hypochrysops piceatus).

Held near Goondiwindi, Queensland, the upcoming field day aims to promote the protection of the bulloak jewel butterfly, a highly endangered species found in small pockets across the Goondiwindi region.

“The butterfly has only been spotted in the last 20 years at a very small road site at Leyburn and at a state forest and national park north of Goondiwindi,” Louise Carroll said.

“So it’s vital that we involve the community to protect the butterfly and part of that includes running community events like this field day to raise awareness of the butterfly’s plight,” Mrs Carroll said.

“This project involves land managers who are on the properties directly bordering the habitat and we hope by planting more trees and caring for this environment, we can create stepping stones of habitat to increase the butterfly's spread,” she said.

“Unfortunately, opportunities to extend and improve the habitat are only available on public land, which means community investment and interest, including land manager involvement, is essential for the butterfly’s survival which is why our project is so important.”

The initiative is part of a broader effort to protect the environment in the Goondiwindi region, which is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna. Through initiatives like this, the community is working together to protect the environment for future generations while learning about the rich cultural heritage of the area.

Mrs Carroll hopes that by coming together to plant trees and learn about indigenous knowledge, locals can help protect the Bulloak tree and the bulloak jewel butterfly, ensuring their survival in the Goondiwindi region.

“We got a community sustainability action grant from the Queensland Government three years ago for the rehabilitation of private land for the Bulloak butterfly,” Louise Carroll said.

“Additionally, we’re very fortunate to have a variety of experts speaking at this event, including Dr Viv Perry and Yinarr-Ma woman Kerrie Saunders, who will discuss First Peoples’ knowledge and bush tucker in the area,'' Mrs Carroll said.

“Last year, we had a strong showing from the Goondiwindi community which included local schools, biology students, local organisers, and government employees from a variety of levels including at the federal level,” she said.

“We’re always interested in involving schools and hope to increase community investment and interest in the survival of the butterfly so we can continue on the successes from last year to really bring some positive change to the critically endangered bulloak jewel butterfly.”

The Bulloak tree (Allocasuarina luehmannii), which is vital to the survival of the bulloak jewel butterfly, is a keystone species in the Goondiwindi region, providing habitat for various flora and fauna while preventing soil erosion with its deep root system.

However, the species has been threatened by various factors, such as land clearing, grazing, and climate change; which has dramatically impacted the butterfly’s survival.

But it’s not just butterflies these efforts will help save, with even koalas reaping the rewards of this project.

“What’s really exciting is that local land managers have also spotted koala tracks in this same region, so it really demonstrates the importance of protecting this land not just for butterflies, but also for other native animals that may be at risk; which include koalas and black cockatoos,” Louise Carroll said.

“At the event we will be hosting Aboriginal Ranger Malcolm Brown to discuss koala tracking and to highlight how we can make these sites more koala-friendly such as installing canopy ladders, watering points, and more,” Mrs Carroll said.

“And this has a cascading effect by providing a stronger habitat for other animals too which really highlights why conservation is so important; what goes to help one species can sometimes help a bunch more,” she said.

“These efforts are only possible through community involvement. Despite experiencing long dry, hot summers, the local land managers have been watering the planted trees to keep them alive and with more community awareness, we can spread these efforts to other similarly-affected regions. This is just one example of how community involvement can transform habitats for the better.”

“Last year, the land managers planted a lot of trees at Dunworrie; a few have died, so we’re replanting them and also extending the spread of these native trees.”

“This is a long-term investment by the community to ensure that the butterfly has protected habitat for years to come.”

The event is organised by Macintyre Ag Alliance and will take place on March 23rd from 9:00 am to 11:30 am at "Dunworrie", Tenomby Road. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of the Bulloak tree, Brigalow communities and the butterfly to the local ecosystem and participate in tree planting to help protect the species.

The event has received funding support from the Queensland Government's Community Sustainability Action Grant Program and the Goondiwindi Regional Council, and Southern Queensland Landscapes is supporting it through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

Federal government throws outback koalas a lifeline

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 00:33:33 GMT

A $200,000 project aimed at identifying and reducing threats to Queensland’s most western population of koalas is about to get underway.

Minister for the Environment and Water, The Hon Tanya Plibersek has announced funding for the project under the Australian Government’s Koala Conservation Protection Community Grants, Round 1.

Community-owned, natural resource management organisation, Southern Queensland Landscapes is leading the project.

Chief Executive Officer, Paul McDonald said first-step will be using mapping of likely koala habitat around Morven, Cheepie, Bulloo River North of Adavale and the Warrego River corridor from Charleville to Cunnamulla to identify potential koala locations.

“There’s only been 17 official sightings of koalas in these western areas since the 1980’s so we will be targeting where we think they will be based on cutting-edge habitat mapping; then further fine tuning our search sites through local knowledge of koala locations, especially that advice from our First Nations’ peoples,” Paul McDonald said.

“Then through volunteer spotters, citizen science and SQ Landscape’s own koala detection dogs, we will be accurately pinpointing and mapping those existing koala populations so that we can begin to investigate how to support those remaining strongholds,” Mr McDonald said.

“We will work with land managers surrounding these populations, to protect water sources and promote the health of riparian zones, foster habitat regrowth, improve stock grazing practices, implement weed control and the reduction of feral pest populations and improve habitat value through landscape rehydration techniques,” he said.

“Together with land managers, we aim to have restored or improved more than 1,000 hectares of koala habitat for these key western populations over the life of the project.”

With work starting immediately, Paul McDonald said it’s not a moment too soon for these western koala communities who have been doing it tough.

“These key koala populations throughout Queensland’s Rangelands are at the western edge of the species range,” Paul McDonald said.

“These fringe populations have been facing huge challenges owing to declining habitat, predation from feral animals like wild dogs, foxes and cats, drought, heatwaves and other impacts of climate change,” Mr McDonald said.

“Southern Queensland Landscapes is really excited to be leading this project with funding from the federal government and we look forward to positively impacting the future of these key western koala communities so that they are there for our children’s children,” he said.

The Australian Government’s Threatened Species Commissioner, Dr Fiona Fraser said projects like this play an important role in supporting the recovery of the koala.

“We all want to see koalas thrive for generations to come. This will take a collective effort to combat the threats facing our beloved koala. It’s encouraging to see SQ Landscapes and passionate community members take up this challenge.”

Keep up to date with the progress of this project by subscribing to receive SQ Landscapes’ monthly Enewsletter https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/about-us#SubscribetoourE-Newsletter or following SQ Landscapes on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

The combined koala populations of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory were listed as endangered on 12 February 2022.

Wetland appraisal set to validate catchment value

Wed, 01 Feb 2023 02:09:27 GMT

The conservation value of wetlands in Queensland’s Murray-Darling and Bulloo Basins (QMDBB) have been re-evaluated in a comprehensive assessment, updated by the Department of Environment and Science (DES).

Natural resource management group Southern Queensland Landscapes said DES has completed its Aquatic Conservation Assessment of the region using Aquatic Biodiversity and Mapping Methodology (AquaBAMM); with the full report released in December 2022.

Knowledge & Information Support Officer Dr. Paul Webb said Aquatic Conservation Assessments (ACA), undertaken using AquaBAMM, provide a non-social, non-economic and tenure-blind assessment of wetland conservation values at a user-defined scale.

Riverine and non-riverine ACA results.

“Assessments have been completed for the Border Rivers, Moonie, Condamine-Balonne, Maranoa, Wallam, Warrego, Paroo and Bullo hydrological basins; and separate assessments have been done for both riverine and non-riverine freshwater wetlands,” Paul Webb said.

“This method draws on a combination of available data and expert opinion which provides a powerful decision support tool that is easily interrogated through Geographic Information Systems (GIS),” Dr Webb said.

“ACA’s undertaken using AquaBamm are based on a series of criteria, indicators and measures founded upon a large body of national and international literature,” he said.

“Measured data is then mathematically combined into scores at the indicator and criterion level and referenced against a filter table that is composed of a series of if/else statements that are then used to calculate the overall aquatic conservation score or AquaScore.”

The AquaBAMM hierarchical structure.

Aquatic Conservation Assessment results have a variety of applications.

“ACA’s can be used to determine Matters of State Environmental Significance (MSES), or determining priority areas of aquatic ecosystems to protect, regulate or rehabilitate,” Paul Webb said.

“They can also drive on-ground investment, add to local and regional planning processes, or contribute to the understanding of impacts from large-scale developments.” Dr Webb said.

“Water resource management and planning processes would also draw upon results from Aquatic Conservation Assessments,” he said.

“All in all we look forward to using the revised assessments in our natural assets prioritisation to drive and support flourishing landscapes and healthy communities.”

The AquaBAMM methodology and assessment results (including summary report, expert panel reports and GIS data) can be accessed from the following websites:

WetlandInfo - https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/assessment/assessment-methods/aca/queensland-murray-darling-bulloo.html

WetlandMaps - http://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/get-mapping-help/wetland-maps/

Queensland Spatial Catalogue - http://qldspatial.information.qld.gov.au/catalogue/custom/index.page

Queensland Globe - https://qldglobe.information.qld.gov.au/

Biomaps - http://qldspatial.information.qld.gov.au/biomaps/

Environmental Reports Online - https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/report-request/environment/

Further details about AquaBAMM or the ACAs can be obtained by emailing: biodiversity.planning@qld.gov.au

CEO's Report - ARTC Environmental Impact Statement

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 01:07:24 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes was invited onto the Inner Darling Downs and Southern Darling Downs Community Consultative Committees in mid-2020. At that time, we invited people to let us know their thoughts and concerns about the project to ensure the project proponents knew how our community felt about the project and what it needed to know from them. We received little comment; however, we did receive an offer to tour the affected area by one of our members which we gladly accepted.

Since that time, the ARTC people have worked toward an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which has been submitted to the Coordinator-General. The submitted material was not enough for the project to be approved for several reasons and these have been progressively addressed. As at today, the EIS has not been approved.

This project is very complex and affects the Eastern Downs in many ways, both positively and negatively. As with all projects “of State Significance” assessed under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971, the project will happen unless there is an unresolvable issue identified in the EIS; the proponent ceases to be an entity for whatever reason; or some other external factor cancels the project. Assuming the ARTC is here to stay and the political will continues, we can assume the project will happen.

We are very conscious that people who live on and near the rail corridor are deeply affected by the project, and while there is ample legislative protection for the people directly affected to be adequately compensated for the affect of the project on their lives, many of these people have strong and long ties to their places. The impacts on them are real and should not be dismissed.

The Community Consultative Committees have a wide representation from people directly indirectly impacted by the project as well as potential beneficiaries. Our place on the Committees is two-fold. To reflect any views our communities and members may wish expressed, and to keep a careful eye on the technical issues associated with the conduct of the EIS and associated processes where there are inadequate skills available from others.

Our role by virtue of the Charter for the Committees, is not to “take sides” and advocate for sectional interests or other reason that lies outside our technical competence. It is to ensure the ARTC people receive issues and concerns from our members and communities. The details of the Committee, minutes of all its meetings, its membership and Charter can be found at:

Inner Darling Downs Community Consultative Committee: https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/building-inland-rail/working-with-communities/community-consultative-committees/idd-ccc/

Southern Darling Downs Community Consultative Committee: https://inlandrail.artc.com.au/building-inland-rail/working-with-communities/community-consultative-committees/sdd-ccc/

From what we understand, the technical issues of most of concern are:

The Condamine Floodplain impacts on the project and assurance that these impacts can be managed without negative impact

The issues associated with soil types and structures on the construction and long term sustainability of the rail

The potential impacts of construction on the groundwater aquifers and their viable use

The impacts of the infrastructure on biodiversity (including Koala populations)

The short term noise and pollutant impacts of the construction phase as well as their long term impacts when trains are active on the line.

Needless to say, there are many other issues needing to be resolved which is the job of the EIS. There has been much debate and concern around the adequacy of consultation for the alignment and the viability of the project given potential cost blowouts and the like. These are all in the public domain and have been the subject of a Senate Enquiry and are now under review led by Kerry Schott for the Australian Government. These are not matters for the Community Consultative Committee.

It is timely to again invite thoughts and concerns from our members and communities as the project nears the end of its development stages. We are very keen to hear from you if you do have concerns, praise or any other thoughts we can offer ARTC people through the committees. We would also like to know if members wish to receive a regular briefing on the project now that it is approaching its final development stages.

Cluster fencing helps land managers get back to business

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 01:00:44 GMT

By Kim Woods at the National Wild Dog Action Plan

A year down the track from three cluster fences being finished in Southern Queensland and the participating pastoralists are back in the business of farming with an air of confidence.

SQ Landscapes worked for over two years with land managers in the Eromanga, Eulo and Bollon areas to deliver 446km of new exclusion fencing to encompass around 325,000 hectares of sheep, cattle and goat production across 12 properties for protection from wild dogs.

Funded under Queensland Feral Pest Initiative round three, the project filled the gaps between private and previously funded exclusion fences to improve the management of total grazing pressure and predators across the region.

The journey wasn’t an easy one as landholders struggled with drought followed by the impacts of drought, flood, rain, a pandemic, increasing costs of materials and delays.

Eromanga East Cluster is 156km enclosing six properties with an area of 130,000ha while Mirage Garrawin Cluster is 227km enclosing three properties with an area of 145,000ha and Lower Nebine Cluster fence is 63km enclosing three properties with an area of 50,000ha.

SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Lead Chris Crafter, Charleville, said those landholders who initially registered for the clusters had their livelihoods severely impacted by wild dogs and feral pigs.

“They couldn’t spell country due to the total grazing pressure of other species and every one of them said getting an exclusion fence was a no brainer if they wanted to run sheep or goats,” Chris Crafter said.

“Some of them had switched into cattle while others are now keeping their cattle and diversifying into small stock whilst changing their grazing regimes inside the fences to take advantage of new opportunities," Ms Crafter said.

“Eromanga East Cluster is a number of properties surrounding Eromanga township and nestled between several other clusters, and they were being impacted by wild dogs coming from several different directions," she said.

“That cluster was very well organised with all the people working together, sharing equipment and labour. They had incredible challenges during the construction of the fence including floods."

“When we began working with these clusters it was at the end of severe drought and with the change in the weather sections of the fence were going under metres of water. They had issues with material supply and the pandemic but they managed to keep on track," Chris Crafter said.

“We facilitated the funding while the landholders organised the materials, supplier contracts and co-funding.” Ms Crafter said.

Ms Crafter said the Mirage Garrawin Cluster was reasonably isolated and the three properties have since erected exclusion fencing around their boundaries and internally.

“There have been no wild dogs detected within the exclusion area for a while and macropod grazing pressure is back to manageable levels but feral pig control is an ongoing task,” Chris Crafter said.

The Lower Nebine Cluster comprises three properties on the Wallam Creeks floodplain east of Cunnamulla," Ms Crafter said.

“The fencing has made a huge difference to them to be able control predators, pests and total grazing pressure,” she said.

“All three clusters were challenged by the wet weather but they have a good system of flood gates which allow debris through then swing back down.”

“The fencing has made a huge difference to them to be able control predators, pests and total grazing pressure,” Chris Crafter said.

Ms Crafter said the fences have given landholders confidence to diversify into small stock, using goats to browse on the woody vegetation followed by rotationally grazed cattle and sheep.

She said lambing and kidding rates post-fencing had risen significantly and SQ Landscapes was facilitating shearing schools in the region at the Croxdale Learning Centre to help fill the skills gap.

“The clusters certainly boosted the local economies with materials, trucks, fuel, and labour. There has been extra employment on the fences and working with livestock – some assisted by the good seasons but also by landowners being much more optimistic about the future and they can see a way forward,” Chris Crafter said.

SQ Landscapes collaborated on the clusters with the local shire councils, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biosecurity Queensland.

“The exclusion fences are not a silver bullet and the landholders do need to continue their pest control and adjust their grazing practices. Some are using remote cameras or drones to monitor the fences while others use professional wild dog controllers,” Ms Crafter said.

“When it comes to those outside the clusters, some have benefited from being on a boundary but other people in the bottlenecks have transient pest animals putting pressure on them. They are turning to electric fencing and other strategies to deal with wild dogs and feral pigs," she said.

“The landholders in the clusters are happy they have done the fencing and are now reaping the benefits after a few good seasons. They have been able to get their lambing and kidding rates up, and get a bit of cash turnover to pay debts."

“The change in grazing pressure and diversification of animals have changed the dynamics in the landscape with some properties in much better condition. The increase in environmental condition does lead to increases in other wildlife such as quails, reptiles, small mammals, and water birds," Chris Crafter said.

“For SQ Landscapes, we saw landholders at the start of the projects at the lowest low, they were in a bad way. Once they started to work together and see results, we started to see them smile and get a bit of hope back, and now three years on, I can see a big change in people.” Ms Crafter said.

A member of the Eromanga East Cluster, Brendan Murphy described his sheep enterprise as being on its “last legs” due to wild dog predation before the erection of 380km of external and internal exclusion fencing.

“The flock was just getting eaten. We had no real hope at all. We went from 100 per cent lambing in the crossbred flock down to 70 then 60 and finally 40 per cent on a double joining. It was just hopeless,” Brendan Murphy said.

“The wild dogs were even taking the sheep while we were mustering. We had never slacked off on our dog control but there was just too many," Mr Murphy said.

“Once the first section of fence was up, the ewe flock in one year went to 100 per cent lambing," he said.

“For the first time in 20 years we shore 10,000 sheep this year and we haven’t bought any. It has made a massive difference to us, otherwise we would be out of sheep altogether and probably off the land.”

Mr Murphy said the floods had caused damage to 100km of exclusion fence resulting in incursions of wild dogs.

He has modified his wild dog control program by strategically baiting year-round in areas of activity rather than blanket baiting three times a year.

Cunnamulla grazier Ben McKenzie was almost completely destocked due to drought when he started on his section of the Lower Nebine Cluster.

After experiencing low wild dog activity for many years, his rangeland goat herd had been impacted by wild dogs being funnelled into his property from other recent exclusion fencing clusters despite a ground baiting program.

Mr McKenzie, who has now completed 130km of internal exclusion fencing with 40km remaining, said the fencing resulted in improved control over total grazing pressure and stocking rates.

He has now restocked the property with goats, cattle and sheep, and strategically baits for wild dogs, foxes and feral cats whilst participating in regional aerial baiting programs.

“Fencing is not the be-all end-all, it’s not the last tool or a final measure by any means but is definitely the best tool we have, and baiting, trapping and thermal scopes are complementary," Ben McKenzie said.

“SQ Landscapes made the whole process straight forward and simple.” Mr McKenzie said.

Restoring wetlands in the Southwest Queensland Rangelands

caleb.back@sqlandscapes.org.au (Caleb Back) — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:34:31 GMT

Wetlands and floodplains in Queensland’s arid southwest are experiencing remarkable restoration through a range of targeted interventions including slowing high velocity runoff flows, scald and erosion repair and mitigation, rehabilitating bore drains, managing property infrastructure and changing grazing practices and water management.

Southern Queensland Landscapes has been working with land managers and community to address the long-term decline of the once highly productive and biodiverse floodplains and wetlands of the Bulloo, Paroo and Warrego River systems. The works on these properties help reduce threats to other wetlands including the internationally important Currawinya Ramsar Wetlands in the lower Paroo.

There has been general acknowledgement that the Rangelands have become more susceptible to droughts and floods and the impacts of climate change. Some areas are so degraded that up to 90% of rainfall can be lost through runoff leading to severe erosion, flooding and contributes to the early onset of drought through reduced soil moisture. When your average annual rainfall is only around 300mm, every drop counts.

Land managers and communities have been key to restoration success bringing property knowledge and their passion to see the country flourish again through restoring ecological function, biodiversity and regenerative productivity. The results are already contributing to flood and drought resilience and social and economic benefits to the wider community.

The scale of restoration that is now economically viable due to a combination of new technology, a strong spirit of innovation and ingenuity, and knowledge sharing continues to inspire. The future for these wetlands is full of promise.

There is growing excitement among restoration partners as they share their experiences and develop new cost-effective ways to address rangelands decline. Combining land manager and community knowledge with innovative technologies such as satellite remote sensing, more efficient laser levelling techniques for laying out works and identifying key areas of the landscape that can be restored for the most economical return.

On-ground, the process includes changes to land use and management as well as the strategic placement of “slow the flow” works where the country can no longer heal itself. Constructed of timber, soil, stone or other materials that slow, spread and filter runoff in high velocity flows, rehabilitate bore drains, repair erosion, reduce soil loss and rehydrate areas as the water travels down the system.

These projects are supported through the funding from the Queensland and Australian Governments. For further information, contact Chris Crafter at chris.crafter@sqlandscapes.org.au or visit https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au

Free service supports mental health in the bush

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 01:09:45 GMT

Mental health issues are on the rise, but you don’t have to suffer in silence.

That’s the message from New Access, which is a free and confidential mental health coaching program developed by BeyondBlue and delivered by Richmond Fellowship Queensland (RFQ).

RFQ Senior Manager Lisa Inger said the program is for anyone feeling stressed or overwhelmed or impacted by everyday life issues such as work, study, relationships, health or loneliness.

“At your first appointment with your coach we will complete an initial consultation with you and develop a plan tailored to your individual needs,” Lisa Inger said.

“It’s a confidential, client-centred approach that we hope empowers clients to use practical strategies and tools to get through whatever mental health challenges they may be facing,” Ms Inger said.

“Our coaches sit down with the client through guided discovery to gather a shared understanding of what the client is going through, how it impacts them, and what they want to see in the future,” she said.

“Offering these services can be a crucial first-step for people who may feel anxious about addressing challenges in their lives, and these services are free and accessible to the whole community.”

Mental health issues are a common challenge in many communities that can impact all aspects of people’s lives, making it a challenge to address.

“There’s really a lot of different types of stressors in all sorts of areas like one’s work or relationships, or due to being over-extended personally or professionally,” Lisa Inger said.

“Changes in employment or unemployment can be a stressor, or perhaps recent injuries, illnesses or family circumstances that can lead to understandable distress,” Ms Inger said.

“Other aspects of life such as housing or study can also impact people’s mental health, so we’d really like to remind everyone that anyone can suffer from many different challenges and it can be more common than you might think,” she said.

“What’s important is recognising that everyone undergoes stress, but they don’t have to do it alone.”

While many organisations like RFQ are attempting to raise awareness and reduce stigma on mental health, Ms Inger said there’s many barriers which hinder their ability to reach those needing help; particularly in regional communities.

“Rural communities go through significant stress, but despite that there’s several major challenges involved with helping them, even as simple as reaching these communities,” Lisa Inger said.

“You can have a rural community that is not well supported and hard to reach, and it can be challenging to get word to them of the support that is available particularly if using media or communication channels that are inaccessible or unreliable for them,” Ms Inger said.

“It’s also a conundrum because some types of media that are easiest for many other communities might not be meaningful for rural communities, so we have to be very strategic about how we can get the message out there,” she said.

“There’s also the challenge of helping communities recognise that it’s okay to seek help; that you don’t have to do everything on your own; unfortunately there is a stigma in many communities, not just rural, that can be a barrier for people to reach out when they recognise they need help.”

“What’s important is recognising that everyone undergoes stress, but they don’t have to do it alone.” Lisa Inger said.

Ms Inger believes that the broader community has a role to play in recognising mental health around them and that early intervention is an important step to take.

“Being able to help those around us is quite profound, and it really is all about recognising the signs as you see them,” Lisa Inger said.

“Having a supportive community that reaches out to one-another can be a powerful way to break down that stigma, so recognising even seemingly benign issues like trouble sleeping or people disengaging from their life or work, spending lots of time worrying…these can all potentially be related to a larger issue that we can guide people through,” Ms Inger said.

“Avoiding things they used to enjoy, a lack of concentration…perhaps eating patterns or routine changes…these are all common traits you might see and what’s important is to encourage those around us who might be experiencing these warning signs to reach out early,” she said.

“The great benefit of our program is that we have a no-wrong-door approach; in the first sitting they will get an understanding of what’s going on and if they don’t feel right about something, we can link them to a more appropriate support service…we won’t leave anyone out to dry.”

With added stress on rural and regional communities from extreme weather events, people in these communities can be more exposed to developing mental health concerns.

“While all communities will face mental health challenges, regional communities face particularly unique stressors that really impact them,” Lisa Inger said.

“Environmental factors are a considerable contribution with the likes of disasters such as floods, drought…extreme weather events; these all impact small communities the most,” Ms Inger said.

“Small business owners are also impacted quite strongly, due to the stress involved with running a business, which is why NewAccess have particular programs for them,” she said.

“Services like this can help with a variety of issues; from the flow-on effects of COVID right down to the financial stresses many business owners are currently going through.”

Services offered by RFQ are available to all through their website or via the Beyond Blue website.

Ms Inger hopes that by offering free and accessible services, more Australians will take the first step in reaching out to seek help.

“Ultimately what’s most important is to reach out; no problem is too small to ignore,” Lisa Inger said.

“This is a completely free program and no GP referral is required,” Ms Inger said.

To check out your eligibility visit: https://www.rfq.com.au/service/newaccess/

Or email new.access@rfq.com.au

Koalas count on volunteers to inform targeted rescue

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 01:00:15 GMT

Knowing where and how many wild koalas are on the Darling Downs will enable authorities to best target rescue efforts.

That’s the opinion of conservation activist and Save Mount Lofty Inc. secretary Chris Meibusch who led the Toowoomba Region Koala Count throughout November.

Earlier this year (February 2022), koalas were listed as ‘Endangered’ in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Mr Meibusch said it's hoped increased community engagement and interest in koalas through the count, which is now in its second year, will spur on conservation efforts by all tiers of government.

“This is a community-based activity and what it has shown isn’t necessarily the numbers, but rather the geographic spread of koalas,” said Chris Meibusch.

“Being more spread-out is reassuring to see as they aren’t concentrated in one single threatened region; which would make them vulnerable to development,” Mr Meibusch said.

“Spotting koalas helps us understand where to protect habitats and find links or patterns in their behaviours; but there are challenges in spotting them due to the weather and how that impacts koala habitats,” he said.

“High rainfalls means more water and nutrients for the eucalyptus trees which means greater foliage density and that makes it difficult to spot them; and of course more rain means mosquitos are everywhere so that is an added challenge for volunteers.”

But Mr Meibusch isn’t deterred by mosquitoes and difficulties spotting koalas and said this year they’ve changed their strategic approach to engage more community participation through targeting schools.

“Changing our perspective from getting councils and governments involved to schools has really enabled a different look,” Chris Meibusch said.

“We are engaging all schools in the region from primary and secondary, both private and public,” Mr Meibusch said.

“Getting school kids involved is really great because they hopefully get to see a koala in the wild, have that terrific experience and then bring it home and get the parents to start thinking about conservation too,” he said.

“With these visits, the students are thinking about the impacts of climate and human destruction of koala habitat through excessive clearing and urban development which are major impacts on koala populations.”

Meanwhile Southern Queensland Landscapes Conservation Detector Dog handler Tom Garrett said difficulties spotting koalas has led to new and innovative ways of locating them in the wild.

“Our dogs are trained to detect a variety of animals including invasive pests like foxes and wild dogs, but also native animals like koalas,” Tom Garrett said.

“Our Conservation Detector Dogs, Cooper and Rocky detect koala scat we find in the field and we use that to locate koalas by noting what trees it’s found under and hopefully spotting the koalas in the tree,” Mr Garrett said.

“We document what tree it is and take the scat for DNA analysis so we can learn more about the environment and health these koalas are in,” he said.

“Climate can impact our success here, as koala movement, disease prevalence, and even the toxicity of eucalyptus can be impacted by drier, hotter periods.”

“Our dogs are trained to detect a variety of animals including invasive pests like foxes and wild dogs, but also native animals like koalas,” Tom Garrett said.

Tom Garrett said the use of Conservation Detector Dogs like Cooper and Rocky is just one new innovative way koalas are being detected in the wild.

“Right now there are trials on thermal imaging to detect koalas as they have a very specific temperature which differs from animals like possums,” Tom Garrett said.

“This will really be more prevalent in the future as it helps improve our accuracy and avoids the troubles one might have spotting koalas in difficult areas,” Mr Garrett said.

“I can very much see the detector dogs being used to locate koalas initially, gain that crucial foundation information, and then use thermal imaging to get a closer view,” he said.

“All of these practices will help us identify more areas where koalas are living, understand where they’re linked and learn more about movements or barriers to movement which is crucial for future conservation efforts.”

Thermal imaging and detector dogs are not uncommon in conservation and have been proven as a viable option in other fields, such as in pig management.

Earlier this year, SQ Landscapes began trials with thermal imaging to identify pigs in thick scrub and are comparing its effectiveness with existing models of monitoring .

Conservation detector dogs have also been proven effective against poaching, endangered species management and illicit trade.

Tom’s partner in the conservation team, Hanington Agaba, previously worked as an Assistant Warden at the Katonga Wildlife Reserve in Uganda; which utilised detector dogs (also Springer Spaniels like Cooper and Rocky), to identify illegal ivory trade .

To learn more about how the Conservation Detector Dog team visit:

https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/conservation-detector-dog-program

To learn more or get involved in the Toowoomba Koala Count visit:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/toowoomba-region-koala-count-november-2022

Macintyre Brook on road to recovery following fencing project

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:48:21 GMT

Livestock traffic, reduced vegetation, unseasonably high rainfall and naturally steep riverbanks all contributed to significant erosion issues along Macintyre Brook near Inglewood for land managers Boyd and Jane Bignell.

So when the graziers heard of funding to protect the riverbank and improve water quality for native fish, through the Australian Government’s $7.5 million dollar Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project, they jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

Under the Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project Jane Bignell said they installed 750 metres of fencing and several off-stream watering points on “Mumbulu”, with the aim of restricting livestock access to the brook.

“The fencing around the water course really complimented the extensive amount of fencing work we have already completed on our property,” Jane Bignell said.

“We have 94 hectares on the Macintyre Brook, and about half of that would be irrigated, and the other half is dryland. We grow hay and fatten lambs that we bring in from our sheep enterprise, which is out west,” Mrs Bignell said.

“The fencing helps us with stock management so we can keep our stock out of the brook and reduce erosion and degradation of the banks because the sheep were actually watering on the brook. They made tracks, and then when it rained it led to erosion problems,” she said.

“I think this will also improve the quality of the water, because the stock are not muddying it up; so it is doing the environment some good in that way as well.”

The Bignells are not the only family in Southern Queensland to access funding through the Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project and affect change in the health and quality of the waterways traversing their farms.

Southern Queensland Landscapes has been supporting the delivery of the Northern Basin Riverbanks Project along with the Queensland Government.

Project Coordinator, Leanne Stevens said 66 land managers are collectively installing over 510 kilometres of fencing and off-stream watering points across five catchments within the Murray-Darling Basin region.

“This project is helping to stabilise those riparian areas, reduce erosion and encourage potential regrowth of native flora along those waterways, which further stabilises those banks, and it helps land managers to better manage their livestock by making sure that they are where they need to be,” Leanne Stevens said.

“They are not chasing them down the river, pulling them out of the neighbour's paddocks, or contributing to erosion issues along the waterways,” Ms Stevens said.

“It is important to protect the waterways and the native fish that inhabit the creeks and rivers because the Northern Basin is the top end of the Murray Darling Basin, and what we do at the top of that basin has flow-on effects for the entire basin,” she said.

“So, protecting those waterways from livestock reduces the amount of sediment going into the waterways. It helps to preserve the water quality, which has beneficial impacts on fish habitat, protecting over 50 species of native fish that inhabit those waterways and that has lots of flow-on effects through the whole of the Murray Darling.”

“They are not chasing them down the river, pulling them out of the neighbour's paddocks, or contributing to erosion issues along the waterways,” Ms Stevens said.

Although its early days for the Bignells and full benefits of fencing the waterways are yet to be realised, Jane Bignell expects the creek banks will start revegetating immediately and through this the banks will be bolstered against future erosion.

“We have had this fantastic season at the moment, so we have not actually assessed the whole thing, but I think after this we will have a fairly good idea,” Jane Bignell said.

“It is quite a steep bank, and before the fencing went in the sheep wandered down in the same place each time. They leave quite a mark, so I imagine that is starting to vegetate over,” Mrs Bignell said.

“The funding allowed us to complete a project which was ongoing over a considerable amount of time. Financially, we were able to receive $6,000 towards materials, and that allowed us to keep going,” she said.

“Taking part in the project was a very easy process once we got started and we had some help putting the application together and submitting it.”

For more information on the Northern Basin Fencing Project visit: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/northern-basin-riverbanks-program

The Australian Government funded Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project (QLD) is a $7.5 million dollar investment to support works to benefit farms and fish. Southern Queensland Landscapes with support from the Queensland Government is working with local community, Aboriginal organisations and riparian land managers to deliver the project before June 2023.

Annual General Meeting 2022 - It's a Wrap!

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 00:34:31 GMT

Staff, members and stakeholders of Southern Queensland Landscapes met in Warwick on 1 December for the business’ Annual General Meeting.

SQ Landscapes’ Company Secretary Pam Murphy said the first order of business was announcing results of the recent board election.

“Voting was held in October for two board directors; one in the east of the region and the other in the west,” Pam Murphy said.

“In the east Director Gina Mace did not seek re-election and we saw four nominations for the role from Anthony McWaters, Shelley Holland, Ken Murphy and Pippa Jones; with Pippa Jones successfully voted in,” Ms Murphy said.

“Meanwhile in the west Director Ann Noon was challenged by Louise Winten; with Louise Winten successfully elected to the position of Director,” she said.

“We look forward to working with both Pippa and Louise in their new roles as Directors and enthusiastically anticipate the many talents both will bring to the role.”

The role of Board Chair was unchallenged, returning The Hon. Bruce Scott AM to the position.

“The company also ran a special resolution seeking a decision on the proposal to remove the Chair’s casting vote; the result of the proposal was accepted and the casting vote clause will now be removed from the constitution,” Pam Murphy said.

“Those attending also enjoyed a very informative presentation from Project Delivery Officer Lachlan Marshall from the Vertebrate Pest & Wildlife Management team looking into new income streams for the commercial arm of the business,” Ms Murphy said.

“Media, Marketing & Communication Lead Kellie Stewart also presented a snapshot of the Conservation Detector Dog unit and discussed arising opportunities for the team including koala detection work, bat monitoring on wind farms and the potential for early detection of pests for transport companies,” she said.

“The 2021/22 Annual Report was also released and will be available on the company website for members and stakeholders to read.”

To get your copy of the Annual Report click the ANNUAL REPORT button below.

Brad’s Magnificent Mulberry Pie

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 00:24:17 GMT

With the holidays just around the corner, it's the perfect time to start baking. This mulberry pie recipe from Project Delivery Officer Bradley Oleksyn, is a terrific opportunity to spice up your recipe book!

The following recipe is a 60 year old recipe from an original QCWA cookbook and Project Delivery Officer Oleksyn is confident it will be perfect for all your baking needs.

“This recipe was from Margaret Smith who was one of the local tuckshop volunteers from back in the day,” Project Delivery Officer Bradley Oleksyn said.

“This recipe is great since you can make it gluten free if you want and it’s a really simple recipe so anyone can make it,” Mr Oleksyn said.

For the pastry:

1 cup gluten free plain flour

1 cup coconut flour or self-raising flour

½ teaspoon of salt

120g of Nuttelex olive (or butter)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 egg yolk

70 ml almond milk or full cream milk

For the filling:

3 teaspoons of gelatine

½ cup hot water

½ cup sugar

2 cups Mulberries

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup chilled evaporated milk

2 egg whites

Start by making your sweet short pastry.

Sift flours and salt into a bowl
Rub butter through the flour with the tips of your fingers
Add sugar and mix well
Mix into a dry dough with egg and milk beaten together
Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth

With your pastry ready you can now begin with the fun part…the pie!

Begin by dissolving gelatine in ½ cup hot water.
Remove stalks from mulberries and place in a saucepan with ½ cup of sugar and ¼ cup of water.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in dissolved gelatine and add lemon juice and salt.
Chill until the mix begins to set.
Beat egg whites and add sugar gradually folding whipped milk and egg whites into a thick Mulberry mixture.
Pour into your new pastry shell and chill until it’s set.
If you’re so inclined, decorate with cream or other toppings as desired.
Enjoy!

Whether enjoying this pie over the holidays or serving at Christmas dinner, let us know how you enjoyed the recipe by tagging us a photo of your pie on our Facebook or Instagram !

Growing food grows communities

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 23:55:35 GMT

Urban agriculture may be the key to unlocking the potential of locally grown produce in regional Australia following a rebirth in interest for home grown.

Urban agriculture is a multibillion-dollar market in Australia, with global interest that is said to boost social, environmental, economic and urban life.

It is centred around growing food in urban spaces such as public parks, green spaces, community gardens and in housing of all shapes and sizes and the movement is aimed at connecting communities to thrive together.

Jelenko Dragisic is the founder of Gleanr; a collaborative space where people can access free resources, interactive tools and connect with other urban food growers to become part of the urban agricultural movement.

“Urban agriculture is all about bringing people together and developing community through food security, urban planning, land management and more,” Jelenko Dragisic said.

“Urban agriculture benefits soil and the environment, promotes community enterprises and connections; it diversifies the industry,” Mr Dragisic said.

“It has already been a tremendous success all across the world, including in countries like Argentina and France where it’s adopted on a massive scale,” he said.

“Some of these large-scale urban agriculture centres in Paris feed its local communities and supply local restaurants.”

“Urban agriculture benefits soil and the environment, promotes community enterprises and connections; it diversifies the industry,” Mr Dragisic said.

Urban agriculture in these cities have been widely reported including by The Guardian, Lonely Planet and the World Resources Institute.

Urban agriculture spaces in Paris have been some of the biggest successes in major city environments including sites reported as large as 14,000 sq meters (similar in size to two football fields) and can produce thousands of kilograms worth of fruits and vegetables a day.

Mr Dragisic said the same success can be replicated across Australia and that the movement will continue to pick up speed as more governments and communities adopt the practice.

“In Rosario, Argentina, the city adopted forms of urban agriculture as a solution to food security following regular flooding and insecurity and now you have widespread green spaces and a stronger food supply to the city,” Jelenko Dragisic said.

“There’s flexibility in this model as you can apply this just as easily in a city as you could in a regional centre; so if cities like Rosario can do it, Toowoomba can too;” Mr Dragisic said.

“Toowoomba could develop something unique; most regional cities are coastal, but Toowoomba is inland so it can demonstrate how inland cities can grow and cater to population growth,” he said.

“For me it’s impossible to imagine a city in ten years time to consider itself a city without a genuine urban agriculture feature.”

SQ Landscapes CEO Paul McDonald and New Business Lead Tim Vale joined a roundtable at Parliament House in Brisbane and saw first-hand the community potential in this initiative.

The roundtable brought together various groups and organisations to discuss how urban agriculture could benefit the community and how different approaches could be taken to implement a project in Toowoomba.

“Community initiatives are a central part of everything we do at Southern Queensland Landscapes,” Paul McDonald said.

“Seeing how invested the community is in finding new ways to expand food security, develop our regions, and connect is inspiring,” Mr McDonald said.

“Urban agriculture is one of many new initiatives happening all across Australia and can be key to revitalising our regional centres,” he said.

“Community-based initiatives link back to some of our own commitments to develop regional communities to do great things.”

“Community initiatives are a central part of everything we do at Southern Queensland Landscapes,” Paul McDonald said.

New Business Lead Tim Vale said the program is an excellent opportunity to invite the community into the movement.

“Anyone across our region can participate in urban agriculture…there are no prerequisites or barriers but rather a concept of utilising available space coexistence within a residential or industrial area,” Tim Vale said.

“The discussion we joined was thought-provoking and raised several opportunities for individuals and communities to become involved in urban agriculture,” Mr Vale said.

“Urban agriculture provides a fantastic opportunity for community engagement at all scales,” he said.

“I think what makes urban agriculture special is it allows someone to literally see the fruits of their labour and then allows them to share with family or friends.”

The community is an integral aspect in the implementation of urban agriculture, where gardens are integrated into local life.

Gleanr’s Jelenko Dragisic said there is a strong future for the movement, highlighting how important figures in government and media are beginning to promote urban agriculture through raising awareness and supporting gardening with everyday Australians.

Mr Dragisic points out that while high-profile support is a motivating factor, he stresses the importance of a community-based approach.

“We’ve worked with lots of people and communities to promote urban agriculture, including figures like Costa Georgiadis from the ABC, while he was co-sponsoring national composting week,” Jelenko Dragisic said.

“But what’s most important is that lots of people from all over Australia want to get involved in food production and we want to encourage them to get started; to start small and slowly develop on what works,” Mr Dragisic said.

“That’s what will develop communities because food growing ultimately doesn’t require a lot of attention; just taking the time to learn slowly, talk to others in your area and find your groove and get enjoyment out of it,” he said.

“Initiatives like this don’t just get people involved in gardening, but build communities and help people think about diet and food more closely and that’s what is so special about urban agriculture; it has the capacity to really redefine how communities act and think at a collective and individual level.”

For more information on Gleanr visit https://www.gleanr.com.au/

If you are keen to start (or have already started) an urban agriculture movement in Southern Queensland, ‘Get In Touch’ with SQ Landscapes to find out how we might be able to help you https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/

Condamine headwaters great place for platypus

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 23:41:06 GMT

Platypus populations in the Cambanoora Gorge area of the Upper Condamine River near Killarney in Queensland are “healthy and stable”.

That’s the findings of the most recent survey conducted by local residents and supported by Wildlife Queensland PlatypusWatch Network Project Officer Tamielle Brunt who is also researching platypuses as part of her PhD project.

Ms Brunt said this is the third survey to be conducted along this stretch of river since 2021.

“At the beginning of October, eight sites were surveyed along the same 10 kilometre section of river as the past two surveys; and eight platypus were sited at seven of the eight locations surveyed,” Tamielle Brunt said.

“It’s hard to see any new trends from this latest survey; but what we can see is that platypus populations along this stretch of river are healthy and consistent,” Ms Brunt said.

“Also ongoing favourable seasons have meant the quality of habitat and food resources are high so the ability of this stretch of river to sustain strong numbers of platypus and overlapping home ranges is also high,” she said.

Since the last survey in April continued rain has meant the system has been kept topped up with good flow.

“There was some noticeable turbidity clouding the water which may be coming from upstream erosion of the banks; but why and where it is coming from will need to be further investigated and actioned to reduce impacts,” Tamielle Brunt said.

“With the warmer weather of Spring now here, the mayfly larvae were plentiful and ready to emerge into winged adults along with other waterbug species which is all platypus food,” Ms Brunt said.

“Breeding season is coming to an end and the females will be raising their young in the burrows over the next few months,” she said.

“After preparing a nesting burrow, that can be up to 30 metres long, the female will line the den with wet debris that she has carried into the burrow under her tail.”

Platypus females will consume up to 30% of their body weight leading up to egg laying to support location for their young.

“The gestation period from fertilisation to egg-laying is about three weeks and a female platypus can lay up to three eggs,” Tamielle Brunt said.

“The eggs are thought to be laid directly onto the abdomen, where the female platypus curls around them to incubate and after 10 days the young emerge at about 1.5 centremetres long,” Ms Brunt said.

“Female platypuses don’t have nipples like other mammals, so milk oozes out of mammary gland ducts and collects on her abdomen where the nursing babies lap it up or suck it from tufts of fur,” she said.

“The platypups grow quickly on this rick milk and will emerge from the burrow after four months around February or March next year; they may still share a burrow with their mother or siblings after emerging but it is still unknown how long such interactions last.”

“Juvenile platypus won’t breed straight away in their first year, but are capable of breeding in their second year and will usually by that time disperse to find their own home ranges; especially the young males who would be looking to avoid dominant males. So hopefully we will see new young in our survey early next year.”

The next survey of the Cambanoora Gorge area is scheduled for March/April of 2023 and organisers are hopeful of getting all 19 sites surveyed to understand current platypus numbers along a 20+ kilometre stretch of the river.

First People have many different regional names for the platypus, including boondaburra, mallingong and tambreet. And according to one Aboriginal legend, the platypus originated when a young female duck mated with a lonely and persuasive water-rat. The duck’s babies had their mother’s bill and webbed feet and their father’s four legs and handsome brown fur.

Read the story of the platypus on the Kulilla Art website by Uncle Michael Connolly https://www.kullillaart.com.au/dreamtime-stories/gaya-dari-the-platypus/

High-tech software taking the guesswork out of irrigation

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 23:34:34 GMT

Irrigating crops may soon become easier with new technology being developed by the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) in Toowoomba.

UniSQ’s Centre for Agricultural Engineering (CAE) recently completed trials of variable-rate irrigation (called VARIwise) using weather and soil information, off-the-shelf soil sensors, custom sensors and software to relay accurate information about crop water requirements to improve water infiltration and efficiency.

CAE Senior Research Fellow and Irrigation and Mechatronic Engineer, Dr Alison McCarthy said the technology translates into improved yield and water use efficiency for farmers.

“Centre pivot and lateral move irrigation equipment accounts for 5 to 10 percent of the systems in Australia’s dairy industry and these irrigation systems traditionally apply irrigation uniformly over the field; however there is often spatial variabilities in irrigation requirements because of differences across the field in soil properties, elevation, sowing density, planting dates and even plant varieties,” Dr Alison McCarthy said.

“So what we are doing is applying commercially available hardware that can be retrofitted to sprinklers on the machine to enable site specific application of the irrigation,” Dr McCarthy said.

“The variable rate hardware includes a solenoid that is installed on each outlet and enables individual control of flow rate,” she said.

“In addition to this we have developed software that automatically generates a prescription map which is loaded into the irrigator panel and controls the sprinklers; so when the irrigator pivots to an area of the field that requires less or more water it can account for this,”

“So what we are doing is applying commercially available hardware that can be retrofitted to sprinklers on the machine to enable site specific application of the irrigation,” Dr McCarthy said.

Commercially available irrigation systems typically use prescription maps generated by the user, or from historical soil or yield maps and don’t consider crop growth stage so Dr McCarthy’s trials are layering information points to create more accurate maps that are also less labour-intensive.

“The types of inputs we have accounted for on the maps include weather, soil characteristics, crop features and irrigation applications and for the past four seasons we’ve been trialling these in pasture and cotton to evaluate and refine our software,” Dr Alison McCarthy said.

“We’ve identified a number of benefits to irrigators through these trials including improved water productivity through reduced over and under watering which led to up to 9% yield improvements,” Dr McCarthy said.

“What this technology does is give growers peace of mind that they’re doing everything right and give them that edge to maximise their water resources and translate that into yield increases while also dramatically decreasing the work involved,” She said.

“And all this information is fed to the custom-made software by the sensors into a low-cost program that can be installed like an app on your mobile phone or computers.”

UniSQ’s CAE is interested to hear from growers, potential users and future commercialisation collaborators on VARIwise technology.

Dr McCarthy is confident Australian growers will adopt the technology particularly through field trials which were conducted in cotton and pasture crops in Tasmania and on the Darling Downs.

“We’ve regularly consulted with growers, agronomists, and land managers to improve our technology, particularly through showcasing our findings at field days, and what these trials have shown is not only is the technology effective, but can also be transferred to different crops, regions and potentially new systems as well,” Dr Alison McCarthy said.

“Our trials were also run on commercial farms in collaboration with growers and the Tasmanian Institute for Agriculture from the University of Tasmania,” Dr McCarthy said.

“When these growers see the technology, they are really eager to get involved; they see the results, they see the potential, and we hope that down the line they adopt it commercially,” she said.

“This is intended to be a grower-led program; we supply the technology and teach them how to use it so they have the confidence to then manage it at their own pace,”

Theory behind the VARIwise project is currently also being applied to over a dozen similar trials from field scouting for pests, dry mass calculations for chemical applications and even chicken welfare.

“This technology can be used for lots of different areas such as everyday field operations conducted by agronomists to scout for cotton pests, or to detect site-specific nitrogen requirements for fertiliser application,” Dr Alison McCarthy said.

“There’s a lot of potential with this technology, particularly since we’re developing it all on our own…so we can apply it to weather information or a particular condition or issue,” Dr Alison McCarthy said.

“The technology can emulate a human’s sight, and when applied to agriculture could reduce the time required to assess a crop and increase precision in areas like water, fertiliser, insecticide and herbicide usage.”

Dr McCarthy is confident that the technology will make a positive impact on the agricultural industry by reducing labour costs and increasing productivity and efficiency.

“Sensors and technology have a key role to ensure sustainable, profitable agricultural production into the future,” Dr Alison McCarthy said.

“It’s exciting for the University of Southern Queensland to be part of providing these technologies and being able to see the impact on farming business across the globe.” Dr McCarthy said.

Learn more about the VARIwise sensor technology here:

https://smarterirrigation.com.au/

Brigalow Belt poised to bounce back thanks to plan

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 23:07:12 GMT

One of Australia’s most significantly diverse ecosystems is set to make a comeback after the Threatened Species Commissioner visited the Brigalow Belt west of Toowoomba.

Dr Fiona Fraser was touring Brigalow country to work with existing partners on the implementation of the Threatened Species Action Plan.

The once dominant brigalow forest now only covers five percent of its original land area extending from Townsville to central NSW; eight species traditionally found in the belt are now extinct and a total of 147 species and 100 ecological communities are listed as threatened.

Natural Resource Management group Southern Queensland Landscapes facilitated the tour following the release of the plan in October by Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek.

SQ Landscapes Knowledge & Information Officer Holly Hosie said the Commissioner was interested in understanding what work was currently underway to maintain and enhance the threatened system and the species it supports, and provide advice and support for future project design.

“The Commissioner learnt how eight Traprockers are doing it first, in a farmer-lead management and land use intervention; which could then be replicated on farms across the Traprock area on the Darling Downs in Southern Queensland.”

“First stop on the tour was with formal land managers the Traprock Group who are working in partnership with the Queensland Government, SQ Landscapes, Granite Belt Sustainable Action Network (GBSAN) and Regen Farmers Mutual to investigate opportunities to reinstate natural landscape linkages throughout their region,” Holly Hosie said.

“By individual farmers linking their individual habitats with nearby state forests and national parks they can extend native habitat and breeding opportunities and resilience of threatened and endangered species,” Ms Hosie said.

“This is especially important to the Box Gum Grassy Woodlands Threatened Ecological Community which traditionally supported the Regent honeyeater and other threatened species,” she said.

“Furthermore, this concept could then be replicated on scale over time and space to improve outcomes for the whole Brigalow Belt.”

“This is an excellent example of production and environmental communities coming together on common problems and promoting biodiversity; and success is really attributed to the stewardship mindset that these communities have.”

SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Lead Natasha Mylonas said the tour also took in 3,600 hectare grazing property, ‘Warrowa,’ near Southwood via Dalby.

“Land managers Warren and Lynette Urquhart discussed impacts on their property with the Commissioner and detailed how they are working with SQ Landscapes to reverse some of this,” Natasha Mylonas.

“The Regional Land Partnerships - Brigalow project has supported broadscale pest control work on Warrowa, the neighbouring Southwood National Park and other surrounding properties,” Ms Mylonas said.

“This area supports Brigalow Threatened Ecological Communities and closely associated remnant systems; with the project primarily targeting feral pigs as they are highly destructive to this environment,” she said.

“There has also been extensive collaboration to include First Nations People and implement management practices such as cool burning within the reserve,” Ms Humes said.

Meanwhile SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Officer Breanna Humes said the Commissioner was also taken to the Abattoir Reserve which is five minutes north of Dalby, and features a good example of Poplar box grassy woodland Threatened Ecological Communities.

“We met with the Bunya Peoples Aboriginal Corporation (BPAC) and Western Downs Regional Council to hear about the successes they are having and challenges in maintaining and protecting the conservation values of the Stock Route Network within the Poplar box grassy woodland TEC,” Breanna Humes said.

“There has also been extensive collaboration to include First Nations People and implement management practices such as cool burning within the reserve,” Ms Humes said.

“BPAC are managing other reserves and are willing to share their extensive knowledge of looking after Brigalow Country which was very important to share with the Commissioner for future project planning,” she said.

SQ Landscapes’ Regional Land Partnerships Brigalow project has been working with communities since 2019 to understand the value of Brigalow scrub and implement on-farm actions that protect remaining patches.

“SQ Landscapes contains a large footprint of the Brigalow priority place identified in the action plan,” Holly Hosie said.

“And we will continue working with communities and building on existing Brigalow projects to identify how we can collectively deliver on that action plan presented by Minister Plibersek,” Ms Hosie said.

“The benefit to this important habitat and the threatened and endangered species it supports is critical; but the flow on effect to the broader health of Country and the communities represented in the region will be invaluable,” she said.

To learn more about the Regional Land Partnerships - Brigalow project visit

https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/environment-project---regional-land-partnerships

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

SQ Landscapes' Annual General Meeting

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 22:44:28 GMT

Annual General Meeting

When: Thursday, 1 December 2022

Where: Warwick RSL - 65 Albion Street, Warwick Qld 4350

Time : 9.00am for 9.30am start

Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Annual General Meeting will be held at Warwick RSL Services & Citizens Memorial Club on Thursday 1 December 2022.

SQ Landscapes’ Company Secretary, Pam Murphy said members and visitors are invited to arrive at 9.00 am for a 9.30am start.

“The AGM will conclude by 11.00am with morning tea and refreshments provided,” Pam Murphy said.

“It’s a great opportunity for the organisation to report on its activities and finances from the previous financial year and allow members time to ask questions,” Mrs Murphy said.

“Members will also have the opportunity to attend the AGM virtually through our offices in Roma, Toowoomba and Charleville; or if members want to Zoom in we will provide a link to virtually join the meeting from the comforts of home,” she said.

“We will also be announcing results of director elections following the retirement of two
Directors as per the cycle outlined in the organisation’s constitution,” she said.

“Voting for director positions will go live through Election Runner on Monday 31 October 2022 commencing at 8.00am.”

“There are no requirements under the constitution to conduct an election for the role of Chair as there was only one nomination received.”

“Members will also be required to vote on a special resolution being put to Members.”

Board Director & Special Resolution Voting

When : Commencing 8.00am Monday, 31 October 2022 and concluding 5.00 pm Wednesday, 16 November 2022.

Where : Election Runner (online) as per your email or postal notification

Any questions regarding the AGM or voting can be directed to Company Secretary, Pam Murphy via 07 4620 0111 or companysecretary@sqlandscapes.org.au RSVP’s for the AGM are essential for catering purposes and must be received by 25 November 2022 to companysecretary@sqlandscapes.org.au

Decorated Ugandan Wildlife Warrior takes Queensland Post to Help Save Native Australian Animals

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 01:44:49 GMT

Queensland based natural resource management group Southern Queensland Landscapes has bolstered its capabilities to save native animals and reduce feral populations with the arrival of former Ugandan Katonga Wildlife Reserve Assistant Warden, Hanington Agaba.

Mr Agaba arrives in Toowoomba to take up post on SQ Landscapes’ Vertebrate Pest and Wildlife Management unit, specifically working with the businesses Conservation Detector Dog team which includes Tom Garrett, Rocky and Cooper.

Mr Agaba was part of the pioneering force behind the introduction of conservation detector dogs in Uganda and has played a pivotal role in the fight against international poachers.

“The illegal trafficking of wildlife in Uganda is a very serious issue and if you are caught poaching you can face life imprisonment or fines of up to $8 million Australian dollars,” Hanington Agaba said.

“I was part of the detection team at Uganda’s International Airport, Entebbe, which is a major route for trafficking of wildlife products to the world and we were constantly checking passenger luggage and cargo for ivory, rhino horns, leopard skins, lion’s teeth, ostrich eggs, antelope skin and heads; and pangolin which is the most trafficked mammal in the world owing to its highly coveted scales used in traditional Chinese medicine,” Mr Agaba said.

“Every day was a hairy day with smugglers who were very innovative in their means to hide trafficked goods; ivory smugglers would often process the ivory or crush it up on-ground in Uganda and make it into bangles which they would try to smuggle out of the country by wearing it in plain sight; or hide unprocessed tusks in hollowed out tree trunks or containers full of crude oil but our dogs sense of smell was so good that they could find it,” he said.

“The fight for illegal trafficking of wildlife is an international fight and it's everyone’s responsibility to do what they can.”

Hanington Agaba pictured at Entebbe Airport with ‘Mia’ his Springer Spaniel Conservation Detector Dog.

In Kibale and Semliki National Park Mr Agaba also worked with traditional owners to resolve issues surrounding human-wildlife conflict.

“The Problem Animal Control Unit which I headed up would work with local farmers or herdsman who were having problems with native animals attacking their goats or sheep and we would go in as a team and help resolve that issue by relocating the native animal or coming up with a solution whereby they could live together safely,” Mr Agaba said.

“But we would also work closely with these communities in and around Uganda’s National Parks to minimise poaching and educate children about the importance of the parks and protecting wildlife,” he said.

“Part of the job, no matter which country you are in, is that you have to work with the community and get them to love conservation and protecting animals, which they are often quite eager to do.”

"Then Community Conservation Ranger Hanington Agaba working with local communities to locate and relocate a 16 metre python that was preying on local farmers' livestock.

The coming weeks will see Mr Agaba head out into the field with SQ Landscapes’ Conservation Detector Dog team to learn the ropes and apply his extensive skill set and knowledge to the Australian landscapes.

To find out more about the type of work SQ Landscapes Conservation Detector Dog team do visit https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/conservation-detector-dog-program

“I am really excited to go out into the field to see more of this country and connect with the community here,” Hanington Agaba said.

“I am excited to learn more about Australia, and also to bring some ideas from my culture, from where I come from, and to bring it here to share what we know,” Mr Agaba said.

“The team here is very welcoming and it’s starting to feel like home for me; I can’t wait to get started,” he said.

Mr Agaba’s wife is an Australian PhD student who he met while in Uganda collecting data and samples from wild primates.

“After our marriage in Uganda we initially moved to Canberra and I got involved in some volunteer work during this time with ACT Parkcare; but when I saw the advertisement for this position at SQ Landscapes it was like the stars aligned,” Hanington Agaba said.

“I wanted a job that was like what I did in Uganda, to continue what I did there, and it was challenging to find that sort of work because the conservation we do in Uganda is very different to what we see in Australia,” Mr Agaba said.

“But that also means there’s an opportunity to share my experiences, my expertise, with the team here and we can work together for new strategies,” he said

“I’m loving Toowoomba, with all of its history, and all it has to offer, such as the Carnival of Flowers. I can’t wait to get out into the field and explore more, to see all the towns, national parks, and habitats.”

Mr Agaba was decorated by the Ugandan Government in 2019 with the National Heroes Medal after saving a number of women and children from the Bundibugyo floods in Semuliki National Park where he was working as a Community Conservation Ranger.

To read more about the Bundibugyo floods and Hanington Agaba’s involvement visit https://nilepost.co.ug/2019/12/10/bundibugyo-floods-hero-hannington-agaba-refuses-to-let-viral-fame-go-to-his-head/

Fencing the Paroo delivers fast and long-term benefits at ‘Boothulla’

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 01:24:55 GMT

Farmers and fish are just the start of the beneficiaries of the Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project, involving more than 500 kilometres of riparian fencing and alternate watering points across southern Queensland catchments.

The Treloars of ‘Boothulla’ are a good example. Situated north west of Cooladdi in south west Queensland, the family run a cattle trading operation and are creating multiple benefits having fenced off about seven kilometres of river frontage as well as installing multiple alternate watering points.

“The western side of our property is mostly mulga woodlands country, and by fencing and adding new alternate water points, we have been able to effectively graze that country for the first time while also protecting the river. In time, we look forward to seeing a lift in water quality and the re-emergence of both plants and animals along the riparian zone and within the river itself,” Will Treloar said.

The grant through SQ Landscapes funded six kilometres of fencing and five kilometres of off-stream water infrastructure at ‘Boothulla’.

The fence is a simple but effective barrier to cattle but not wildlife; four strands of barbed wire with steel posts every 10 metres. The project also assisted with the installation of about six kilometres of poly pipe, fed by an artesian bore to tanks and troughs to prevent cattle accessing the river. The project has added significant flexibility and control to the grazing management of the western part of the property.

Will and Sasha have continued a family tradition, following in the footsteps of Will’s parents Michael and Judy Treloar, who also looked to collaborate with agencies like Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes) to improve their country.

“We know Southern Queensland Landscapes well, having worked in collaboration before and despite looking after a massive area of the country, they look after and remember us which is great.”

The grant through SQ Landscapes funded six kilometres of fencing and five kilometres of off-stream water infrastructure at ‘Boothulla’.

"However, it's really rewarding on a lot of levels and it's amazing to see how nature really bounces back when you give it a chance," Leanne Stevens said.

“We were going to do all the fencing and water work ourselves but with heavy rains and the deadline looming we employed a contract fencer who helped get it done in time. Having that financial support from Southern Queensland Landscapes really helped make it happen,” Will added.

SQ Landscapes Coordinator of Business Operations Leanne Stevens is an ecologist and takes a systems approach to managing such large-scale projects. In the case of the Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks project, it involves collaborating with 66 landholders and about 500kms of fencing, both federal and state governments, Aboriginal organisations as well as SQ Landscapes all working towards a common goal. It is not an easy task.

“However, it’s really rewarding on a lot of levels and it’s amazing to see how nature really bounces back when you give it a chance,” Leanne Stevens said.

"We were going to do all the fencing and water work ourselves but with heavy rains and the deadline looming we employed a contract fencer who helped get it done in time," said Will Treloar.

While it is too early to see it yet, the project will see the re-emergence of native species, the restoration in the stability of riverbanks, and an improvement in water quality for everyone and everything that relies on the river; not just land managers and stock but over 50 species of native fish found in the catchments.

Will said next summer they should be able to start getting a gauge on the extent of the benefits from the work along the river and both he and Leanne agree how beautiful the country is and how healthy it looks right now after such good rains.

“I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I see something new every single time I’m out there. Right now, there are a lot of bees and we know how important they are to an environment. It’s such a great place to be and so important to look after it,” Will added.

"I wouldn't live anywhere else. I see something new every single time I'm out there," said Will Treloar.

Will and Sasha Treloar applied for the fencing grant with SQ Landscapes via a flyer and said it was a very simple process and well worth doing.

“We put our submission in, we took the time to get our information right and the use of Google maps really helped, it wasn’t difficult and not too bureaucratic. I would advise anyone wanting to improve their country to look for opportunities like this when they arise because the funding does help and if it isn’t used, it is spent elsewhere so go for it!” Will added.

The Australian Government-funded Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project (Qld) is a $7.5 million investment to support works to benefit farmers and fish. Southern Queensland Landscapes with support from the Queensland Government has been working with local communities, Aboriginal organisations and land managers to deliver the project before June 2023.

Project strengthens key landscapes throughout Southern Queensland

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 00:51:41 GMT

Some of Queensland’s most productive, fragile and environmentally significant landscapes have been bolstered under a State Government program to improve the functionality and resilience of natural resources, regional communities and the economy.

The Natural Resources Investment Program (NRIP) has seen more than $3.3 million invested in Southern Queensland since 2018; with protecting and enhancing key soil, water and vegetation assets top priorities.

Natural resource management group Southern Queensland Landscapes rolled out the project on behalf of the State Government.

Coordinator Business Delivery Andrew McCartney said soil health, water quality and native vegetation conditions throughout the region have been impacted by poor grazing practices, soil erosion, inappropriate fire regimes, invasive species and unmanaged threats to vegetation.

“The project has supported land managers to address these issues and improve the functionality and resilience of natural assets and the local communities and economies that depend on them; and what’s been achieved in collaboration with land managers right throughout Southern Queensland is something this community can be very proud of,” Andrew McCartney said.

A floodplain on 'Wandilla' Station after rehydration work on the property.

“During the four year program 48 workshops were held with more than 1,200 land managers attending; a further 141 on-farm projects were implemented across 120 properties and this resulted in more than 233,181 hectares of land being improved, 53,062 hectares mitigated of weeds and invasive species; plus another 9,340 hectares tackled erosion issues,” Mr McCartney said.

“Project monitoring also saw more than 348 Land Condition Assessment Tool (LCAT) and Biodiversity Condition Assessment Tool (BioCat) surveys finalised which really allowed us as project managers to see the improvements that were being made to the landscape through on-ground works, as well as record the current condition of these landscapes for future reference,” he said.

“The overall result was that Queensland Government’s investment in this project has been a resounding success; with the significant footprint of on-ground works benefiting the broader landscapes, important and mutually beneficial relationships fostered, and knowledge increased to help guide land management decisions and practices into the future.”

Lead Project Delivery Natasha Mylonas said the scope of the program was very broad with a variety of different activities captured.

"The overall result was that Queensland Government's investment in this project has been a resounding success," said Andrew McCartney.

“Fourteen projects were dedicated to grazing regime improvement, 10 to groundcover and pasture quality improvement, 4 to gully and erosion restoration, 31 to overland flow management, 11 to pest reduction, 8 to fencing riverbanks, 2 to soil enhancement, 4 to traditional burning and 53 projects were dedicated to weed reduction,” Natasha Mylonas said.

“So for projects like the ‘Mulga Park’ Rehydration Project, it restored landscape functionality through slowing and spreading water to assist with infiltration, promoting ground cover, diversifying plant growth and focusing on improving soil health the project was integral to this land manager preparing to maximise upcoming rain events and future proofing their business for the next dry period,” Ms Mylonas said.

“We also partnered with Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service and neighbours of Girraween National Park to tackle a Coolatai outbreak in and around the park. This project was not only important to land managers in the area and their businesses but also several rare and endangered species of plants in the parks which were under threat from potential fire risks associated with high fuel loads created by the invasive grass,” she said.

“And then there was the ‘Risdon Park’ Vegetation Fencing Project which focussed on addressing livestock impact on remnant woodlands. Fencing the area allowed the land manager to keep cattle out of the native woodlands to protect that ecosystem but in turn it also allowed the land manager to better control the movement of his livestock and strategically graze areas to reduce fuel loads and spell country when needed.”

"So for projects like 'Mulga Park' Rehydration Project, it restored landscape functionality through slowing and spreading water to assist with the infiltration," said Natasha Mylonas.

Growth Facilitator Geoff Reid explained that collaboration with First Nations throughout the region has been fundamental to the success of the program.

“Reintroducing beneficial fire management as used by our First People’s for centuries has been integral to the improvements seen on Country right throughout Southern Queensland,” Geoff Reid said.

“The in-person support of First Nation practitioners, initially in small areas of on-ground works, has been essential to building the capacity and confidence of land managers, as uninformed use of fire presents a high level of risk,” Mr Reid said.

“While many land managers have extensive experience in using fire to reduce fuel loads, applying fire for land management outcomes is a completely different paradigm and requires a shift in thinking as well as significant levels of training to realise the benefits,” he said.

“It was great to see a real wave of interest and adoption of cool burning as a management tool through the projects and knowledge sharing achieved under the NRIP program.”

Southern Queensland Landscapes has been honoured to work with the State Government and land managers throughout the region to drive these results and we look forward to working with them again to continue the good work into the future.

Improving soil health and stability while reducing artificial farm inputs

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 23:42:35 GMT

Working with nature, not against it is a well-worn cliché much easier to say than do but it’s being achieved by Paul and Julie Maher at ‘Pinelands’, Millmerran, Queensland.

For much of their 21 years on their 405 hectare property, work off farm dictated how things were done with the Mahers running mainly a cropping enterprise with some beef production. However, in more recent years, a move to full time farming has led to a better balance for people, animals, finances and perhaps most significantly, the property itself.

“Life is certainly less stressful, and we now find ourselves sitting back and enjoying what is a more natural way to farm with less artificial inputs, much less cropping and managing stocking rate to feed availability. It’s just a much nicer place to be,” Paul Maher says.

Southern Queensland Landscapes joined forces with the Mahers to improve the soil health and stability initially across two sites: a cropping paddock planted to oats and other species for winter feed and a paddock that had gully erosion.

In the winter feed paddock, multiple soil tests were conducted to set a baseline to measure against. Then 16 hectares of oats were planted along with a multispecies crop, also including oats, and compared against the rest of the site. The benefits of the multiple species planting of vetch, field peas, radish, turnip and forage rape were significant, with improved topsoil characteristics.

“A diversity in soil biology increases nutrient uptake and overall plant health, giving better carbon sequestration which can help with increased water holding capacity, structure and nutrient levels,” explains Jess Bailey from FARM Agronomy.

Soil health is measured in many ways, not just levels of key elements through soil tests. Water infiltration, weeds species, visual colour and structure of the soil, change in root systems, the presence of worms and other soil life and livestock carrying capacity are all important other measurements.

Jess is excited by the opportunities that come with the new approach and in future, may change the ratio of species in the mix depending on what they are trying to achieve.

Now the Mahers are running 300 head of cattle and the winter feed of mixed species is having good results for winter weight gain, allowing them to turn off 100 bullocks annually.

“It has simply made a great area out of what was pretty average landscape with bad gully erosion," said Rebecca Kirby

“Cropping was simply not working for us and the drought hit particularly hard,” adds Paul.

“Having so many increasingly expensive inputs of seed, fertiliser and sprays all adds up and when it doesn’t rain, there is very little return for this investment. It just didn’t suit our country or ourselves.”

The property has since moved to multispecies plantings of grasses across ‘Pinelands’, with a mix of Rhodes, bambatsi and digit grasses across the heavy black brigalow country, box and lighter sandy soils.

The second site the Mahers aimed to improve was an area of gully erosion they inherited which hadn’t been assisted by the cropping enterprise. They joined forces with Millmerran Landcare to tackle the problem.

After gaining a range of professional advice, the Mahers decided to stabilise the banks and using the eroded area as a water storage facility. Local contractors were engaged to complete the work at a cost of about $20,000 which was partly offset by $3,000 of funding from Southern Queensland Landscapes.

The area was then permanently fenced off to exclude livestock and planted with species including Rhodes grass, oats, lucerne and Bambatsi grass. Contour banks were also reworked with a laser leveller to help spread water across the paddock and redirect water to rehydrate the landscape.

“Natural sequence farming and regenerative agriculture makes a lot of sense on a lot of levels.”

Rebecca Kirby from Millmerran Landcare gets a lot of pleasure from seeing this rehabilitation.

“I have been travelling past this area for a long time and it is just a brilliant site, it’s now full of biodiversity that comes with all that ground cover, not to mention the water storage, you can never have too much of that,” Rebecca says.

“It has simply made a great area out of what was pretty average landscape with bad gully erosion.

“Natural sequence farming and regenerative agriculture makes a lot of sense on a lot of levels.”

For Paul Maher, doing this type of work is also really important.

“Every farmer I’ve ever met wants to leave their place in a better state than they found it and thanks to the changes we have made, I am sure we are doing this,” concludes Paul.

To learn more about Paul Maher’s journey with improving soil health on his farm, watch the full-length video here

This project is funded by Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program.

Fence funding helps land manager protect riverbanks and cattle

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 23:42:32 GMT

Flood after flood along an unfenced stretch of the Condamine River near Warwick was proving to be a headache for land manager Mitchell Duff as he battled erosion and bogged cattle.

So when the Loch Lomond grazier saw an advertisement for fencing assistance from Southern Queensland Landscapes he jumped at the opportunity to participate and install fencing on ‘Benchmark’; a 650 acre property with river frontage.

“Yeah I saw the ad on Facebook and told Mum we should throw our hat in the ring for some funding and get this two kilometre stretch of river fenced,” Mitchell Duff said.

“Our main concern was that this stretch of the Condamine is only about three metres wide so the banks are really steep and when you’ve got cattle going up and down them to drink, the banks get heavily eroded from the traffic; and then they are at risk of further erosion when floods come through as there’s no grass there to hold the bank together,” Mr Duff said.

“On top of that we were also constantly getting calls from our neighbours; sometimes up to three kilometres up the river to come and get our cattle because once they went down to drink from the river they were heading in the neighbours direction and just kept going,” he said.

“So fencing that riverbank was going to solve two problems for us; reducing the erosion along the riverbank and keeping the cattle on our own block.”

“The two-strand electric fencing hasn’t got choked up with debris in flood water and the funding also covered a Gallagher solar fence energizer which delivers enough of a kick to keep the cattle off the river bank,” Mr Duff said.

It’s early days with the 1800 metres of fencing only finished in June 2022 but Mitchell Duff already said he’s enjoying the benefits of fencing the riverbanks.

“My days are a little less hectic now and I’ve got more time to do more meaningful jobs around the farm because I’m not retrieving cattle from our neighbours or pulling them out of bogged river banks,” Mitchell Duff said.

“Plus if you do manage to get to them in time when they are bogged usually they don’t do so well after being pulled out of the mud so losses associated with the cattle dying have also been reduced,” Mr Duff said.

“With all the rain we’ve had you can already start to see that the vegetation along the river banks is starting to thicken up and that is going to really help hold those river banks when the next flood goes through and I won’t be retrieving my top soil from the other end of the paddock,” he said.

“And now that I have got that river bank fenced when we are in the grip of drought again I will be able to access the paddock as a last resort to keep my livestock going.”

“So fencing that riverbank was going to solve two problems for us; reducing the erosion along the riverbank and keeping the cattle on our own block.”

Mitchell Duff opted to install two-strand electric fencing along the riverbank to reduce issues surrounding fence losses associated with flood water.

“I got around $4,000 dollars in funding assistance from Southern Queensland Landscapes which I decided to fully invest in material and install myself; it was great because I could just plug away at it each afternoon after work and I was able to really make those funds stretch because I was providing the labour to put the fence in,” Mitchell Duff said.

“Plus I was also able to get another $1,000 of funding from SQ Landscapes to put in a water trough off the riverbank so the cattle still have access to fresh, clean water,” he said.

Having unsuccessfully applied for assistance in the past, Mitchell Duff reckons the Northern Basin Fencing Program has been the easiest funding opportunity he’s ever taken part in.

“From the time I saw the advertisement on Facebook, to the time that mum filled out the application to the time that the project manager was standing in the paddock here with me was about a week; it was just that easy,” Mitchell Duff said.

“Anyone thinking about applying for a project like this with SQ Landscapes, just stop thinking and do it because it’s just been so easy; and we really couldn’t have got the fence in without the help and assistance so it’s just been great,” Mr Duff said.

“Plus when the project manager was here checking out the paddock she saw we had some lantana so she organised to access some other funding to get that sprayed to; it’s really been a great experience working with people who know what they’re doing and are here to help,” he said.

Meanwhile, Southern Queensland Landscapes Business Operations Manager and Project Delivery Officer, Leanne Stevens said the Duff’s fenceline is just one project rolling out under the Australian Government funded $7.5 million Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project (Qld).

“Currently we’ve got 66 land managers and about 538 kilometres of fencing rolling out along river banks right throughout Southern Queensland; that’s covering an area of 314,398 square kilometres across five catchments,” Leanne Stevens said.

“We’ve been working with local communities, Aboriginal organisations and land managers, like the Duff’s, to deliver these projects before June 2023; which has been no mean feat at the moment with the amount of flooding and rain we have been dealing with,” Ms Stevens said.

“The works are essential to the long-term sustainability of about 50-species of native fish throughout the northern Murray Darling Basin and will go a long way to improving water health right throughout the catchment, managing weeds and connecting water corridors,” she said.

“It’s a win-win for both farmers and fish and we have been thrilled to be working with and collaborating on this project with both the state and federal government to make meaningful improvements to the lives of farmers and the landscape throughout the basin.”

Watch the recent testimonial video at ‘Benchmark’ here

For more information on the Northern Basin Fencing Project visit here

To keep up to date on opportunities being offered through Southern Queensland Landscapes to improve your natural resources subscribe to our Enewsletter or Become a Member

The Australian Government funded Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Projects (Qld) is a $7.5 million dollar investment to support works to benefit farmers and fish. Southern Queensland Landscapes with support from the Queensland Government is working with local communities, Aboriginal organisations and riparian land managers to deliver the project before June 2023.

Drought triggers farmer to take fight out of farming

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 23:21:16 GMT

In the midst of drought and part-way through reading his grandfather's memoirs, grazier David Curtis knew he had to take the fight out of farming.

The family have owned ‘Bellevue’, a mixed agricultural enterprise near Millmerran, since the early 90’s and while efforts to introduce regenerative agricultural techniques had been made, it wasn’t until three-years ago in the midst of one of the worst droughts in Australian history that David made the decision to jump in boots and all.

“That drought was really our reset; We were always thinking of new things to try, and I had been reading what my grandfather wrote about droughts in the 1900’s and it just really dawned on me how we were fighting the landscape and that we had to stop fighting it,” David Curtis said.

“Heading into that drought we were quite optimistic; but coming out the back end of it we really understood the importance of grass cover and found the perennials and native grasses, like Queensland Blue, were the most resilient,” Mr Curtis said.

“So since the drought has broken we have really been refocusing our operation on spreading water to capture and hold as much as possible on our land,” he said.

David Curtis has recently purchased a field seed cleaner which he can use to sort the different types of seed from his multi-species pastures for sale or to retain for his own enterprise.

Peter Andrews and his natural sequence farming techniques have been an inspiration to the changes on ‘Bellevue’.

“We’re using spreader ditches, rather than low profile contour banks to slow the flow but pretty much they operate in the same manner and this is really where we started to spread the water; and the landscape just sucked up the water from the moment they were put in place,” David Curtis said.

“It didn’t cost a lot of money, but the difference it made was huge, “ Mr Curtis said.

“We got a guy in with a laser bucket to get the levels perfect and a ditch just four to five metres long and 15cm deep could hold 1,000 litres of water every metre; and some of our ditches are a kilometre long so our capacity to hold water was massively improved,” Mr Curtis said.

By rehydrating the landscape you get the small water cycle working again which provides much needed moisture to establish ground cover and treelines for windbreaks.

Organic fertiliser is incorporated into the seed mix and delivered through the air seeder during planting to minimise compaction and reduce fuel consumption.

“We’ve planted 15 kilometres of tree lines since 1992 and the plan is to continue doing that,” David Curtis said.

“More birds have returned here than ever before and the shade and cooling the trees provide for our sheep, especially in summer, is very important,” Mr Curtis said.

“Plus the trees bring back balance to the system; when the birds return if you have too many grasshoppers the birds are there to take care of that and so the system is not fighting itself, it's working in unison,” he said.

David describes his operation as an elevated pasture system enhancing pastures by direct drilling into existing grass stands.

“With all the rain we’ve had over the past 12 months we’ve gained soil, not lost it and the water is running clear, it’s not murky and full of sediment from top soil washing down the system,” David Curtis said.

“It’s amazing when you stop killing it or digging it up how quickly the landscape responds and it won’t take a lifetime to see the results, it happens so quickly,” Mr Curtis said.

“We’ve started planting barley and field peas together; the field peas provide nitrogen and then we harvest the barley to be used as organic feed for sheep that we can either sell, keep or reseed,” he said.

“We haven’t used urea or other artificial inputs for over 20 years now and the savings we’ve made through planting combinations that feed off each other has made a real impact to our bottom line.”

A Boss planter was modified to include a new coulter on the front followed by a double disc and seed press allowing the soil to be lightly tilled and the sealed to minimise moisture loss and seed predation.

Being a certified organic operation the ability to be able to apply organic fertilisers or composted manure was important to the sustainability of the operation.

“Yeah we’ve tried a couple of different options including Katec Fertiliser from Gympie, which has blood and bone in it, Terra Firma and more recently we’ve been using Grassdale Fertiliser’s Terrus which is a granulated carbon-based organic fertiliser,” David Curtis said.

“We’ve been planting out multi-species pastures that are organic, regenerative and include oats, barley, field peas, vetch, lucerne, progardes, medics, chicory and turnips,” Mr Curtis said.

“We’ve modified the Boss planter with new coulters on the front followed by double discs on the back which allows us to slightly open up the soil, place the seed along with the organic fertiliser into the soil and then close it all up again with a press wheel to reduce moisture loss,” he said.

“So we’re building organic matter, increasing our water holding capacity and building soil biology at the same time providing our livestock with a nutritious and organic mix of high quality feed to maximise weight gain and overall health.”

Watch the planting process at work at Belleview with this video

Cell grazing during this year’s extreme wet has also proved advantageous to the operation.

“It’s made a hell of a difference being able to move the sheep on; where a lot of people have been dealing with worms in their sheep we’ve had little to no problems at all,” David Curtis said.

David Curtis is currently using an organic fertiliser Grassdale Fertilisers called Terrus which is a granulated carbon-based organic fertiliser which he said is easily applied at planting via his modified Boss planter.

“We had two mobs of sheep lambing during the wet; one mob was in a paddock that we could open and allow to move, the other was stuck in a paddock because of flooding and the one that was stuck in the paddock had high worm burden where the other didn’t,” Mr Curtis said.

“But I’m not as focussed on the worm counts, I’m more focussed on developing resistance and resilience in my mobs. If you look at our wild animals they can tolerate a high worm burden, but they’re not sick and unhealthy; so we don’t mollycoddle our animals because if a customer buys them to go out to say Charleville they need to be tough and resilient,” he said.

“We are breeding for enhanced resistance through selection, plus we put a lot of minerals out that the ewes can take up from their feed when it’s wet because the soil is in an anaerobic phase and retains all the minerals.”

“Ensuring the health and nutrition of our ewes, monitoring birth weights, selecting ewes for their birthing ability is all part of our success,” David Curtis said.

“We like medium framed rams at maturity to keep that birth weight between 3.5 and 4.5 kilograms and we are aiming for good robust lambs full of energy at birth,” Mr Curtis said.

Plus our sheep have Namibian genetics; and Namibia relies on just 4 inches of rainfall annually so genetically our sheep are tough and are equipped to flourish in dry conditions and extended droughts,” he said.

“With farming it's always a journey, you’ve never reached your destination and you’re constantly learning. But our land has bounced back so quickly with this wet period because we put in place the mechanics for it to be able to regenerate quickly during those drier times.”

For more information about David Curtis and Bellevue Dorpers visit

For more information on Peter Andrews and natural sequence farming click here

For more information on the Farm Owners Academy visit

Katek Feralisers

Terra Firma

Grassdale Fertiliser - Terrus - Granulated carbon-based organic fertiliser

Monitoring key to controlling pig populations

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 23:14:19 GMT

SQ Landscapes & Biosecurity Queensland are assessing the effectiveness of camera grids, thermal and aerial surveys to determine if they return similar results. Pictured - thermal monitoring on deer is the same technology now being used on pigs.

Experts say monitoring feral pig movement is just as important as shooting, baiting and poisoning feral pigs.

The advice comes after feral pig expert Darren Marshall from Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Vertebrate Pest and Wildlife Management team, said monitoring is integral to controlling feral pig populations.

“The main reason that monitoring is so important is that to have any effect on the pig population you need to take out 70% of the population in one hit,” Darren Marshall said.

“So many land managers do feral animal control and so many land managers don't know how many ferals they're knocking down,” Mr Marshall said.

“If you don't know what percentage you are taking out, it makes it difficult to measure if your current pig management strategies are working. Otherwise people are putting in a whole lot of effort and you can't measure whether you’re actually having an impact on the population,” he said.

Darren Marshall said SQ Landscapes is working with Western Downs Regional Council and Biosecurity Queensland to help land managers in the Westmar district to monitor pig populations.

Mr Marshall said the team has put new thermal monitoring technology to the test, comparing it with traditional monitoring methods like camera monitoring and aerial surveys.

“What's exciting for us is that we are comparing the methods of monitoring,” Darren Marshall said.

“This is the first time we have compared three monitoring methods in one geographical area. This way we can compare and contrast the benefits of each method and see which method is most effective in the landscape,” Mr Marshall said.

“It's a really good project that puts to use many different technologies to help the land manager improve their feral pig control effectiveness,” he said.

Mr Marshall said this monitoring method uses an ultra high definition video camera, fitted with a thermal imager to detect and record the presence of the pests in real time.

“The thermal imaging technology detects heat - so it allows us to see the pigs when they might be hiding or in areas of thick vegetation,” Darren Marshall said.

“The thermal camera can even be used in conjunction with aerial shooting - helping to increase the effectiveness of control programs,” Mr Marshall said.

“It shows us where the pigs are hiding, which is especially important with aerial shooting because they can get spooked by the helicopter,” he said.

Principal Scientist Dr Matthew Gentle from Biosecurity Queensland (BQ) said BQ is committed to investigating ways to improve pest animal management.

“Being a pest animal research organisation, we are invested in improving feral pest management within Queensland,” Matthew Gentle said.

“Without the monitoring, you won't be able to understand if the control measures were effective,” Dr Gentle said.

“Testing something like thermal detection can also help us to correct our visual detection. When we do visual monitoring we can sometimes miss pigs, so we can use the thermal camera monitoring to help enhance visual surveying,” he said.

“We’re also looking to investigate feral pig behavioural changes after aerial shooting, particularly looking at the behaviour of the survivors.”

“Ultimately, we’re looking to reduce the impact of pests to the environment, to livestock and to people.”

The results of the thermal surveys will be compared with other monitoring methods after a coordinated control program takes place later in the year.

Anyone interested in participating in a feral animal monitoring or control program should get in contact with Southern Queensland Landscapes. https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/our-region#OUROFFICES

New use for old technology set to make measuring soil carbon more affordable

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 23:11:20 GMT

Ever heard of an Eddy Covariance Flux Tower?

Well, you’d be forgiven if you hadn’t; and even though this little known technology has been around since 1951 it’s large scale use in measuring the exchange between an ecosystem and the atmosphere is only now being realised in terms of its potential for carbon sequestration in agriculture.

Agricultural group, Agrimix together with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and funding from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), have joined forces to trial the Agrimix Flux at a number of sites in key beef producing areas of Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Agrimix CEO, Ben Sawley said they are more deeply understanding the sequestering of carbon using the eddy covariance methodology thereby making carbon measuring more readily available and affordable for land managers.

“The biggest challenge of soil carbon is that it is very expensive to measure owing to the drilling of soil cores and taking these cores back to a lab to be analysed; it’s also hard to measure accurately across a paddock as there can be large differences in soil carbon from one soil core to another and they may only be metres apart,” Ben Sawley said.

“So what we are doing is using flux towers to calibrate and validate the models which is much more sensitive and faster than soil coring.” - Mr Sawley

“Soil coring is kind of like measuring a 50 cent piece of soil at the MCG and relying on this to get an accurate picture of what’s going on across the entire field,” Mr Sawley said.

“Currently under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) administered by the Clean Energy Regulator in Australia there are only two main approved ways to measure carbon sequestration in soil that is 1) soil coring and 2) validated soil carbon modelling of your farm,” he said.

Like soil coring, carbon modelling is also expensive and setting it up accurately is labour intensive, however once the model is validated it can quantify soil carbon exchanges inexpensively as there is no need for extensive soil coring.

“Agricultural simulation models have been around since the Cold War when the CIA used modelling to understand food production in the Soviet Union,” Ben Sawley said

“To create a good soil carbon model requires lots of calibration and validation to check if it is accurate and you need to do that over a period of time; and in Australia owing to the expanse and variability of landscapes we operate in, you couldn’t just use the same model based on a farm in Rockhampton for a farm in Longreach,” Mr Sawley said.

“So what we are doing is using flux towers to calibrate and validate the models which is much more sensitive and faster than soil coring,” he said.

“This technology has been around for decades so it is tried and tested and it’s been used extensively to measure the ecosystem exchanges in forest systems around the world; this is just utilising an existing technology in a different application.” - Ben Sawley

So how does eddy flux work?

“Eddy flux is a method which measures the flow of carbon dioxide (CO²) molecules into and out of the plants and soil,” Ben Sawley said.

“Simply put; the Agrimix Flux tower is around 6 metres in the air and it can measure a 50-100 hectare radius around it; and it is measuring the flow of carbon into and out of the plants and soil and the net of these gives you the net exchange of carbon dioxide into and out of the soil,” Mr Sawley said.

“We’re calibrating the system to make sure it is accurate and to make sure it is checked through physical soil coring too. Ultimately the goal is to minimise the amount of time land managers have to physically drill soil cores which will help achieve the goal of reducing costs to 1/10th of the current cost,” he said.

But even with access to readily available and affordable methods of accurate measurement not every land manager is going to be able to build carbon in their soil or secure carbon credits.

“There’s so many variables…clay content, rain, drought, or even the ability to make further improvements because the land managers have done such a good job to date,” Ben Sawley said.

“So rather than only use this technology to harness carbon credits and possibly create a new income stream, we want to also use it to help graziers optimise their pasturelands and make them as productive and sustainable as possible,” Mr Sawley said.

"Eddy flux is a method which measures the flow of carbon dioxide (CO²) molecules into and out of the plants and soil." - Ben Sawley

“So we’re looking to uplift current income streams through productivity achieved by better understanding how sequestering carbon drives pasture growth and ultimately increased weight gains in cattle,” he said.

“One of the 17 sites in the research project is a property in Central Queensland and they have two paddocks, one with buffel grass pastures and the other with improved pastures including Progardes® legume, grasses and fertiliser.”

“And what we can see from the data is that improved pastures with good quality plants are more efficient users of water which enables those pastures to grow more organic matter for the same amount of rainfall thereby enabling more feed for animals and the sequestration of more carbon into the soil.”

“This improved productivity often generates many hundreds of dollars of additional production per hectare which very quickly pays back the investment in the improved pasture.”

The Agrimix Flux tower costs around $100K per unit to install, but the business is looking at fully supplied and operated packages for an annual fee.

“It’s not the infrastructure that the land manager wants, it's the data that it produces so we are looking at offering the towers on a package arrangement whereby the land manager can access the data but doesn’t have to own the infrastructure,” Ben Sawley said.

“We’re at the point where we are starting to pull the opportunity together commercially and are hopeful of being able to offer packages to land managers in the near future,” Mr Sawley said.

For a simple explanation of how eddy covariance works visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR4Anc8Mkas

For a more detailed explanation of eddy covariance visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0JWK95Sj84

For information on how eddy covariance has been used in measure gas exchanges in cereal cropping visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfvPoP_xx4Y

Project invests federal funds in Aussie businesses

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 23:07:46 GMT

A Queensland project to protect native fish is set to invest the lion’s share of its $6.6 million Australian Government funding package back into Australian businesses, manufacturers and contractors.

The Fish Friendly Water Extraction project, funded by the Australian Government as part of the Northern Basin Toolkit Measures, aims to work with irrigators, local governments and communities to screen off-take pumps and diversions in the Condamine, Balonne and Border Rivers catchments to protect both native fish and water infrastructure.

Natural resource management group, Southern Queensland Landscapes is rolling out the project on behalf of the Queensland and Australian Governments and has made it a priority to engage Australian businesses like AWMA Water Control Solutions to manufacture tailor made fish screens designed and built in Australia for Australian irrigators.

SQ Landscapes Knowledge and Information Support Officer Dr Paul Webb said working with Australian manufacturers, contractors and producers keeps federally invested funds in Australia.

“At this stage, SQ Landscapes is on track to utilise all Australian businesses in this project from the manufacturers, to the distributors, to the contractors who install the screens,” Dr Paul Webb said.

“We’re investing in Australian delivery partners like AWMA and GrowAus and in doing so, helping to strengthen rural communities,” Dr Webb said.

AWMA Senior Business Development Manager Corey Brightwell said the fish screens they have designed and manufactured here in Australia for use in the Fish Friendly Water Extraction project meet the needs and requirements of irrigators dealing with ephemeral river systems which see floods and high trash loads.

AWMA Senior Business Development Manager Corey Brightwell said the fish screens they have designed and manufactured here in Australia for use in this project meet the needs and requirements of irrigators dealing with ephemeral river systems which see floods and high trash loads.

“Our fish screens have been researched, tested and proven by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries - Fisheries for over a decade now,” Corey Brightwell said.

“Being regional people, AWMA officers know first-hand what is expected from land managers, that is, the value of efficient water extraction and importance of environmental conservation,” Mr Brightwell said.

“By using local manufacturers you get the local support, quick service, tailored solutions and it essentially eliminates the supply chain risk associated with international products,” he said.

“At the end of the day, the land managers will be installing a product that will be there for a number of years, so they want to know it is going to work, is designed to last and has low maintenance requirements - and that’s where we come in to provide that confidence and assurance.”

"Our fish screens have been researched, tested and proven by the NSW Dept of Primary Industries - Fisheries for over a decade now" - Corey Brightwell.

AWMA will be working with Dalby-based business GrowAus to specially design and install a fish screen for an irrigator in the Gowrie Creek Catchment.

GrowAus Group Manager Daniel Cobden said supporting local business by using Australian made infrastructure is a no-brainer for people in the region.

“In the Country, it’s nearly common sense to support one another, it’s in our nature, it’s what we do; COVID has knocked retail around in many sectors so it’s important to support local,” Daniel Cobden said.

“A lot of our products and irrigation solutions are custom made, GrowAus does a lot of custom fabrications in-house, and where we can, we try to get everything sourced from Australian businesses,” Mr Cobden said.

“It is very important from a quality assurance standpoint to get the designs and drawings for the fish screens in front of local land managers so everyone is on the same page,” he said.

“Support locals and the locals will support you in return.”

"At this stage, SQ Landscapes is on track to utilise all Australian businesses in this project from the manufacturers to the distributors to the contractors who install the screens." - Dr Paul Webb

Meanwhile Bowenville land manager Matt Finch is just one irrigator under the Fish Friendly Water Extraction project working with GrowAus and SQ Landscapes to improve his river health.

“Supporting Australian businesses has provided us with confidence throughout the process of design and manufacturing; having a relationship with your suppliers means we can get exactly what we need,” Matt Finch said.

“We are fitting fish excluders to two pumps in our dam in the Oakey Creek system in the hopes it will reduce the number of native fish ending up in our dam; plus we won't have problems with tiny fish being stuck in our screens and blocking them up,” Mr Finch said.

“We are looking for infrastructure that can improve the environment, and that the infrastructure is low maintenance and has longevity,” he said.

“By using local contractors, we are getting a system that's been tailor made for our needs - unique to what we need that has not been mass produced.”

SQ Landscapes’ Dr Paul Webb said working with Australian manufacturers, contractors and producers is one of the best parts of his job.

“All I can think is Aussie Aussie Aussie! Teamwork and collaboration with Australian businesses ensures our suppliers meet the high standards of quality and their products are specifically designed for the Australian conditions,” he said.

“My recent visit to the AWMA factory reiterated that the fish screens are an Australian product made by Australians for Australians. They are Australian made for the Australian conditions.”

Land managers interested in learning more about the Fish Friendly Water Extraction project can get in contact with Southern Queensland Landscapes via email at ffwe@sqlandscapes.org.au or via https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/native-fish-friendly-water-extraction.

The Australian Government funded Fish Friendly Water Extraction (Qld) project is a $6.6 million investment as part of the Northern Basin Toolkit Measures. Supported by the Queensland Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water, the project will work with irrigators, local governments and communities to screen off-take pumps and diversions in the Condamine, Balonne and Border Rivers catchments to protect both native fish and water infrastructure.

Winners announced in Aboriginal Art Comp

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:58:06 GMT

Winners in the inaugural Southern Queensland Landscapes First Nations Art Competition have been announced to a crowd of more than 100 people at the University of Southern Queensland’s new Art Gallery.

Overall Grand Prize and 25+ Years Category winner has gone to Melinda Luscombe for her piece ‘Lemon Myrtle Bloom’ .

“This piece is very personal to me and has been an emotional journey to create,” Melinda Luscombe said.

“The large circles represent the lineage of the Gomeroi women in our family. My great grandmother, my grandmother and myself,” Ms Luscombe said.

“The tracks between these circles represent the connection we will always share and also branch out to other possibilities and the unknown. Nature has always been important to our family and I have included lemon myrtle blossoms, as I have been told my great grandmother used to wrap fish with the leaves when cooking.” she said.

SQ Landscapes Board Chair, The Hon Bruce Scott AM discusses Artist Lane Brooks piece 'Healing of the Bungil' with Judge Uncle Colin Jones

Category awards also went to Uncle Andrew Nelson for ‘Yumba Life’ and Tareque Chapman for ‘Crosshatch Fish’ ; meanwhile Highly Commended was David McCarthy for ‘Heal Country’, Isabel Natividad for ‘Guyumba’ and Bill Speedy for ‘Wildflowers on Gwamu Country’ .

SQ Landscapes Board Chair, The Hon Bruce Scott AM said it was an amazing night celebrating the incredible talent of Aboriginal artists from right throughout Southern Queensland.

"More than 12 months of planning has gone into this evening’s event and it’s just truly a wonderful thing to see these amazing artists recognized for their talent, which as you can see is of international standard,” Bruce Scott said.

“Southern Queensland Landscapes works closely with the 28 First Nations in our catchment and all of the artists showcased here tonight both winners and finalists call this Country home,” Mr Scott said.

“As an organisation we are thrilled to have been able to work with these artists to develop a competition to foster their talent and other artists like them into the future and provide a platform whereby together we can showcase their art and talents to the world,” he said.

“To everyone involved in the competition and tonight’s event including our friends at the University of Southern Queensland who have so generously supported the competition, and the judges, Aboriginal artist Uncle Colin Jones, Owner of Murray’s Art and Framing Sue McMaster, and Chair of SQ Landscapes First People’s Committee Chris Joseph, I just want to say congratulations and how much we value and respect your contributions; it truly has been a special evening.”

Artist Bill Speedy with his painting 'Wildflowers On Gwamu Country'; Uncle Andrew Nelson speaking to

ABC Journalist Belinda Sanders in front of his piece 'Yumba Life' ;and Jarryd Lawton pictured with his artwork 'Heal The Country'.

Meanwhile, University of Southern Queensland Curator (Arts and Exhibitions), Brodie Taylor said it was an honour to host the collection.

“This extraordinary exhibition, made possible by the vision of Southern Queensland Landscapes, provides this collective of First Nations artists with an opportunity, previously unseen in our region,” Brodie Taylor said.

“With their artistic voices enhanced, and on display for all in our community, this exhibition marks a seminal moment of celebration for our First Nation artists,” Mr Taylor said.

Artwork from finalists in the 2021/22 First National Art Competition will be on display at the University of Southern Queensland Art Gallery from 8 July to 2 September 2022, Tuesday to Friday from 10am - 3pm.

Some of the art on display is for sale and all enquiries regarding purchases should be emailed to art@sqlandscapes.org.au

So far two artworks have already been sold including "Storm Over the Downs" and "Lemon Myrtle Bloom".

Expressions of Interest are now being accepted from Aboriginal artists identifying as one of the 28 First Nations in the Southern Queensland catchment, for the 2022/23 First Nations Art Competition.

The theme of the 2022/23 competition is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! For more details on the 22/23 competition click APPLY NOW

Art gets people thinking about pests

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 01:23:58 GMT

Australia’s national feral deer population is estimated at around 2-million¹; meanwhile prickly pear (Opuntia spp) can impede the movement of stock and humans, displace native plants and significantly reduce the carrying capacity of pastures².

That’s the kind of conversation Brisbane based artist Ronelle Reid aims to spark through her art, with quirky combinations of miss-matched animals inviting viewers to learn more about Australia’s vulnerable species and explore the impact to the landscape from pests.

“From a very young age I became fascinated with the natural world, always wandering around museums, shelters and zoos trying to figure out my place amongst the most amazing of creatures,” Ronelle Reid said.

“But after completing an art degree with honours and during my first artist’s residency in the Philippines I quickly realised that university didn’t teach me how to make art as a business, it just taught me how to make art; so I quickly found I had to get a real job and ended up working at RSPCA Queensland for 20 years,” Ms Reid said.

“During that time I learnt a lot of very practical skills and even more about wildlife, as I managed the call centre that handled RSPCA’s wildlife hospital and all the emergencies for help with injured native animals from right throughout south-east Queensland,” she said.

“Then in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I decided to leave RSPCA and make art and exhibiting my full-time focus.”

One of Ronelle Reid’s recent pieces ‘I do declare’ featured a red deer and prickly pear; both declared pests in Australia.

“I find it fascinating how people don’t understand the impact of introduced species into our environment; we are an island nation and biosecurity is so important to ensure that we protect this beautiful and fragile ecosystem we call home,” Ronelle Reid said.

“People see a lantana plant or a prickly pear and they take it home and plant it, and it just fascinates me; they’re beautiful but at the same time they are so destructive and so harmful to the environment,” Ms Reid said.

“We have deer in Beaudesert and they do a lot of damage and people don’t even recognise them as a problem; so that’s the reasoning behind the piece ‘I do declare’ and the pairing of these two pests in a beautiful setting together… to spark a conversation,” she said.

When asked how she decides which animals to feature in her art, Ronelle said she draws inspiration from all around her.

“It might be a story in the news, a specific animal that has been listed as endangered; I’ve done a few koalas recently and it’s usually those kinds of things that pique my imagination and creativity,” Ronelle Reid said.

“I’m inspired by animals in our environment and our ecosystems and I ponder why they are in the environment and what makes them thrive and what the threats are to them,” Ms Reid said.

“I paint because I love the message behind the work, and I love asking people through my art to think about our world around us, when perhaps that is not something they are asked to think of or consider in their everyday,” she said

‘Always be the Frida’ by Ronelle Reid.

“I did a flock of flamingos and a cassowary; they’re such an amazing bird but they aren’t as attractive as flamingos which is why I called this piece ‘Always be the Freida’ so that people remember to always be themselves, stand out and blaze your own path,” Ronelle Reid said.

“But the cassowary is also listed as vulnerable and its population has been in decline for decades and perhaps it doesn’t get the attention it should because it can be an aggressive bird, elusive and it’s also not as attractive as a flamingo,” Ms Reid said.

‘All in balance’ by Ronelle Reid.

“I did a piece of a stork standing on two long-neck turtles and that piece is all about the bull rushes in the background and the balance of the ecosystem; the turtles provide a great food source to the stork and the bulrushes provide a great place to hide for the turtles and without the bulrushes the turtle wouldn’t have anywhere to hide so they’d all get eaten by the storks and without the turtles the storks wouldn’t have anything to eat,” Ronelle Reid said.

“It’s a circular ecosystem and it's important that we understand that by taking one element out we could actually impact all of them and that’s why I called that piece ‘All in balance’ ,” Ms Reid said.

“I use to get quite cranky at the cute cuddly animals like koalas that seem to be able to attract the attention and draw the funding for assistance and I resented them a little - but now I realise it's an ecosystem and when one benefits all the other animals benefit also,” she said.

“So I look at the connections and how animals depend on each other and try to draw correlations between them so that our conversations circle around how everything we do has an impact across multiple species, multiple environments.”

'We all soar’ by Ronelle Reid.

“I love to eavesdrop on conversations at my exhibitions and I think most of the time the common response is that people are curious and that’s what I like people to be,” Ronelle Reid said.

“These artworks are not easy to digest and if you take the title and they’re not always animals that coexist in the same habitat like fairy penguins and zebra finches flying together; they just don’t belong,” Ms Reid said.

“The best conversation I have overhead was a lady who just said ‘I don’t understand it, but I am very curious to watch it evolve and understand it and learn from it’; and I think if you give people that ability and the invitation to be curious and watch and learn and understand then that is what they will do through the artwork and a great respect and understanding for the environment will be the end result,” she said.

For more information on Ronelle Reid and to view more of her art visit https://www.ronellereid.com/artworks

‘Feral deer in the headlines: Australia’s ‘slow-moving plague’ is finally being noticed’ - The Guardian Monday 5 July 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/05/feral-deer-in-the-headlines-australias-slow-moving-plague-is-finally-being-noticed#:~:text=The%20size%20of%20deer%20populations,up%20from%2018%25%20in%202016 .
Prickly pear fact sheet provided the Queensland Government https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/land-management/health-pests-weeds-diseases/weeds-diseases/invasive-plants/restricted/prickly-pea r

Survey captures carbon concerns for land managers

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:47:18 GMT

A recent survey conducted by Southern Queensland Landscapes and funded by AgriFutures Australia has captured the thoughts, concerns and experiences of land managers regarding carbon farming.

SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Officer, Jayne Thorpe said 43 land managers from throughout Southern Queensland took part in the study with 36 detailed semi-structured interviews yielding in depth and detailed data.

“The majority of people we spoke to were between 45 and 64 years of age and the predominant property size was over 24,000 hectares with cattle production being the primary enterprise,” Jayne Thorpe said.

“About two thirds of land managers interviewed indicated that farming was the main source of their income and about two thirds of respondents were either already signed up to a carbon contract or seemed open to doing so in the future,” Ms Thorpe said.

“In our conversations, both soil and vegetation carbon farming methods were described but almost everyone had some negative views of carbon farming with only half of those interviewed sharing positive views,” she said.

“These responses were then organised into 4 key themes which included Business Risks, Scheme Concerns, Social Impacts and Positive Themes.”

Jayne Thorpe said 95% of people surveyed thought current carbon schemes on offer were very complex and often had conflicting information.

“This really lent itself to those people surveyed mistrusting carbon methodology and 52% of people felt uncertain about the future and nature of carbon farming as a consequence,” Jayne Thorpe said.

“Twenty five percent of respondents also thought there was a real lack of transparency with schemes and that the land manager bore the brunt of the business risk,” Ms Thorpe said.

“They also felt that carbon was not a good investment and that many carbon projects didn’t allow land managers to look after the land in the right way,” she said.

“Plus from a business risk perspective tax offsets, loans and valuations relating to carbon projects were just too difficult to predict.”

From a social perspective survey participants also spoke at length about community related impacts of current carbon projects.

“Forty-seven percent of respondents talked about these vacant homesteads particularly throughout the western Queensland region where properties have just been locked up to carbon projects,” Jayne Thorpe said.

“They also spoke about how some carbon projects rewarded the wrong people, created identity clashes within communities and how everyone has a different story and a different experience in relation to carbon,” Ms Thorpe said.

“On the flipside 50% of respondents believed there were positive benefits beyond income and that carbon projects can be a useful source of additional income that can fit in with existing operations and support succession planning,” she said.

“Further insights into the survey flagged that there is a particular scale required to generate a profitable volume of carbon credits to trade and that managers of small land holdings who want to participate were struggling to find mechanisms to bring their smaller offerings to market.”

In summing up the survey one respondent advised that land managers should ‘really look into carbon farming and what it means for their own place and business, their line of credit and tax debt; and make sure that their solicitor and accountant reviewed all offers and that they provide very clear instructions on how they want carbon farming to fit in with their plans, not the other way around’.

Recommendations on strategies to reverse current negative trends and provide better accessibility to carbon projects by all land managers are currently being assessed and are due for release later this year.

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes through funding from AgriFutures Australia.

For more information on the Carbon Farming Study click here.

Carp numbers down in western Murray-Darling Basin

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:38:39 GMT

One of the world’s most invasive fish species is in decline in the internationally acclaimed Ramsar listed wetlands of Currawinya National Park in south west Queensland.

Southern Queensland Landscapes, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) and renowned aquatic scientist Dr Adam Kerezsy have been surveying the health of the park as part of the most comprehensive study undertaken in the catchment.

Dr Adam Kerezsy said survey results from the Lower Paroo River and Currawinya NP were promising with carp numbers considerably lower than native fish species, likely as a result from ongoing drought conditions.

“Carp have been a major pest in Australia for over 200 years and they really went berserk in the Murray-Darling Basin from the 1960’s to the 1970’s,” Dr Adam Kerezsy said.

“I could go fishing in some places of the southern Murray-Darling Basin and it would be nothing to catch 2000 carp in one go,” Dr Kerezsy said.

Fish were caught and briefly humanely assessed to display a sample of the population in the survey locations.

“But, during the Currawinya survey, we only caught about 30-40 carp so that’s nothing,” he said.

“And while we don’t really know why numbers are down we suspect that it is connected to recent drought conditions which saw the water holes dry up and when the wet came carp numbers just didn’t bounce back with such vigor as our native fish.”

According to the National Carp Control Program, carp populations can make up to 80% of the total fish present in some parts of the Murray-Darling Basin.

SQ Landscapes Project Delivery Lead Chris Crafter said survey results pointed to the fantastic health of the Currawinya Wetlands and the Paroo River; places historically known to be teeming with carp.

“Over the years I have seen significant numbers of carp in these areas, so we were expecting to find more during these surveys in Currawinya,” Chris Crafter said.

“Carp compete directly with native fish for food and habitat and they have an ability to breed rapidly in the right conditions. It can be really hard for native fish populations to bounce back. Ms Crafter said.

“The biggest impact they have on the ecosystem is that they muddy the waters when they feed, which decreases the oxygen in the water and makes it hard for the native fish to eat and breathe,” she said.

Only 30-40 carp were caught during the study of Currawinya Ramsar Wetlands and the Lower Paroo River.

Acting Ranger in Charge for Currawinya NP Moc Parker said the survey analyzed the health of 16 sites around the park, yielding exciting results.

“In addition to the impact of drought we believe recreational fisherman and fishing competitions geared towards catching carp have also played a part in applying pressure to carp numbers,” Moc Parker said.

“The changes have been for the better - the native fish stocks have improved out of sight and the invasive species like carp are not extending their area and not further infecting other parts of the waterways” Mr Parker said.

“The exciting part is to witness and record that the native fish numbers are not only improving but that the fish are healthy - the systems are healthy and that's what we’re here to do,” he said.

“It's good to be able to work in conjunction with organisations like SQ Landscapes and Dr Adam Kerezsy, and QPWS encourages collaboration with community groups and government.”

Christine Crafter said collaborating with experts is vitally important to achieve outcomes and deliver value to the local community.

“The surveys wouldn't have happened without collaboration between QPWS, local land managers Dr Adam Kerezsy and SQ Landscapes; supported through funding from the Australian Government,” Christine Crafter said.

“The surveys show programs are helping improve river health, and as a result we have improved numbers, sizes and abundance of native species for environmental health, bird breeding and recreational fishing which is another benefit to the community,” Ms Crafter said.

“The future looks bright for the Currawinya wetlands and Lower Paroo River systems, and I hope to see further surveying of the area and adjacent catchments so we can continue to monitor carp populations and their impact on native fish and the overall health of the system,” she said.

To learn more about invasive carp, visit: https://carp.gov.au/en/the-carp-problem .

This project is funded by the Australian Government.

Survey reveals patterns in platypus habitat

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 00:23:32 GMT

Habitat trends are starting to emerge following two platypus surveys in the Cambanoora Gorge area of the Upper Condamine River, near Killarney in Queensland.

Local resident and platypus advocate, Barbara George said this is the second survey undertaken in less than a year.

“We had 26 people come to sit along almost 20 kilometres of river bank at 15 spots over a two hour period on Saturday 23 April,” Barbara George said.

“And during this time we identified 11 confirmed different individuals; with three different animals spotted at one site and potentially two at another site,” Ms George said.

“That’s on par with what we surveyed in Spring which was the first local platypus observation survey ever conducted in the Upper Condamine River recording 13 platypus at 19 sites spanning a 22 kilometre stretch of river during September of 2021” she said.

With two surveys now complete trends in the type of habitat platypuses like to call home are starting to emerge.

“We are starting to see a pattern of exactly where they like it along the river system and we are beginning to get a real feel for the holes they are likely to inhabit,” Barbara George said.

“They want a deep water hole, but they also like to have a few ripples or shallow rocky areas with fast water nearby; especially the males who love to feed and swim in the faster flowing shallow water,” Ms George said.

“And they need a steep bank with soft ground, covered in grass that is about four metres deep so they can burrow; and they want shade and overhanging vegetation with a few logs in the river,” she said.

Differences in the platypuses behaviour was also noted from the Spring to Autumn survey.

“We found in September that they were a lot more careless about observers; but in the Autumn survey they really hung around the sides of the riverbanks and were more cautious,” Barbara George said.

“September is mating time and they were industriously building nests and were a lot more brash; whereas in April it’s not mating time so they were more elusive and cautious and more like what you would expect platypuses to be,” Ms George said.

Meanwhile, University of Queensland PhD student, Tamielle Brunt is researching platypus populations across south-east Queensland. and assisting local Killarney residents with the survey process.

“The first survey results indicated elements of their seemingly favourable habitat features including undercut banks, overhanging vegetation which is important for concealing burrowing entrances; and the instream substrate included a range of different sized rocks, logs and debris,” Tamielle Brunt said.

“These features are important for the abundance and diversity of platypus food and aquatic macroinvertebrates which live within the rocks and logs and feed upon leaf matter,” Ms Brunt said.

“Instream logs also featured heavily in their favourite spots providing protection for platypuses swimming in open waters,” she said.

“Numbers surveyed in the September survey suggest that the resources in the river (water, shelter and food) for platypuses are high and can sustain a healthy population of platypuses.”

The banks of the Upper Condamine River are high and sloping which Tamielle Brunt said is ideal for burrowing females.

“Female platypuses have a smaller home range of up to four kilometres and males can extend beyond eight kilometres, especially during breeding season,” Tamielle Brunt said.

“Females can overlap with other females and juveniles; and males can overlap with multiple females and juvenile males within their territory. But, when platypuses reach breeding age after two years, the sub-adult males will be driven out of the area by the dominant male,” Ms Brunt said.

“The Upper Condamine has a continuous flow of water connectivity which is beneficial for their movement, even more so in breeding season,” she said.

“The season starts around July, through to October.The females will build nests to raise their young for four months and then juveniles will emerge around February next year.”

This collection of baseline data is important for local councils and stakeholders from the perspective of land management and development along the river.

“Maintaining and protecting the habitat is important such as stabilising banks and increasing overhanging vegetation in degraded areas as it can help reduce bank erosion and instream sedimentation that can smother platypus’ food and shallow important pools,” Tamielle Brunt said.

“Ongoing observational surveys will also be vital in building upon the dataset and to develop knowledge of population changes overtime,” Ms Brunt said.

The next survey is due in the later part of 2022.

Please report any platypus sightings to PlatypusWatch Network https://form.jotform.com/202928694167871

Applications close shortly for Nuffield Scholarships

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 00:16:43 GMT

Bring passion and you will have what it takes to be a Nuffield Scholar!

That’s according to Nuffield Australia Chief Executive Officer Jodie Redcliffe as applications for the 2023 scholarship program approach a deadline on June 17.

This will be the first year since Covid-19 that scholars will be able to travel and fully immerse themselves in the spirit of global learning; and Nuffield’s impressive offering will include a $30 thousand dollar bursary, and the opportunity to rub shoulders with the most influential players in agriculture from around the world.

Jodie Redcliffe said this year’s focus is on leading edge global agricultural solutions as well as domestic and international travel.

“We are passionate about experiential learning and we are very committed to that being international travel, but we identified that there’s a lot we’re doing right in Australia, and we should include a domestic component,” Jodie Redcliffe said.

Nuffield cohort at the National Conference Tour to Esperance, WA (Image: Supplied Nuffield Australia).

“The other thing that’s changed is that we’ve looked at expanding our definition of a Nuffield Scholar - we’re not just primary producers, we are also those who are involved in agriculture in different ways,” Ms Redcliffe said.

“It might be somebody who’s an agronomist, a lawyer working in agriculture for example, or it might even be a researcher, and those types of people can be Nuffield Scholars as well,” she said.

“We don't require a university degree, we don't require a long list of accolades, we’re looking at the person and their passion and their ability to make change.”

2022 Nuffield Scholar, Jesse Moody from Cunnamulla said he hoped his project investigating the correlation between livestock businesses and soil health would help influence others to make positive changes on their land.

“My project will help producers make more well informed decisions in dry periods,” Jesse Moody said.

2022 Scholar from Cunnamulla, Jesse Moody, shares candid photos of his life on-farm via his Instagram (Image: Supplied Jesse Moody).

“Our carrying capacities out here in the South-West are declining. That's why I'm starting to look at why that's happening and why it's happening across arid Australia,” Mr Moody said.

“I was always going to be studying the correlation between livestock businesses and soil health - but Nuffield gave me a hand and gave me a faster way to learn it. It’s allowing me to take advantage of something I've always wanted to learn,” he said.

“Soil health is the backbone of all our businesses - if you have poor soil health you’ll have poor livestock and it’ll cost you more to get them ready for sale. The healthier your soil is, the healthier your business will be.”

Mr Moody said while he was not academically inclined, his passion for agriculture drove him to secure the bursary.

“I’ve gotten to talk to people in the industry I never would have had access to before because of the scholarship. It’ll provide me with a lot more confidence in that I'll be making the correct decisions on my land,” Jesse Moody said.

“We’re living in a golden age of agriculture at the moment, this is really an advantageous time to be in the industry,” Mr Moody said.

Mr Moody’s advice to those considering applying is to back themselves and go for it.

“It can be daunting to apply for a scholarship but you’ve just got to go out of your comfort zone, because the reward is so much higher,” he said.

Applications for the 2023 Nuffield Scholarshipwill close on Friday the 17 June 2022. To apply for a Nuffield Scholarship, head to: https://www.nuffield.com.au/how-to-apply and fill in an application form.

Floods an opportunity to prepare for drought

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 00:11:19 GMT

With paddocks flooded right across Southern Queensland and drought declarations revoked for seven local government areas in our patch, it would be easy to rest on your laurels and not think about drought.

But Southern Queensland Landscapes warns now is the time to prepare for drought and protect your bottom line.

SQ Landscapes Knowledge Specialist and experienced hydrographer Dr Paul Webb said if land managers are not prepared, they will get hit harder and sooner by drought, which reduces their ability to weather the dry period.

“Now is the time to make changes and ensure you’re getting the most out of the rainfall as high rainfall on poor condition or unprepared soils can be damaging and cause erosion and doesn’t allow the soil to bank a moisture reserve which you can draw upon through dry times,” Dr Paul Webb said.

“Erosion along with other factors like poor soil health can cause land degradation, which is estimated to lead to pasture productivity losses of 50 to 80% and production losses in monetary terms of 30 to 40% for parts of Queensland,” Dr Webb said.

“The better your land condition is, the more resilient it is to things like drought,” he said.

“So now is a good time to get in the paddock and start planning on how you can best maximise the moisture we’re currently receiving to rehydrate your landscape, get ground coverage and bank soil moisture.”

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, April 2022 was the 9th wettest April in Queensland on record.

University of Southern Queensland’s Northern Australian Climate Program Climatologist Dr Chelsea Jarvis said the large Autumn rains were likely influenced by the La Niña weather phenomenon.

“La Niña is what we call the wetter phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation where conditions in Australia are more conducive to rainfall,” Dr Chelsea Jarvis said.

“What La Niña means for existing drought declared regions is that there is an increased chance of those regions getting rainfall. The odds are in their favor,” Dr Jarvis said.

“Just because it is a La Niña doesn’t mean that it will rain everywhere. We do know the things that determine it are on shorter timescales, so things like local weather, low level winds, uneven heating and cooling of the land, as well as extra moisture being pushed in from the south - these all play a part, so we can predict the rainfall through modelling,” she said.

“But we’ve been in La Nina for three years now, and after we finish this La Nina cycle, we’ll probably go into a few neutral years and then we’ll go into an El Nino period which is dryer.”.

Bell grazier Terry Waters is no stranger to managing a mixed grazing operation through dry periods, having taken over ‘Taloumbi’ in 2014 and then weathering the drought for a number of years since.

“The biggest cost of the drought was the loss of production and limited numbers of stock. In the dry I would rather rest the pastures and reduce stock rather than buying feed - but reducing numbers ultimately reduces our profitability and creates a loss of production,” Terry Waters said.

“The country was pretty unproductive in its unimproved state before, so we had to make changes and improve it to get more production out of it,” Mr Waters said.

Bell land manager Terry Waters says his land was unproductive in its unimproved state. (Image: supplied Terry Waters)

“While it couldn't be a better year for planting pastures because of the rain - we needed to make a few small changes to improve the productivity of the land overall,” he said.

“We’ve been working with SQ Landscapes to improve our pastures through soil testing and choosing suitable pasture species. By doing so, we are increasing our production and consequently increasing the soil health through vegetation cover - so we can fare well through the next dry period,” he said.

After trialing the changes in a 37 hectare test paddock on Taloumbi, Mr Waters said his land condition score improved from 7% to 99% thanks to multispecies pastures and employing land rehydration techniques.

Terry Waters in his paddock showing great improvements following works with SQ Landscapes. (Images: supplied Terry Waters)

“By improving our pasture and getting the right mix for our land, we have lifted our production - double or tripled it due to the new pastures,” Mr Waters said.

“The other benefit of the pastures is that we’ve reduced the runoff. Water retention in these dry years has been really important, all our grass just keeps growing,” he said.

“The comparison between the improved country and non improved country is astounding really.”

To find out how you can increase your drought preparedness, contact Southern Queensland Landscapes and check out the resources down below.

SQNNSW Drought Resilience Hub Roma Node contact - Sherrill.Stivano@sqlandscapes.org.au
QRIDA - Drought support: https://www.qrida.qld.gov.au/drought-support
Individually droughted property (IDP) application guidelines https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/agriculture/disaster-recovery/drought/assistance-programs/guidelines-forms/individually-droughted-property#:~:text=A%20property%20can%20become%20drought,a%20property%20becomes%20drought%20declared
Long Paddock - Climate risk information for rural Queensland: https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/
The Northern Australian Climate Program - Climate Mates: https://www.nacp.org.au/

GrazingFutures Livestock Business Resilience improves drought preparedness and viability of Queensland livestock producers and is jointly funded by the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund and the Queensland Government.

Plan unifies community vision for future

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 23:51:52 GMT

A pathway to flourishing landscapes and healthy communities throughout Southern Queensland has been shared publicly after more than two years of community consultation.

Southern Queensland Landscapes facilitated the Natural Resource Management Plan project on behalf of the community through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Project Facilitator, Andrew Davidson said more than 200 people took part in the project from various communities, First Nations and organisations throughout the region and the journey to the Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities plan included 17 round table meetings, 3 regional workshops and countless hours of data collection and review.

“The community of Southern Queensland own this plan which is the story of how we will all work together to achieve flourishing landscapes and healthy communities now and for future generations,” Andrew Davidson said.

“Through this plan the community has said quite strongly that they want a more coordinated approach to supporting all the good things happening in the landscape throughout our region and how together a coordinated approach will help us achieve more and attract greater investment,” Mr Davidson said.

“There will be a lot of challenges ahead, but the key thing is that the community wants to break down silos and get different parts of the community, industry and government working together more towards a common goal,” he said.

“There is a great history in Southern Queensland of volunteer groups and the community working together with government and industry; but this is the first time a plan has taken in the whole of Southern Queensland and coordinated that approach to improving the health of the landscape and in turn our communities and economy.”

Project Facilitator Jenny Cameron said we are stewards of a very unique landscape that includes amazing plants and wildlife, some of which are only found in this part of the world; and that our landscapes produce food and fibre that helps feed and clothe the nation and the world.

“We have a connection to these landscapes - the places we live or like to visit, the history, memories, hopes and plans for the future,” Jenny Cameron said.

“We all live in the landscape and when it comes to contributing to the Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities plan, everyone is coming from a different starting point; we all have different issues, values and are operating at a different scale whether they be small backyards, large paddocks, communities, local government and even our state government,” Mrs Cameron said.

“But no matter where you sit in the community, you are probably already doing things that contribute to the Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities plan; so read the plan to celebrate the things you are doing and share your knowledge of how we can all contribute to good landscape stewardship and a flourishing future,” she said.

“Because each small action you make will collectively, along with the rest of the community, add up to big picture changes and we know collaboration on a larger scale can really make a difference.”

Click here to learn about the Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities plan.

Click here to read the full Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities plan .

Click here to read the summary of the Flourishing Landscapes, Healthy Communities plan.

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes, through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

SQ Landscapes connects with communities in Morven and Tambo

Thu, 05 May 2022 04:31:12 GMT

Not for profit, community owned natural resource management group, Southern Queensland Landscapes, will strengthen its ties with communities in western Queensland during May with the business’ full Board scheduled to visit Morven and Tambo.

Chair, the Honorable Bruce Scott AM said these ‘Community Conversations’ play an important role.

“We’ll be in Morven on the afternoon of the 10th and then Tambo on the afternoon of the 11th to meet with everyone from the local community and discuss business and natural resource management issues,” Bruce Scott said.

“It’s so important for us as an organisation to understand the aspirations of a community and together plan how we can work with them on their journey to achieve their goals,” Mr Scott said.

“You see we don’t go to communities and tell them what they want; we want to head out to the communities and connect with them, engage with them and listen to their stories and discover what problems they might have that we might be able to help resolve together,” he said.

“We are on a journey as an organisation and I am keen as the Chair to bring people together with us on that journey and together create bigger and better communities overall.”

And it’s not just natural resource management issues SQ Landscapes is interested in understanding and exploring.

“Our mandate as an organisation is to drive flourishing landscapes, and achieving healthy viable communities is part of a successful formula in that endeavour so we want to meet and hear from as many local businesses and service providers that we can in the towns as well,” Bruce Scott said.

“Investing in and supporting regional towns is so important to us which is why we stay overnight, have our meals in the community and utilise as many of the small businesses that we can for our needs while in town,” Mr Scott said.

“I guess by doing that we are demonstrating our commitment to the community by listening and taking people with us on the journey, to be part of the journey; it’s a partnership,” he said.

“There are people who have not engaged with us in the past and we are very keen to hear from them about what they want to achieve and together work towards transforming the landscape; and certainly with better commodity prices and better seasons there is more confidence than ever from people wanting to make an investment in the sustainability of their country and their communities.”

SQ Landscapes is also keen to collaborate with other natural resource management groups.

“We actually share a boundary with our sister organisation Desert Channels up around the Tambo area so with this common boundary there are so many common issues and the Tambo Community Conversation will be an opportunity for both organisations to meet with the community together and share knowledge and see where we can appropriately collaborate and work across the landscape,” Bruce Scott said.

“We are also hoping to talk to school students from the local schools and connect them with habitat areas so that they can discover and learn first hand from ecosystems in their own communities; and as such we have been reaching out to the principals to let them know we are coming and explore ways in which we can work together,” Mr Scott said.

“We’re also there to learn from the community; I know in Tambo and Morven both communities have established an incredible landscape of native Mitchell Grass and just about rid the country of introduced predators like foxes, feral cats and wild dogs; so we’re keen to learn about how they have collectively achieved that, and discover how this is beneficial to the soil and how it translates into carbon improvements because a successful model can be translated to other parts of the landscape and we can share that knowledge with a wider audience,” he said

“At the end of the day the issues are local and we want to hear about how we can help and assist communities to achieve what they want to achieve.”

The Morven Community Conversation will be held at the Information Centre on the Warrego Highway on Tuesday 10 May 2022 from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.

Meanwhile the Tambo Community Conversation will be held at the Tambo Tavern at 29-31 Arthur Street on Wednesday 11 May 2022 from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Anyone interested in attending the Community Conversations in Morven or Tambo should RSVP to companysecretary@sqlandscapes.org.au detailing which meeting you would like to attend or phone (07) 4620 0111.

Program takes classroom to creek in bid to save fish

Thu, 05 May 2022 04:19:49 GMT

Golden Guitar winning Australian Country Music artist, Josh Arnold has teamed up with students from Killarney P-10 State School to write and produce a music video aimed at highlighting the plight of a tiny native fish at risk of localised extinction.

River blackfish (or Nikki Long Cod as they’re known by the locals) have been in severe decline across the entire Murray-Darling Basin; and scientists believe the headwaters of the Condamine, near Killarney, is home to the last populations in Queensland.

Click the WATCH VIDEO button below to see Josh and the students of Killarney State School sing about what we can do to help save the river blackfish.

And don't forget to support Josh and the kids by giving them a like up on the YouTube video and sharing ‘Little Nikki Long Cod’ with your own networks to help support them in their quest to drive change and save the river blackfish.

You an also download the song for FREE on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon.

Current expert opinion finds that river blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus), the target species for this Recovery Reach, are experiencing severe decline across the entire Murray-Darling Basin and are highly vulnerable to localised extinctions. Thus, the upper Condamine headwaters, being a cool upland area still containing essential habitat, is considered critical for maintaining blackfish presence in Queensland if not the wider Basin.

Over two years, Southern Queensland Landscapes will work with land managers to undertake actions on their properties that will reduce sedimentation and increase thermal habitat in streams where blackfish persist to maintain their presence.

To find out more about the Blackfish Project click the LEARN MORE button below.

Composted manure does have a place in commercial farming

Thu, 05 May 2022 03:45:33 GMT

That’s the word from Elders Technical Services which recently ran a trial of different soil treatments to find two in the top five best performers were composted manure products with added biologicals produced locally on the Darling Downs.

Elders Technical Services Manager for Queensland, Northern Territory and Northern New South Wales, Maree Crawford said the findings were important given the current high prices and limited availability of traditional synthetic soil treatments and the focus on sustainability through healthy soils.

“We tested a range of different treatments including composts, conventional synthetic fertilisers, seed treatments, new age bacteria and fungi and multiple forms of biologicals through the trials in a replicated randomised plot design,” Maree Crawford said.

“And these research and development trials measured a whole host of performance indicators including crop vigour, pest and disease tolerance, soil health, microbial diversity pre/during and post application, carbon changes and ease of application to name but a few,” Ms Crawford said.

“And what we found was that out of the top five best performing products four were not your traditional synthetic fertilisers; two being a seed treatment and the other two commercially produced composted manure products enhanced with biological bacteria and micronutrients,” she said.

“That being said the composted manures were quite unique in their recipes or compositional makeup and included synergistic biologics or specially selected soil bacterias and silica additives.”

One of the surprises in the trial was the composted manure's ability to support crop stress.

“Through the compatibility trials we found the biologicals in the biologically enhanced composted manure absolutely mitigated stress impacts on the crop and were very symbiotic and compatible with fungicides and insecticides,” Maree Crawford said.

“When we extrapolated out the return on investment or value proposition of incorporating these manure composts into crop production we found that the cost per hectare was $13 additional dollars but the uplift in income per hectare was $626.86 in comparison to the untreated control,” Ms Crawford said.

“So in other words the untreated control achieved 3.2 tonnes per hectare of wheat, whereas the biologically enhanced composted plots achieved 5.119 tonnes per hectare, which with wheat currently at around $325 per tonne they were making an extra $626.86 per hectare; now that’s a significant uplift,” she said.

“I think the role biologically enhanced composted manure will play in the future is about sustainability, where it is used to provide that interface between nutrients and uptake and enhance the effectiveness of fertilisers while at the same time reducing the amount of conventional fertilisers people need to use.”

The trials indicate it was the combination of activated soil bacteria and micronutrients together with the composted manure which made the nutrients more available to plants.

“The composted manures used varied formulations and the treatment with no biological enhancement was calculated to not adequately supply sufficient nutrients to the crop especially N (nitrogen) during rapid growth phases, thereby evidenced by yield and protein differences,” Maree Crawford said.

“We also found that there was a direct correlation to less disease in the crop, enhanced plant health, early plant vigour and that from a crop growth status stage those crops in the biologically enhanced compost were always two leaf stages ahead of everything else,” Ms Crawford said.

“Compost absolutely has a place in commercial farming, but its not without challenges and application is one of them because you don’t just spread it on, you actually need to get it incorporated into the soil and we need to do some more work on how we can efficiently and effectively get it into the soil profile without losing the efficacy of the product while at the same time protecting the biologicals,” she said.

“So next step, which is already underway, is to explore through trials on winter cereal crops what is the best placement and methods to incorporate composted manure into the soil profile.”

“I don’t think it will be for everyone and it’s not going to replace conventional fertilisers entirely but it does have a place definitely in horticulture and sugar cane and summer cereals and potentially cotton.”

Results from these trials will be made publicly available in the future.

Image - Camm Agricultural Group Chief Executive Officer, Bryce Camm pictured in front of cultivation being spread with composted manure ahead of planting of a winter cereal cro p.

Podcast of the Month

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 23:02:45 GMT

Great Listening July! … Regenerative Agriculture

Drawing on his own experience, and interviewing peers and a wide range of industry leaders and experts his listener numbers continue to grow.

LISTEN NOW: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/farms-advice-agribusiness-podcast/id1517590016

My favourite episode so far is "3 Challenges for Australian Grain Producers"; it gave me a better understanding of the current situation of the grains industry. He teams up with Michael Madden with 37 years farming experience as well as active advocacy roles with bodies such as Grain Producers Australia and NSWFA Biosecurity Committee. Michael talks about his own background in farming and how after a serious farm injury he became more involved with the agribusiness side of farming and industry bodies. He and Jack discuss what he considers the 3 main challenges:

Supply chain issues
Biosecurity
Labour issues

I encourage you to listen to Jack's podcast and let me know if you enjoy it or learn something new!

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/farms-advice-agribusiness-podcast/id1517590016

Great Listening June! … Farm Life & Regenerative Agriculture

Being an avid listener of ABC Western Qld, it’s important to me to know the issues facing our region, but more importantly to hear new opinions and science emerging across South-West Queensland. Now that I have introduced myself to podcasts, I can add this to my repertoire and have something new to do while driving around our patch! I reckon podcasts are like news on steroids - podcasts can take you on that extra journey and help you understand the often complicated subjects of landcare, farm life and regenerative agriculture.

The podcast I chose is by SBS Radio called The Uluru Statement from The Heart. It’s a topic set to gain further momentum following newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's recent pledge to honour The Uluru Statement. The Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for a referendum to provide constitutional recognition for a representative body that gives First Nations peoples a voice to the Commonwealth Parliament.

LISTEN NOW: https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/english-the-uluru-statement-from-the-heart

Indigenous and non-Indigenous people would agree that there is something special about living on the land, being connected to place and Country - the land is in our blood, regardless of our heritage.

The past few years have been very challenging for us all, drought, flood, and fire. Climate Change is what future generations of Australians will grapple with, a true test of resilience and adaptation.

The Uluru Statement from The Heart will be historic for all Australians to reimagine our nation. The door is open to explore and combine Western Scientific Knowledge with First Nations Knowledge and set a true course to healing our nation, its citizens and it will bring together our two worlds with 60,000 years of culture as a gift for all future generations.

LISTEN NOW: https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/english-the-uluru-statement-from-the-heart

LISTEN IN LANGUAGE: https://www.sbs.com.au/language/ulurustatement

I encourage you to share your favourite regenerative agriculture or farm life podcasts with us by emailing me at jackson.shillingsworth@sqlandscapes.org.au .

Great Listening May! … Farm Life & Regenerative Agriculture

Dr Ron Ehrlich has been running Unstress with Dr John Ehrlich for some time now. In this podcast, he talks about the relationship between stress and health.

At all ages, our health is the key to everything we do. I don’t ‘have time to be sick’. The topics that Ron covers are varied, backed by scientific research. Stress is a killer - so it's important to do everything we can to reduce it in our lives!

One of the big questions posed in this episode is - what activities do we do for ourselves that helps us de-stress? ‘ Walking – Make it the habit of a lifetime ’, talks about the pace of walking, the speed of walking and what walking indicates about our health. Walking is a slow and time consuming activity for us to chat to our partner or loved one. Life is so busy, so slowing things down enables us to think, to get oxygen streaming through our bodies, enabling our bodily systems to clean themselves through a good old-fashioned sweat! It’s also good to look, listen, smell and feel something different, feel the rain on our face as we are engulfed by nature!

LISTEN NOW: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/healthy-bite-walking-make-it-the-habit-of-a-lifetime/id1333795919?i=1000540688331

I love walking – whether it be along the beach, in the rainforest, or just walking to the shops for a few groceries. I have a 9 kilometre beach walk that I do each morning when I can, and I’ve always enjoyed walking in the salt air. There are so many amazing things, funny things, beautiful things to see, smell, touch, and be immersed within when you are walking. Walking can slow you down, change your attitude, allow you to be grateful for the day you are living – because it is the only one you have at the time … waves crashing, kids giggling, dogs running in circles, smiles on faces, older people enjoying the outdoors at their own pace, the colours and textures of the bush, cymbidium orchid flowers hanging out of the fork in the tree, the musty smell of wet leaves, crisp winter mornings where you have to get moving or get cold.

What are your favourite walks? Do you walk regularly and with who? Is walking your ‘me time’?

I encourage you to share your favorite regenerative agriculture or farm life podcasts with us by emailing me at keith.walker@sqlandscapes.org.au

Great Listening April! … Regenerative Agriculture

Ground Cover is a series of nine podcasts exploring real life stories of Australian farmers who have chosen to move from conventional farming to regenerative agriculture. Click on the image or link below to listen now!

LISTEN NOW: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ground-cover/id1479675823

My favourite is Episode 1 of Ground Cover. This one features Charles Massy, a well-known author and academic, who discusses life on-farm during a long drought in the 1980s. Charles says that he began to think about how a major shift in thinking was needed to repair the land and to enable agriculture to be regenerative rather than destructive.

Charles also wrote ‘Call of the Reed Warbler’ as a way of helping others to understand the need for regenerative practices by showcasing other innovative farmers, so this episode of Ground Cover with Charles Massy goes down as my favorite in the series!

I encourage you to share your favorite regenerative agriculture podcasts with us by emailing me at anita.erba@sqlandscapes.org.au .

How a closer look at a common frog ended in the discovery of a new species

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 02:00:03 GMT

It was a typical February morning after an evening of steady, soaking rain at Hodgson Vale near Toowoomba when I headed to the gauge to see how many millimetres we’d had overnight.

A good 25mm and some; and as I tipped the rain water out of the overflow receptacle a tiny frog slid out of the gauge and into my upturned hand.

It was about three centimeters long and beautifully mottled in camouflage browns and greys with very distinct yellow toe pads. I wondered how on earth it had gotten into the rain gauge; but it was so pretty I took it up to the house to show the kids.

We thought it was probably native but we weren’t sure; and we thought it could be pretty cool to see if we could find out what kind of frog it was; and maybe even learn what its call was like so we could keep an eye and ear out for any of his friends.

We have a large dam near the house and after good rainfall it is always a cacophony of frog calls, bleats, screeches and barks. And we wondered if this frog had strayed from the dam and which noisy call he and his friends were responsible for.

So we took a series of photographs hoping we might be able to get an identification. And when I got to work at Southern Queensland Landscapes I sent the photographs to Queensland Museum’s Discovery Centre and waited for a response.

Within the week we received the following email from Queensland Museum Information Officer, Steve Wilson:

“Your frog is a Slender Bleating Tree Frog (Litoria balatus). Interestingly, this frog was only described as a new species in 2021, even though it is common throughout south-eastern Qld,” Steve Wilson wrote.

“Up until last year, the Bleating Tree Frog (Litoria dentata) was assumed to be widespread from eastern Victoria to southern Queensland. However, using call analysis and genetics, scientists discovered there are actually three species involved; a northern, central and southern. The northern ones needed a new name, so this was published last year,” he said.

“It just goes to show how new species are not always discovered by expeditions to remote places. They can be discovered by having a closer look at what is under our noses.”

We were rather tickled to learn that this handsome little fellow was a Slender Bleating Tree Frog and only newly described as a species in its own right in 2021. We were also further surprised to to discover that he is one of Australia’s loudest frogs which explains why we can’t hear the television over the bleating following rain.

To read about how scientists used frog calls and DNA to discover that the loudest Australian frog is not one…but three different species including our Slender Bleating Tree Frog, click here: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/surprise-discovery-two-new-very-loud-frog-species

To listen to their calls and to download a FREE frog app click the links below:

https://australian.museum/blog/amri-news/bleating-or-screaming/

https://australian.museum/get-involved/citizen-science/frogid/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA09eQBhCxARIsAAYRiym-igndeXqilyplE7L2X4Q25f4bF7q7Y8QBWzr6mUVLF87OpwSstMEaAjpxEALw_wcB

Many thanks to Queensland Museum for their Discovery Centre service. If you have a frog or other native animal you want identified, visit: https://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Explore/Find+out+about/Ask+an+Expert/Ask+a+Question

Article written by Media, Marketing & Communication Lead, Kellie Stewart

Federally funded fencing projects protect waterways & native animals

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 00:00:26 GMT

More than 500km of fencing paid for by the Federal Government is being rolled out across private properties in the Murray-Darling Basin in a bid to better protect the area's waterways and native animals.

Local natural resource management group Southern Queensland Landscapes, is delivering the funding to land managers through the Queensland Government’s Fencing Northern Riverbanks Program (QLD).

Iain Bucknell is one of 66 land managers who secured funding through the now fully committed program for around three kilometres of fencing along Hodgson Creek on his Cambooya property; and said the assistance has been very welcome.

“The program paid for the raw material to fence along the creek and then we supported that investment by installing the fencing ourselves,” Iain Bucknell said.

“The reason why I wanted to fence along the creek was to protect the native reeds (Phragmites australis), which play a very important role in the hydrology of the creek, stabilising the creek banks during flood events and filtering water,” Mr Bucknell said

“It’s hugely important for the health of our property to protect the creek fronts first and foremost, manage the movement of our stock in these very sensitive areas and control how and when they water and graze,” he said.

“In addition to the three kilometres of fencing, we also got funding to install off-stream watering points which included troughs and a solar pump; which has meant we are now able to keep stock a good 400 metres out of the riparian zone.”

Meanwhile, Land Manager Barbara George was driven to take part in the project to protect breeding platypus in the Condamine River on her Killarney property.

“In 2021 we organised a survey of 22 kilometres of river frontage to see how many platypus were in that stretch and during that period we recorded 13 platypus,” Barbara George said.

“They’re there now…but we need to protect them because they are listed as near threatened; and when we found out we had a female breeding on the stretch of river adjacent to our property we wanted to fence off the creek and make sure the cattle were out of that area; especially during platypus nesting season because we learnt that it is very easy for cattle to put their hoof through a nest which is burrowed just 20 centimetres under the surface,” Mrs George said.

“We were able to access funding through the Northern Basin Riverbanks Project to install 500 metres of fencing and also employed a local fencing contractor to help my husband install the fence above the trees along the riverbanks,” she said.

“It’s amazing how quickly the vegetation has returned without the cattle in there and the riverbanks now look very beautiful and natural, the sort of stuff platypus’ really love; and we can now let the cattle back into that paddock without risk to the platypus’ or the riverbank.”

The Australian Government funded Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Project (Qld) is a $7.5 million investment to support works to benefit farmers and fish. Southern Queensland Landscapes with support from the Queensland Government has been working with local communities, Aboriginal organisations and land managers to deliver the project before June 2023.

SQ Landscapes Business Coordinator of Operations, Leanne Stevens said from 120 applications, 66 land managers have signed contracts to install 538km of fencing across five catchments.

“These are just the first people to complete fencing under the project and really the first stories we are hearing about as land managers share the benefits of being involved in this project and why they’ve chosen to fence their waterways,” Leanne Stevens said.

“Healthy and diverse riparian vegetation helps to moderate air and water temperatures, reduce stream bank erosion and maintain stable stream function; allowing native fish to thrive,” Mrs Stevens said.

“But there are also many benefits to farmers including better control of stock; the protection of sensitive vegetation corridors which can be used as an emergency feed banks during drought with strict management protocols in place; improved water health through reduced erosion, sedimentation and compaction; and improved weed management through reduced traffic which aids weed seed dispersal,” she said.

“It’s really pleasing to hear that native reeds (Phragmites australis) and native platypus are two of the beneficiaries of the work to date and we look forward to sharing more success stories as more projects are completed.”

To find out more about the Northern Basin Fencing Project and to stay up to date with land managers stories visit https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/northern-basin-riverbanks-program

The Australian Government funded Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Program (QLD) is a $7.5 million dollar investment to support works to benefit farmers and fish. Southern Queensland Landscapes with support from the Queensland Government, is working with local communities, Aboriginal organisations and riparian land managers to deliver the program before June 2023.

Drought Resilience Node Launches at Roma

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 01:30:03 GMT

Thriving industries and communities is the goal of a new drought resilience-focused shopfront in Roma, launched today (8 March) by Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud.

Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub Director Professor John McVeigh said the new Roma Node would help ensure proven drought-resilience research was applied “on the ground”.

“The SQNNSW Hub, is one of eight nationally funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund,” Professor McVeigh said.

“The Hubs are about considering drought as not just a rainfall issue, but rather taking a holistic approach to landscape management, to supporting business and innovation, and the wellbeing of communities and people,” Professor McVeigh said.

Natural Resource Management Group, Southern Queensland Landscapes will be hosting the new Roma Node shopfront on behalf of the SQNNSW Hub.

Chief Executive Officer Paul McDonald said SQ Landscapes was pleased to collaborate with USQ and the Australian Government to deliver meaningful services to the community.

“The Roma Node will be a place that locals can come to and seek advice and assistance in their work to drive healthy sustainable landscapes, businesses and ultimately communities,” Paul McDonald said.

“With extensive experience in the region already and a network of professional knowledge to draw from in the areas of soil conservation, vegetation, water, biodiversity, weeds and pests; SQ Landscapes is ready to help land managers further develop their drought resilience and access funding and services to enable them to maximise opportunities through the Roma Node located at 21 Major Street in Roma,” Mr McDonald said.

“It’s initiatives like this that really make a difference at the grass-roots level and we’re certainly very excited to be part of a program that provides that much needed support and extension work that our land managers have been asking for,” he said.

Professor McVeigh said all of the Hub’s activities would focus on supporting and bringing together those already working on drought resilience, agricultural innovation and wellbeing.

“There are plenty of techniques and research outcomes already, that we have to continue to extend to our communities. My generation has farmed differently to my parents and my grandparents, and so too will the next generation.”

The USQ-led SQNNSW Hub is one of eight national Hubs, a flagship of the multi-billion-dollar Future Drought Fund. The Australian Government is investing $10 million in the University of Southern Queensland-led Hub over four years, with more than $10 million in contributions from Hub Members and Network Partners, including Southern Queensland Landscapes.

The Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub has received funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. Find out more at usq.edu.au/sqnnswhub .

Strategic baiting & high community involvement drives dog numbers down in Paroo

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 20:00:14 GMT

Paroo Shire Council has seen 90% less dog scalps submitted for bounty claims this financial year compared to last.

Rural Lands Compliance Officer Colin Ickeringill said council’s coordinated baiting program and high levels of community engagement are driving dog numbers down; and these results are further supported by land manager reports indicating unseasonably low wild dog activity.

“Back in 2020/2021 we had 250 dog scalps submitted to council for bounty claim and so far this year we have had 26 for the 21/22 financial year. That’s a dramatic decrease,” Colin Ickeringill said.

“Land holder participation is probably the biggest part of why our baiting program is successful and we currently have 80-90 individual properties out of 138 within the shire taking part in one or both of the baiting periods council coordinates each year,” Mr Ickeringill said.

“That’s a high participation rate and really important from the perspective that to affect change on the ground when dealing with dog populations you need to attack it on a landscape level,” he said.

“These campaigns are also coordinated with our neighbouring shires and baiting is staggered so we don’t just shift the dog problem from one region to another; Balonne Shire usually kicks off first and then two weeks later the next Shire starts baiting and so on and so on.”

Autumn baiting in Paroo Shire is due to get underway on May 14.

“Yeah, there’s two council coordinated baiting cycles each year; one in Autumn and the other at the end of October/early November in Spring,” Mr Ickeringill said.

“We strategically target these times because in Autumn when the female dogs are cycling there is a lot of movement of dogs as they look for mates; and in October any pups they have produced have usually left the den and are starting to roam,” he said.

“So we try to get them when they are breeding and then again when they are young and naive.”

Council distributes the majority of bait on behalf of land managers in the Paroo Shire.

“We are expecting to put out about 13 tonnes of meat and most of that will be delivered by plane with about 12 tonnes being distributed that way and the remaining one tonne distributed by land managers themselves,” Mr Ickeringill said.

“There are six Area Managers for this region, coordinated through the Wild Dog Advisory Committee, and land managers give those reps their meat quantities and discuss problem areas on their properties and this information then gets passed to council,” he said.

“Pilots provide GPS mapping of where those baits have been distributed and those maps are then provided back to land managers so they can manage their on-ground operations around that.”

While dogs are the main target of council’s coordinated baiting program, fox populations are also impacted.

“Foxes are less of a problem in Paroo Shire than wild dogs so we don’t specifically target foxes through a coordinated baiting program,” Mr Ickeringill said.

“That being said we find any foxes that are out there are generally mopped up at the same time as the dogs,” he said.

“We also do ad hoc baiting programs for individual land holders outside the two campaigns council coordinates each year; So, land managers having issues with wild dogs or foxes can contact their local council and discuss a variety of control measures.”

NRM Group Southern Queensland Landscapes also work with Paroo Shire to target baiting in and around the RAMSAR listed Currawinya National Park.

And this year that work will be complimented by a collaring program which will map seasonal movements of pigs and dogs throughout the landscape surrounding the park.

“About 24 properties immediately surrounding Currawinya in Lower Paroo annually take part in the baiting program with an area of 636,058 hectares being covered,” Mr Ickeringill said.

Land managers interested in finding out more or wanting to participate should contact Paroo Shire Council: https://www.paroo.qld.gov.au/contact-us/home

Auxiliary Firefighters wanted throughout SW Queensland

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 03:00:03 GMT

There are few places across this great state our auxiliary firefighters can’t reach.

In the South Western Region – one of the largest in Queensland – there are 470 auxiliary firefighters covering more than 400,000 square kilometres, willing to lend a hand at a moment’s notice.

Now, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services is looking for more enthusiastic, dedicated people of all ages to join its auxiliary ranks in the South Western Region.

Auxiliary firefighters are an integral part of their local communities, balancing full-time employment and family with fire service training and response to emergencies, while also running community education and school visits.

They are fully trained and employed on an on-call basis, responding to structure and grass fires, chemical incidents, traffic crashes and ambulance assists.

It is a role that is both physically and mentally challenging, with Queensland’s auxiliary firefighters dealing with intense and confronting scenarios.

This could include working in confined spaces, wearing breathing apparatus, or dealing with casualties.

The good news is that if you are up to lending a hand in times of need, you can get paid to do it.

Anyone who is an Australian or NZ citizen or Australian permanent resident, who has held a manual C class licence for at least one year or holds a manual medium rigid licence, and is at least 18 years old can be an auxiliary firefighter.

You will need to provide evidence of either a current blue card or be eligible to apply for a blue card and live within a reasonable distance of an auxiliary fire station so that you are able to respond quickly when required.

For further information you can visit the QFES website https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/careers-and-volunteering/fire-rescue-and-operations/auxiliary-firefighter or phone (07) 4592 5222.

Art Competition Helps Heal Aboriginal people and Country

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 04:15:03 GMT

“To heal Country we have to heal ourselves.”

That’s the advice from Oakey based Aboriginal artist Damon Miri Anderson as he paints his entry into Southern Queensland Landscapes’ inaugural First Nations’ Art Competition.

With less than 8 weeks until entries close; the Wakka Wakka, Gomeroi and Kulilli artist said he’s excited to share the story of his people through his painting and encourages other artists throughout the region to also enter and celebrate culture and Country.

“My painting is representing me and my connection to my totems,” Damon Miri Anderson said.

“The totems create balance on the landscape, and my three totems, Bunya nuts, Gabul (snake) and Kutgi (sand goanna), are important to me and my culture, so I wanted to paint them for my submission,” Mr Anderson said.

Artist Damon Miri Anderson is putting the finishing touches on his painting.

“I have always done painting. Ever since I was a kid, I would watch my uncle paint and he inspired me. I was also inspired by all the stories that the art is based on,” he said.

This is the first year SQ Landscapes has hosted the event and Mr Anderson said the theme ‘Heal Country’ was significant to him and his culture.

“To Heal Country, we have to heal ourselves. The best medicine for Aboriginal people is being on Country, sitting on a riverbank, listening to the water flow by and listening to the sounds of the animals,” Mr Anderson said.

“I have always been connected to my culture. But my parents and aunties and uncles were not always, because back then it was still shameful to be an Aboriginal person, and there was still a lot of stigma around it,” he said.

Recalling his childhood, Mr Anderson said he learnt a lot about his culture from his grandmother.

“My grandmother was a bit secretive and protective of her stories and she wouldn't tell my aunties or family members, and they would always ask about the stories and she would say why’d ya wanna know that for ?” Mr Anderson said.

“But I started hanging out with mob from North Stradbroke Island (Nunukul, Quandamooka) and learning from them, their stories, their dances and their language. And I would come home and I'd tell my grandmother about what I'd be doing. I’d ask her about the similarities in the language and she’d agree with me. She knew the language,” he said.

“So she saw that I had an interest in it, and then she started teaching me her songs, her language and her stories - and it was special because no one else got to hear them. So when I would sing, she would follow along with the words in language and everyone would be shocked and say how does he get to know that ?!”

The First Nations’ Art Competition is open to artists who identify as First People’s from the 28 Nations in the SQ Landscapes region; which stretches from Toowoomba west to Charleville, north to Tambo and south to the New South Wales border.

There’s more than $8,000 in prizes to be won and Mr Anderson said he encourages Aboriginal people thinking about entering to ‘just give it a go’.

“I know heaps of Aboriginal artists who feel shame about their art and don't think they are good enough,” Mr Anderson said.

“But it's not about being good at the art, it's about the story that’s behind it and the main way for communication for Aboriginal people is through their art” he said.

Artists can enter now until the 22nd April 2022 via https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/first-nations-art-competition or by calling 07 4621 1011.

First contract signed in $6.6M project

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 22:45:14 GMT

Irrigators throughout the northern Murray-Darling Basin have signaled their backing of a $6.6M Federal Government project to protect native fish with the first land manager contract signed.

Project coordinators Southern Queensland Landscapes are delivering the Fish Friendly Water Extraction project on behalf of the Queensland government.

Principal Project Officer Tim Vale said the project has real benefits for both fish and farmers and delivers on the promises of the Commonwealth’s ‘Toolkit’ of environmental works and measures for the northern Basin.

“On the first of December the Federal Minister for Resources & Water, the Hon Keith Pitt MP and Queensland Minister for Water, the Hon Glenn Butcher MP announced the project with a view of protecting millions of fish in the northern Murray-Darling Basin,” Tim Vale said.

Principal Project Officer Tim Vale will be working with land managers to install fish-friendly water pumps.

“The flow on effect of this tremendous initiative is that it will also reduce costly maintenance and downtime for irrigators; reduce energy consumption saving irrigators money on fuel and electricity bills; and improve water delivery to crops thereby increasing yields and return on investment; which equates to a win-win-win-win for both farmers and fish,” Mr Vale said.

"While today marks the first contract signed in the northern Basin there are several more waiting for final approvals and we are confident of having at least three pump screens in three reaches of the Basin by June,” he said.

Federal Minister for Resources and Water, the Hon. Keith Pitt MP accelerated delivery of the project to ensure benefits could reach communities more rapidly and show the environmental benefits that can be achieved from relatively low-tech, common sense fish protection measures.

“We don’t need all farmers to install pump screens – but those who do will certainly contribute to the positive outcomes for native fish,” Minister Pitt said.

Queensland Minister for Water, Glenn Butcher welcomed the opportunity to work collaboratively across multiple agencies on this important project.

“We know this project will deliver benefits for the environment and for irrigators and this is a practical way that governments can work together to deliver improved outcomes,” Glenn Butcher said.

“I’m really proud of this project and our involvement and congratulate the first landholders on their foresight to sign up to this program,” Minister Butcher said.

Irrigators in the Border Rivers, Lower Balonne and Condamine catchments will be invited to monitor the success of the project and take part in demonstration days with the view of installing their own fish friendly pump screens.

To learn more about the project visit: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/native-fish-friendly-water-extraction .

Cash for soil data

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 05:56:31 GMT

A new Australian Government program launched this week will see farmers and other land managers receive payment in exchange for sharing their historical soil test data.

Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, David Littleproud said $21 million would be available to land managers wanting to contribute their soil data to a national database.

“The Historical Soil Data Capture Payments Program is part of the National Soil Strategy which aims to build knowledge for land managers to benchmark their soil against regional or type averages,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We know there is a lot of privately held soil data captured for agricultural management and other purposes. This program aims to gather and preserve soil data and make it centrally and publicly available for others to use.

“Better soil data will lead to improved research, technology and policy outcomes and will benefit all Australians. The Australian Government is seeking suitably qualified service providers to act as data brokers to help deliver the program.

“An industry briefing will be held on 16 February to inform agronomists, advisers, soil testing service providers and others about the opportunity to be data brokers.

“Once selected, data brokers will work with land managers to source soil data that has been collected and tested using approved testing methods in a laboratory.”

Land managers can contribute their data when the Program launches by engaging with Data Brokers. Information and participating Data Brokers details will be published here . Tender will go live at 2pm AEDT today, information will be here .

Fast Facts:

The Historical Soil Data Capture Payment Program aims to:
increase the amount of soil data available for all Australians to use
support land managers to obtain soil information to increase productivity and profitability and monitor soil health, and to access new market opportunities such as agriculture stewardship
reduce the loss of high-quality historic soil data and make them accessible through a national soil database.
The funding is part of the $214.9 million Australian Government investment in the National Soil Package and implementation of the National Soil Strategy which includes initiatives for enhancing soil carbon.

Lessons learnt from using posts and wire to curb wild dogs

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 23:59:31 GMT

A recent report from the National Wild Dog Action Plan claims lamb survival rates have jumped from 30 to 100 per cent thanks to wild dog exclusion fencing on one western Queensland sheep station.

The Banks family runs a 22,000 head self-replacing Merino flock protected by 120km of exclusion fencing on 48,500ha 100km west of Blackall.

The family has found the fence is not the total answer to the problem with their wild dog monitoring and control program ongoing as incursions continue.

Lamb mortality and lice treatment is down in the Bank family flock post exclusion fencing on their Blackall station.

Co-principal Ben Banks said wild dogs had not been completely eradicated from the property but the enterprise was still well in front of where it was six years ago.

The reduction in stress on the ewes has meant conception, lambing and marking rates, and wool cuts have all increased while attacks have fallen.

“Our lamb mortalities have diminished hugely –in 2012 we were getting lambing percentages down around 20-30 per cent on scanning,” Ben said.

“In 2016 after the fence went up, we marked and weaned 100 per cent – prior to the fence we wouldn’t have dreamt of achieving that.

“Prior to fencing we were trapping, baiting and shooting. Four of us were spending 25 per cent of our time on wild dog control.”

The entire property was fenced by the end of 2015 at a cost of $8,000-$8500/km using their own labour.

“Now we are budgeting for a five foot high (1.5m) fence closer to $10,000/km,” Ben said.

“It is a five foot netting fence if starting from scratch but if retrofitting an existing fence we put four foot netting with two barbs on top to take it to a five foot high fence.

“All our external fencing has a 30cm apron – after six years the wild dogs are starting to outsmart it and we are getting a lot more intrusions than when it first went up.

“At the start it really curbed the numbers but in recent times the dogs have started to work these fences out and they are now going over and digging under them.”

Ben said there had been no need to treat the flock for lice for the past two years.

“That is purely because we have the fence up and we have complete control over our stock – that has saved us $35,000-$40,000 a year.

“We are in a cluster with one neighbour and no other feral fences coming off our fence anywhere but now two big places on the outside of us are fencing.

“This will be huge for us as it is another barrier outside – that is happening everywhere throughout western Queensland.”

Reduced stress on eyes from attacks has meant conception, lambing and marking rates, and wool cuts have all increased.

As a commercial sheep pregnancy scanner, Ben has noted increasing sheep numbers within existing wool enterprises in western Queensland partly due to exclusion fencing.

“If you take Dorpers and goats into it, there is certainly a lot more small stock back in the region,” he said.

Ben has also observed more native animals and birds on the family property since the cell was completed.

National Wild Dog Management Coordinator Greg Mifsud said as the amount of exclusion fences increase, there is risk of a reduced emphasis on ongoing baiting and control programs outside of the fences.

“This is a real and ongoing issue with large numbers of wild dogs using unfenced areas and stock routes – some of those areas are quite problematic for management,” Mr Mifsud said.

“For those landholders on the periphery of exclusion fencing, if those wild dog control programs aren’t being delivered, then they are the ones at the greatest risk.

“Wild dog control is a shared responsibility – just because landholders may be inside other exclusion fences, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be contributing to the control program as part of a shire.”

To watch a video produced by Leading Sheep and Australian Wool Innovation of Ben Bank’s tips on exclusion fencing click here .

For more information on the National Wild Dog Action Plan click the link below.

DNA the Answer to Reducing Fox Numbers

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 02:32:27 GMT

Understanding fox genetics and how skulks are related will provide the answers to reducing pest numbers.

That’s according to Macquarie University PhD student Will Ashley who is currently leading research in the area of fox genetics through ‘AusFox’; a volunteer based program gathering European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) DNA samples from throughout Australia.

“Over three years AusFox together with Macquarie University's Conservation Genetic Lab aims to find out how fox populations are related and what landscape features, if any, impede their movement and dispersal,” Mr Ashley said.

Macquarie University PhD student Will Ashley studies fox genetics for his project 'AusFox'.

“Then we’ll take this information and use it to predict how disease will spread through foxes in Australia and furthermore identify the best management approach to control fox populations,” Mr Ashley said.

“So how it works is that we are collecting tissue samples from fox carcasses with the help of volunteers, and from these samples we’ll extract and sequence DNA to create a genetic database,” he said.

“Then we will analyse the data to assess relatedness, dispersal and connectivity and from that we will be able to perform modeling to predict the best way to reduce their impact on human health, the environment and our economy.”

The total annual cost of foxes to the Australian environment and economy is estimated to be $227.5 million.

“AusFox is building on previous research conducted by the Cooperative Research Centre for Pest Animal Control in Canberra which estimates fox populations at more than 8-million throughout Australia, highlighting the significant damage these pests cause to native species and agriculture,” Will Ashley said.

“But for anyone who thinks this is a problem for rural Australia only, they’re wrong because this research found that the density of foxes was actually greater in urban areas than rural areas with around 14 foxes per square kilometre in urban areas, as opposed to 1 fox per square km in rural areas,” Mr Ashley said.

“So studying the genetics of ferals in Australia is a burgeoning market that really needs to be explored in more detail; particularly with the information it can add and the impacts it will have for management options,” he said.

Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett with Conservation Detector Dog Rocky and the Gidarjil Bundaberg Land and Sea Rangers .

Meanwhile, Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett is collecting samples for the AusFox project in the Bundaberg to Agnes Waters area of Queensland.

“SQ Landscapes’ conservation detector dog, Rocky, myself and the Bundaberg Gidarjill Rangers have been working very hard to create a buffer zone around Mon Repos and other important turtle nesting areas and we’ve managed to keep that pretty clean of foxes for the past four years or so,” Tom Garrett said.

“The fox DNA work being done by AusFox will help us understand where foxes are coming from and how these buffer zones might be repopulated so we can better prepare our control methods and continue our work protecting these very important turtle rookeries,” Mr Garrett said.

“There hasn’t been broad work in Queensland on fox DNA so I've been collecting samples for national parks and wildlife for 6 years now and we look forward to continuing to collect those samples and now channel those efforts into AusFox’s research,” he said.

AusFox is keen to collect as many samples as possible from right throughout Australia so if you would like to contribute to the research by volunteering to collect fox tissue samples visit https://www.ausfoxproject.com/how-can-i-help and request a sampling kit .

Walking the Talk on 'Sunset'

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 02:23:38 GMT

It was hard to pinpoint when the workday started and ended for Glenn Landsberg as he welcomed a tour group to his property early in the morning.

The group was made up of government officials, media and work colleagues from Southern Queensland Landscapes; and they had come to Glenn’s 150 acre ‘hobby farm’ on the outskirts of Charleville to see first-hand the results of 18 years of trialing and fine-tuning land rehydration techniques.

You see, for almost two-decades Glenn has used his own private property as a trial site to investigate and perfect natural sequence farming; and it's the skills and experience harnessed here at ‘Sunset’ that Glenn is now applying on a much grander scale in his capacity as Project Manager for SQ Landscapes.

Glenn and wife Kerry purchased ‘Sunset’ in the early 2000’s describing the property as a ‘low, thick, dirty mulga block’.

“It was completely covered in mulga from 150-years of over-grazing and a lack of understanding of the overall function of the landscape,” Glenn Landsberg said.

“The ground was bare underneath the mulga - like the mulga had soured the ground making it difficult for the grass to grow and we were really battling when we did manage to get under a storm because the water just ran off the property carving great erosion channels as it went,” Glenn said.

“At that time we would have been hard pressed to run 1 Dry Sheep Equivalent (DSE) to 20 acres; which for the entire 150 acres meant just 7 or 8 sheep,” he said.

“As a kid I grew up with a chainsaw in my hand feeding mulga out to stock and I get how land managers become reliant on their mulga country. But mulga isn’t meant to be used like that and it's not meant to be seen in thick forests; and when you disturb the ground and let the mulga take over, the landscape loses its ability to generate and establish those nutrient rich grasslands which are actually endemic to this area - that’s what it use to look like here, not thick mulga scrub.”

Twenty years on, the property looks vastly different and almost reminiscent of the open grassy woodlands you’d expect to see much further east.

“Yeah we now have the capacity to run 1 DSE:2 acres; but I’m actually comfortably supporting 10 horses which is the equivalent of 20 cows or 200 sheep,” Glenn said.

“The paddocks are full of Buffel and native grasses which have all propagated naturally from the existing seed bank and if you look closely there’s not too many patches of exposed ground which is what we want to achieve to protect the soil from erosion,” he said.

“I’m not too worried about the Buffel grass - it is an introduced species, but while it is performing the job of protecting the soil and sequestering carbon, as well as providing a good nutrient source for my stock, I am happy to leave it as it is assisting the other native plants to establish.”

So what did Glenn do differently?

“Well it all started with the fencing; the first thing I did was install a perimeter fence to limit overgrazing from the kangaroo populations which have been in plague proportions because there’s no lions left in the landscape - what I mean by that is their populations aren’t being checked by natural predators which are largely gone,” Glenn said.

“This allowed the green shoots to grow and start establishing some vegetation and covering up the exposed soils,” he said.

“I then turned my attention to understanding the landscape and mapping where the highs and lows were on the property and where the water was running not walking; you could clearly see where this was happening by finding the erosion points where the water was carving out the top soil in its hurry to get off the property rather than soak in and rehydrate the land.”

The mulga thickets were thinned to restore balance and allow the country to heal and support a variety of more suitable plants for creating a protective canopy.

“I thinned a lot of trees on this place to create an opportunity for the right trees to establish and if you look around here now you can see bloodwoods and carbeans, beefwoods, kurrajong and there’s even a stand of native orange trees; these are all trees that pasture grows well under,” Glenn said.

“I’d like to achieve 100% canopy cover with large deep-rooted trees creating dappled light for superior grasslands underneath; so we’ll see if we can,” he said.

“And finally we used the equipment we had on hand to create low profile contour banks and slow the passage of water from a run to a walk, which allowed the water to soak into the landscape.”

Glenn is a strong advocate for wet weather spelling.

“Spelling the land is essential and I make sure to get the horses off when it’s wet and in that time the grass grows vigorously, which gives me my year’s supply of standing hay,” Glenn said.

“It’s amazing when the rain stops; months later you can still see the moisture traveling under the soil down the slope as gravity pulls the water down the hill slowly; the grass will brown off from the top down and you can see it traveling,” he said.

Grazing management, slowing down the water so the land can rehydrate, protecting the soil with vegetation and spelling the land sum up the key principles of how Glenn has achieved change on ‘Sunset’.

He attributes his success to listening and learning from local people and drawing inspiration from the likes of The Mulloon Institute, Holistic Grazing Management and Terry McCosker from Resource Consulting Services (RCS) to name but a few.

And walking the talk for 20-years on his own country has meant that Glenn has developed quite the tool kit of ideas and solutions which he now confidently applies together with land managers on other properties, some 3,000 times larger than ‘Sunset’.

To read about Glenn Landsberg's work on Picarilli Station near Thargomindah visit:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-11-02/land-rehydration-projects-south-west-queensland/100579288

To become a member of Southern Queensland Landscapes and keep up to date with stories like this and workshop opportunities visit: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/become-a-member

This project is funded by Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program.

Agents of Change: Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Women in Science

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 02:23:36 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes is proud to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science this February 11th.

We caught up with three of our environmental scientists, Principal Project Officer Holly Hosie, Senior Project Officer Natasha Mylonas, and Project Officer Isabella Murphy to hear about their experiences as women in science.

Senior Project Officer Natasha Mylonas has worked in the Natural Resource Management industry for four years, deciding to pursue a career in science thanks to her highschool biology teacher.

Senior Project Officer Natasha Mylonas conducting a site assessment.

“I had the best biology teacher in the world, she really ignited my passion for science with her enthusiasm. I guess I just always spoke the math and science language more than anything,” Natasha Mylonas said.

“Having a female role model in science - it can really help people define their career path,” Ms Mylonas said.

“It’s great to work with other women in our industry and create more positive role models for young women in science, and it’s really inspiring to see women making a difference in landcare,” she said.

Project Officer Isabella Murphy agreed that positive female role models helped to kick-start her career in science.

Project Officer Isabella Murphy finds all sorts of wildlife while out and about conducting site visits.

“I always wanted to get into conservation because I was always really passionate about improving our natural environment,” Isabella Murphy said.

“SQ Landscapes Principal Project Officer Vanessa Macdonald is one of my role models because she has a lot of knowledge and it’s just admirable the way she approaches her job. She started out in a male dominated sector and is now well respected within it. She's personable, she’s reliable and she gets stuff done,” Ms Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Principal Project Officer Holly Hosie said a career in a male-dominated industry can come with challenges.

Principal Project Officer Holly Hosie has worked in the Natural Resource Management for two decades.

“Being a woman in science can be tough,” Holly Hosie said.

“I think we are seeing a huge shift with some amazing women scientists and researchers across Queensland and Australia achieving some fantastic things like improving our botanical knowledge, playing an instrumental role in feral animal research, better understanding animal behaviours and soil conservation,” Ms Hosie said.

“Over the years I have met some incredible people and have worked on some amazing projects. Every time we work with farmers, land managers and community members, they are sharing a part of their world and lives with us,” she said.

Ms Hosie said female role models were important in her early career.

“I was so inspired by the female research scientists at University. They helped me to choose my path and make informed decisions about where I was headed,” she said.

Southern Queensland Landscapes is passionate about the advancement of women and girls in science. To submit an expression of interest for our work experience and mentoring program, visit the link here: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/careers-and-work-experience

LEARN MORE ABOUT WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE: https://www.womeninscienceday.org/

Millions of fish to benefit in northern Murray-Darling Basin rivers

kellie.stewart@sqlandscapes.org.au (Kellie Stewart) — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 03:42:11 GMT

The Australian Government is providing $6.6M to Queensland to deliver a program of work that could see millions more healthy native fish in northern Murray-Darling basin rivers.

Minister for Resouces and Water, Keith Pitt, said the Fish Friendly Water Extraction Project in the Condamine-Balonne and Border Rivers regions would deliver benefits for fish and for communities.

"The program will see funds allocated to installing pump screens at river off-takes, which in turn will protect fish populations in the rivers," Minister Pitt said.

"This is a win-win-win-win for the Basin as it's also good for farmers because it reduces maintenance of pumps and increases efficient watering. It's good for communities if local jobs are created in manufacturing or installing pump screen. It's a win for the environment with more healthy fish in our rivers. It's good for our recreational fishers who can expect a just reward if they throw a line in. We don't need all farmers to install pump screen - but those who do, contribute to the positive outcomes for native fish," Minister Pitt said.

"This project is one of 10 Northern Basin Toolkit projects that together keep 70GL of water in productive use while improving the health of our rivers and wetlands and the animals and plants that rely on them. I accelerated delivery of this project to ensure the benefits could reach communities more rapidly and to show the environmental benefits we can achieve from relatively low-tech, common sense fish protection measures." he said.

Meanwhile, Queensland Minister for Water, Glenn Butcher said Queensland was ready to develop the program along with communities.

"Pivotal to the success of this project will be involving the irrigation industry, local government, First Nations, recreational fishers and other relevant community groups," Minister Butcher said.

"We aim to be starting those conversations in the coming months and to work with communities to translate the benefits written on paper into the real world," he said.

NRM Groups Collaborate To Maximize Pig Pest Control near Injune

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 23:50:21 GMT

A brains and brawn approach to eradicating feral pigs has seen the skills of two natural resource management groups combined in an effort to cover more than 250,000 acres of private land near Injune, Queensland.

Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) have collaborated with feral pest experts Southern Queensland Landscapes in a mission to catch and collar feral pigs; and gain valuable insights into how to best target pest control efforts.

Feral pest Project Officer Aiden Sydenham said the project has seen 7 pigs collared to date, with a further 5 to be collared in the coming weeks. The data collected from the collars GPS tracking system will be hugely valuable in making an impact on feral pig populations.

75% of a feral pig population needs to be eradicated

to experience a long term decline in the local population

“When you have GPS data, you can better coordinate and actually target eradication efforts,” Aiden Sydenham said.

“From looking at early collar data, these pigs are not travelling very far, about two to five kilometres on average in total. Pigs are routine animals, and this data shows us their repetitive behaviours, like where they go to feed, where their water source is, and where they spend their time,” Mr Sydenham said.

“Pigs are all different - that’s why it’s important to gain this data. We use this data to inform our decisions when targeting control efforts throughout the different seasons of the year,” he said.

By fitting a GPS tracking collar on to a feral pest, SQ Landscapes is able to collect movement data and a variety of important information such as the sex, weight, age and DNA of the animal.

“Once we have collared the feral pig, a DNA sample is taken from each pig allowing us to study the genetic diversity of the local population,” he said.

Collaboration with neighbours is also a key component to a successful campaign.

“It’s really important to collaborate with your neighbours and take a collective approach to feral animal control. We all need to work together on this,” Aiden Sydenham said.

“It’s fantastic to have the support from landholders and NRM groups like Fitzroy Basin Association to help find the missing piece of the puzzle regarding feral pig management,” Mr Sydenham said.

Feral pigs cost the Australian Agricultural sector $106.5 million per year

While feral pigs have a big impact on productivity for land managers, FBA’s Project Officer (Environment) Hannah Kaluzynski said enhancing the condition and extent of threatened trees, grasses and shrubs is another key objective of the program.

“FBA aims to reduce the impact of feral pigs on rare vegetation and productive land. Working with passionate land managers is crucial to this project. As the collars are proving, pigs don’t understand boundary lines, through collaboration we have been able to follow the pest to implement the most effective control methods. ,” Hannah Kaluzynski said.

“When the project first commenced there were signs of feral pigs everywhere but we couldn't get them with the previous control efforts because they were hiding in the thick scrub. To overcome the pests we knew we had to try something different, Ms Kaluzynski said.

While FBA has used GPS tracking previously, the organisation said SQ Landscapes’ technology was exciting.

“It’s great having the live tracking data straight at your fingertips. We can now see what the feral pigs are doing and where they are moving. This insight will inform our baiting and culling tactics moving forward increasing our chances of success. s,” she said.

If you would like more information about pig collaring and how it could help you maximise your pest control management strategies contact Southern Queensland Landscapes via 4620 0111 or admin@sqlandscapes.org.au.

The commercial team of Southern Queensland Landscapes trapped, collared and tagged feral pigs on properties at Injune to monitor the pests and provide GPS data to land managers to inform future control efforts.

Collaboration aimed at eradicating weed of national significance

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 23:00:02 GMT

Government, land managers and First Peoples have combined forces at Cooladdi north of Charleville in western Queensland to control a major infestation of Hudson pear (Cylindropuntia pallida).

The invasive cactus species of Mexican origin is classified as a ‘weed of national significance’; and when left unchecked, has the potential to reduce agricultural viability and land values, while adversely impacting native fauna and flora and causing serious injury to humans and livestock.

Southern Queensland Landscapes, through funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments’ Queensland Feral Pest Initiative, has been working with land managers and Kooma Aboriginal Corporation to implement strategic control measures and contain the infestation.

Project Officer Lucas Mackie said Hudson pear is well known in the Cooladdi area owing to the maturity of the infestation and five days of targeted spraying covered 320 hectares of the worst affected sites.

“The 320 hectares covered is a major source of infestation as it’s the overland flow from that area which washes the Hudson pear straight into Quilberry Creek which connects to the Paroo River,” Lucas Mackie said.

“Hudson pear infestations are hard to kill because the spines have a harpoon barb on them and they will get onto anything. Even if you just graze past the cactus, pieces of it will stick to you and then you will spread it anywhere you go; with each piece able to reproduce new plants very quickly,” Mr Mackie said.

“These spines are encased in a detachable sheath which will remain embedded in a wound even after the body of the spine is removed which means these spines can kill owing to infection; so once it gets into your grazing paddocks you’ve got a big risk on your hands,” he said.

“SQ Landscapes is grateful to local land managers for the opportunity to collaborate because a community approach for control of a weed like this is essential and an important way of working together to minimise the spread and risk.”

Meanwhile, Margaret Vetter of Cooladdi Park said her and her husband Paul devote over 40 days each season to weed management; and despite this, Hudson pear has been a threat for over a decade in the area.

“Weed management is part of our yearly program. Every year we try to check any areas, particularly flood areas, that may have unwanted plants. Hudson Pear is one of those plants,” Margaret Vetter said.

“Our creek channels are extremely important with the body of feed grown after floods. It is our most productive country and controlling Hudson pear is a high priority for our 20-thousand hectare grazing operation,” Ms Vetter said.

“Our channels also feed into the greater Murray-Darling Basin and we feel it is up to all of us to have a duty of care for our surroundings,” she said.

Kooma Aboriginal Corporation’s Senior Ranger Geoff Drury said the infestation in the Cooladdi area was one of the worst he’s seen.

“You couldn't ride, walk or lay a picnic blanket down; the infestation was that bad. If we all don't play our part in managing these invasive weeds, it will become a big problem. The Country has lost productivity, and you just can't enjoy it anymore,” Geoff Drury said.

“If your land becomes less productive, it costs more money to run, and it costs you more to produce your product. Before long, you have to throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at it,” Mr Drury said.

“It’s important for First Peoples to be involved in landcare because everyone cares for land in different ways,” he said.

“The minute you stop looking after Country, is the minute it won't look after you.”

Hudson pear is a category 2,3,4 and 5 restricted invasive plant under Biosecurity Act 2014 requiring all sightings to be reported to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours of discovery. Biosecurity Queensland can be contacted on 13 25 23.

Each local government has a biosecurity plan that covers invasive plants in the area. This plan may include actions to be taken on Hudson pear. Some of these actions may be required under local laws and land managers should contact their local government for more information.

If you would like to find out more about the project SQ Landscapes is coordinating in the Cooladdi area and want to discover how you can get involved, contact us via sqlandscapes.org.au or by phoning the Charleville office on 4656 8500.

For more information on Hudson pear and how to control Hudson pear visit https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/land-management/health-pests-weeds-diseases/weeds-diseases/invasive-plants/restricted/hudson-pear

Funded by the Queensland and Australian Governments as part of the Queensland Feral Pest Initiative.

Hudson pear infestation in Cooladdi.

Hudson pear spraying in Cooladdi.

The chemical starting to work on Hudson pear.

Joint media release: Fencing rollout on track for Maranoa communities

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 05:39:59 GMT

2 December 2021

Minister for Resources and Water, the Hon Keith Pitt MP

Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia and Member for Maranoa, the Hon David Littleproud MP

Queensland Minister for Water, the Hon Glenn Butcher

The Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks program is on track for delivery in Queensland Murray–Darling communities, including in Maranoa, by mid-2023.

The Australian Government is providing a $917,000 initial instalment to Queensland for delivering more than 40 km of fencing contracts between landholders and South Queensland Landscapes, according to Minister for Water Keith Pitt.

“When completed, the program will have supported landholders to deliver more than 510 km of riverbank fencing in the Queensland areas of the Murray Darling Basin,” Minister Pitt said today.

“I am pleased to provide funding that benefits Queensland communities by providing job opportunities and improving environmental outcomes along the river.

“The $15 million Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Program will fund just over 1000 km of riverbank fencing in Queensland and New South Wales.

“The aim is to improve water quality, keep farm animals safe and sustain native fish populations by building appropriate fences along riverbanks.”

Queensland Minister for Water Glenn Butcher said fencing delivery partner Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQL) was due to have 30 kilometres of contracts in place with landholders by the end of August. However, that figure had increased to more than 160 kilometres by the beginning of November.

“SQL has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to achieving the program’s outcomes, as shown by their work with landholders to deliver fences,” Minister Butcher said.

“SQL has released substantial updates to its website to highlight the fencing program, including a new convenient online registration process.

“The company has also launched a social media campaign to attract further interest in participation by landholders.”

Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud said he encourages Queensland Murray–Darling communities to get behind the Fencing Northern Basin Riverbanks Program.

“This is a common sense program that will strengthen river health in the Northern Basin by partnering directly with landholders and the community, including in the Maranoa,” Minister Littleproud said.

“Better fences help control livestock access to environmentally sensitive waterways.

“Landholders benefit because their animals are safer, and the environment benefits too because appropriate fencing protects valuable riverbanks, ecological and cultural sites and improves native fish habitat.”

“This is exactly the sort of joined up approach that we should continue to take to look after our communities and rivers going forward.”

Applications for creek and river fencing are available now on the Southern Queensland Landscapes website.

Successful pig shoot buoys western graziers

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 02:18:48 GMT

Graziers surrounding Currawinya National Park in western Queensland are set to maximise production this season following a successful aerial shoot which saw more than 600 pigs eradicated from the landscape.

The campaign was a joint initiative of Southern Queensland Landscapes, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, private properties surrounding Currawinya and Queensland Parks & Wildlife Services (QPWS).

SQ Landscapes Senior Project Officer Christine Crafter said the eradication program took in more than 450-thousand hectares.

“We’ve been monitoring the situation for some time and as spring hit we recognised a sharp increase in pig populations in and around Currawinya National Park,” Christine Crafter said.

“It’s been an excellent season for pigs and they’ve really taken advantage of good supplies of food and water which has meant control methods like baiting and trapping have become less effective and an aerial approach was necessary to knock down numbers to regain control of the population,” Ms Crafter said.

“So in collaboration with several private land managers surrounding the park and QPWS a helicopter was put up with two highly trained and experienced QPWS aerial marksmen for three days of shooting and 605 pigs were taken out of the breeding cycle,” she said.

Pigs on a wetland in the lower Paroo River of western Queensland.

“This represents a significant dent in the pig population and graziers will really reap the benefits with less predation of young livestock or birthing adults, less disease, and less disturbance of pastures and fouling of water.”

Following the shoot in mid-October, project coordinators will now continue monitoring.

“Yeah we will continue to assess the situation with camera monitoring, reports from land managers, aerial and ground surveillance and watching those pig populations and of course keeping those conversations going with QPWS and the surrounding land managers,” Christine Crafter said.

“A collaborative approach like this will always work better than a single land manager trying to impact populations by themselves and it's great to see such a positive result for everyone involved,” Ms Crafter said.

“Pigs are just devastating to the environment and the damage they cause can be extensive, costing millions of dollars in lost production and environmental vandalism,” she said.

Currawinya National Park is one of Queensland’s most important inland wetland areas with Lakes Numalla and Wyara recognised internationally under the Ramsar Convention in 1996 for their outstanding wetland values and features.

“The wetlands are just flourishing now and they’re full of breeding waterbirds so the timely control of the pigs will also improve the success of the upcoming waterbird breeding season,” Christine Crafter said.

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

For more information on the Australian Government Regional Land Partnerships visit

http://nrm.gov.au/regional-land-partnerships

Feral pigs destroy vegetation, reduce yield, and have major impacts on soil health and soil moisture.

The timely control of pigs around Currawinya National Park will improve the success of the upcoming waterbird breeding season.

Feral pigs are estimated to cost the agricultural industry an estimated $106.5 million every year.

Ground nesting birds like this baby masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) are defenceless against feral pigs.

Spatial Scientist Wows with Outback Digital Art

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 02:15:02 GMT

Math, science and the organic landscape have always fascinated Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Geographic Information Systems Analyst, Mik Petter.

And it’s his day job analysing spatial mapping information that has provided the winning formula for his own unique style of art; with thousands of his pieces adorning walls in Australia and around the globe.

“I’ve been creating digital art since the 1980’s,” Mik Petter said

“I love the western landscapes. I see trees as bioelectric bolts coming out of the landscape. I love the red dirt and finding patterns in the landscape. There’s more in the landscape than what you just see,” Mr Petter said.

“And sometimes the terrain analysis maths I do at work ends up being used in my artwork,” he said.

Mr Petter uses a unique blend of raw photographs and highly complex mathematical equations to create his bold and evocative pieces.

“What I do is a form of digital art that remixes photographs using natural patterns and intricate and interconnected shapes and colours,” Mr Petter said.

“It’s a hybrid of mathematics, science and art,” he said.

“It’s created using computer programs that rely on artificial intelligence to read and interpret photos of organic landscapes. The program uses complex mathematics to “fill in the blanks” in the photo, like a hole in a tree, or a deep gully, and fills these with patterns generated by the computer.”

The patterns created by the computer are called fractals; a term coined in the 1970’s by scientists studying infinite solutions to mathematical equations.

“People try to look for meaning and why fractals produce these images. People want to know why math is creating these organic patterns. I wrote my own program trying to figure it out,” Mr Petter said.

“What I do with art is very similar to mapping. Like blending layers to create different ways of looking at a landscape to discover patterns that you wouldn't be able to see from the ground,” he said.

Spatial mapping looks at an area of land from a birds eye view; adding layers to show areas of elevation, vegetation densities and soil types.

The maps are useful for land managers who are planning to make changes on their land, like adding new infrastructure. These maps help farmers to deeply understand the features of their land.

“There’s deeper ways of looking at the landscape that you can't always see on the surface.”

“The mapping I do tries to highlight all the things that are invisible when you look at the landscape from the ground. I use this same process when I do art, building on layers to see different patterns in the artwork,”

Mr Petter’s artwork has even attracted a feature in the Planetary Photojournal of the famous National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Using data from NASA’s JunoCam imager, Mr Petter created a ‘jovian’ piece of art exploring the planet Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

NASA journalist Tony Greicius described the art as “vibrant colors of various tints and hues, combined with the almost organic-seeming shapes, make this image seem to be a colorized and crowded petri dish of microorganisms, or a close-up view of microscopic and wildly-painted seashells.”

Just like the fractals that make up Mr Petter’s vibrant artworks, the limit to Mr Petter’s creativity is infinite.

Drawing inspiration from anything from an outback dirt road to the endless cosmos, Mr Petter is constantly inspired.

“We see landscapes as a static thing, but it’s really not. It’s constantly moving. If you watch a time lapse, you’ll see trees moving, clouds floating by, grass growing. There’s more in the landscape than what you just see. That’s what my art tries to convey.”

From the outback, to the cosmos, to the computer lab, you’ll find Mik Petter constantly pushing at the boundaries of what it means to be an artist.

MIK PETTER ARTWORK ON FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/MiksFractalEcology

The patterns in Mik Petter's artworks are called fractals. Fractals are patterns created by a computer using maths and artificial intelligence.

Mr Petter said he is inspired by western landscapes.

Mr Petter has been creating digital art since the 1980s.

Southern Queensland Landscapes Heeds Call to Boost Recycling

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 01:30:03 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes has risen to the challenge to increase it’s recycling practises this National Recycling Week having achieved the businesses’ greatest recycling and repurposing record during the past year.

November 8-14 will herald National Recycling Week with calls going out to councils, businesses and the general public to boost their recycling practises.

SQ Landscapes Senior Project Officer Sid Matthews said why put something in landfill if you can repurpose it and recycle it?

“Recycling is an important part of being environmentally friendly and Southern Queensland Landscapes recycles everything we feasibly can,” Sid Matthews said.

RECYCLING ALUMINUM SAVES 95%

OF THE ENERGY REQUIRED TO CREATE IT

“We're taking the lead from our First Peoples committing to use everything we possibly can before turning to recycling or repurposing and finally as a last resort throwing it out; all with the aim of leaving the world in a better condition than we found it,” Mr Matthews said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia recorded a 10% increase in landfill waste during the 2018/19 - despite a 20% increase in waste infrastructure investment; and the consumer demand for global recycled plastic products continues to rise.

But SQ Landscapes is determined to help flip the trend, committing to a green footprint; recycling and repurposing anything from printer cartridges to old concrete stairs.

“The Toowoomba office's old concrete stairs were recycled and repurposed - because as stairs they needed to be replaced; but as concrete slabs, they were structurally sound and had nothing wrong with them!” Sid Matthews said.

45% OF WASTE IS RECYCLED IN QLD,

STATES LIKE ACT AND SA AT 80%

“With Queensland among the bottom three states for recycling in Australia, there’s lots of room for improvement. Households contribute the weight of over 350 thousand humpback whales (12.4 million tonnes) of waste per year in Australia,” Mr Matthews said.

“We’ve all got to be conscious of our environmental impacts and recycle as much as we can,” he said.

National Recycling Week urges householders and businesses all over Australia to step up to the challenge and ‘Recycle Your Way’.

HOW YOU CAN ADOPT GREENER RECYCLING PRACTISES?

Got white-good waste? Take it to your local dump to be recycled.
Start collecting containers for change.
Recycle organic waste in compost.
Buy in bulk and use refillable products.
Remember your reusable bags, coffee cups and water bottles when you leave the house.
Sell, give away or buy pre-loved items on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace.
"Buy it back" - look for the sign that an item for purchase has been made from recyclable materials.
Find ways to recycle printer cartridges, mobile phones, batteries, computers and other electrical appliances at recyclingnearyou.com.au.

LEARN MORE:

https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/education/25-things-to-reuse

https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/nationalrecyclingweek/research/

Senior Project Officer Sid Matthews shows how Southern Queensland Landscapes recycles printer cartridges.

Board Enjoys South-West Conversations

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 01:30:02 GMT

The Board of Southern Queensland experienced the classic country charm of south-west Queensland when they travelled to Cunnamulla and Eulo for Community Conversations in October.

The Directors met with land managers and community leaders in Cunnamulla and Eulo to listen to the community’s vision for flourishing landscapes and healthy communities. Company Secretary Pamela Murphy said the Community Conversations were a great hit with the locals, with many practical insights coming out of the meetings.

“Southern Queensland Landscapes deeply values the opinions of our community; it’s how we make sure our projects focus on the best outcomes for our land managers,” Pamela Murphy said.

While they were there, the Board accompanied SQ Landscapes Project Officers on site visits, and even visited some of the south-west’s greatest attractions.

“We were greeted with such hospitality by the community of south-west Queensland, and were even treated to a visit to the Cunnamulla Fella statue,” Mrs Murphy said.

The Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes warmly invites current members, land managers and other interested stakeholders to the Annual General Meeting happening 2 December. LEARN MORE: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/existing-members

The Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes visits the Cunnamulla Fella statue.

While out west, the Board visited project sites while hosting Community Conversations in Cunnamulla and Eulo.

Githabul artist highlights plight of Blackfish through art

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 06:30:22 GMT

River blackfish are in severe decline across the entire Murray-Darling Basin with some populations at high risk of localised extinction including those in the Condamine headwaters near Killarney.

That is the stark reality Githabul artist Nathan Charles wanted to portray through his piece ‘Blackfish’, when Southern Queensland Landscapes invited him and the Githabul Nation to help spread the word about the plight of this elusive yet charismatic native fish.

“I am so excited to be working with Southern Queensland Landscapes to help tell people about the blackfish that lives in the headwaters near Killarney and spread the message that if we don’t do something they will be gone,” Nathan Charles said.

“I was inspired by the description of the blackfish as ‘the canary in the coal mine’; which I believe means that the blackfish are an early warning sign of major changes in nature happening right across the catchment. And so I chose to use colours that nature uses to communicate danger or a warning…like reds and oranges,” Mr Charles said.

“As First Peoples we believe every animal has a place; every animal has a role and when one is lost its impact will be felt right across Country; it’s important that we do everything we can to protect our native plants and animals,” he said.

SQ Landscapes Project Coordinator and Freshwater Ecologist Jacinta Cox said the Australian Government is heeding the warning, investing in the region to try and reverse the trend.

“This project is being funded by the Australian Government through the Native Fish Recovery Strategy and coordinated by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority through Southern Queensland Landscapes” Jacinta Cox said.

“So our focus with this project is to do everything we can to make the environment of the Condamine headwaters more sustainable for the blackfish and that includes improving the vegetation along the waterways to better shade the water and keep it cool because blackfish like cold water,” Ms Cox said.

“We have been working with land managers to reduce weeds along the waterways and even plant native vegetation to stabilise banks and encourage canopy growth to provide shade and promote reduced water temperatures,” she said.

“It also includes working with land managers to install fencing and off-stream watering to keep cattle and other livestock out of the rivers and creeks because they stir up the water and make it muddy and the blackfish don’t like muddy water.”

Ms Cox said the Githabul Nation has done a tremendous service to the community communicating the importance of the project through the original artwork of Nathan Charles.

“I was moved to tears when I first saw the piece. The artist really nailed it. It’s rare to find photos of the blackfish, so Nathan did a really great job to represent the fish in all its beauty and communicate the warning to everyone that we need to work together to help save the blackfish,” Ms Cox said.

“Nathan’s work will be used to communicate the importance of the project through his art that will feature on the website page dedicated to the project and other marketing material like shirts and hats,” she said.

“We hope people in the community will wear these shirts and hats with pride and share the story about the blackfish and spark change.”

If you are interested in finding out more about the Condamine Headwaters Recovery Reach Project and what SQ Landscapes is doing in partnership with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and Australian Government visit https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/condamine-headwaters-recovery-reach .

Githabul Artist Nathan Charles says the colour orange is a warning sign.

This pro ject is funded by the Native Fish Recovery Strategy. The Native Fish Recovery Strategy is funded under the joint programs and coordinated by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. The joint programs promote and coordinate effective planning, management and sharing of the water and other natural resources of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Finterest: https://finterest.com.au/native-fish-recovery-strategy/

The 'Blackfish' shirts were handed out to Killarney locals.

Floodplain Restoration Day

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 21:48:04 GMT

A report by Southern Queensland Landscapes Senior Project Officer, Christine Crafter

A great rollup of locals joined Southern Queensland Landscapes at Garrawin and Wandilla Stations near Eulo recently for a floodplain restoration day. Attendees got to see different types of works that can be used to rehydrate landscapes and shared their own experiences about recovering floodplain function on their land.

Glenn Landsberg led a discussion that included:

Reading the landscape to identify where erosion was causing issues
Identifying the best places to control erosion and improve landscape function,
Laser levelling and marking out of the land

Mark Luckraft, owner and operator of Luckraft Earthworks used his grader to demonstrate some of the techniques of spreader bank construction and other earthworks to help repair scalded flats. A scalded flat is an area of land where water runs off the ground and strips it of soft, top soil. All that remains is hard, compacted soil.

After lunch, the party headed to Wandilla Station to inspect the results of timber windrows that were constructed on a scalded floodplain to slow water flow over the landscape. The results showed that the timber windrows have worked to slow the high velocity flood flows, which resulted in a reduction of soil loss, allowing vegetation to establish in areas where previously nothing would grow.

The attendees shared their own knowledge and experience to consider the different methods and materials for landscape rehydration as they looked at an area needing repair. The group discussed their thoughts on how to fix the erosion and rehydrate the surrounding flats. Great discussion came out of this exercise.

Overall, the day was a fantastic example of collaborative information sharing among participants, with everyone walking away with something new to try at home.

Thanks to Ian and Sandy of Garrawin (Sustainable Land Management - SLM) and David and Carmel of Wandilla for opening their properties for the day and sharing their restoration efforts with us.

Also thanks to Mark and Tay of Luckraft Earthworks for sharing their construction skills and providing their grader for the practical demonstration of the works.

And thanks to all the participants for sharing their own varied experiences and aspirations.

Southern Queensland Landscapes is currently undertaking floodplain restoration works in the Paroo River catchment, which will contribute to improving water quality and landscape condition by:

Slowing the flow of floodwater and stormwater
Reducing soil loss
Promoting groundcover and pasture
Enhancing floodplain and wetland function on both private and public lands including the Currawinya Ramsar Wetlands

Download the Low Profile Contour Bank technical sheet here: https://irp.cdn-website.com/1018ad9f/files/uploaded/SQL_Tech%20Sheet_Low%20Profile%20Contour%20Bank_A4_WEB.pdf

If you’re interested in learning more about our Floodplain Restoration Days or where the next one will be held, get in contact with Southern Queensland Landscapes.

–

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare program and the Queensland Government’s Natural Resource investment program.

Multispecies cropping wins over local farmer

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 00:45:02 GMT

When Millmerran land manager Paul Maher attended a multispecies cover-cropping information day with Southern Queensland Landscapes and Millmerran Landcare, he never thought he would dedicate his entire oat cultivation to it.

“I was all new to it. I wanted better returns for the feed and better soil health; so I went to a field day and Ian Moss from FARM Agronomy was talking about multispecies cover-cropping and it sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a go,” Paul Maher said.

Multispecies cover-cropping refers to planting diverse and beneficial plants with your crop to improve soil health and create a more resilient paddock. Based on his soil type and goals, Mr Marr worked with FARM Agronomy to come up with a mix of field peas, winfred forage brassica, tillage radish, turnip, and volga vetch to plant with his oats.

“The first year we trialled 16 hectares, and I planted them beside a non-multispecies paddock. When it was side by side you could see the difference. The oats looked better, the colour was good, there was a bigger body of feed there, and the cattle were more drawn to it,” Mr Maher said.

Mr Maher’s goal was to improve his soil health and reduce inputs on his mixed grazing and cropping operation 30 kilometres south of Millmerran.

“I’ve found with the multispecies there’s feed value plus I’m improving the soil. The cattle are gaining weight and it’s better quality feed. After I sprayed the ground when the oats were finished - the soil was a lot softer and smoother than on the land without it; so in dry years, the oats with the multispecies will do better,” he said.

“I’ll plant it with the multispecies every year now, and this year we were so impressed with the first year, so we did 86 hectares, which is all of our oats,” he said.

Soil scientist and Principal Project Officer Vanessa Macdonald said planting with multispecies is increasingly more attractive to land managers wanting to keep their soil healthy, boost productivity and save time on the tractor.

“If your focus is improving soil health, then diversity and multispecies is the key to achieving that. We see benefits for all land managers looking towards diversity. It’s about understanding your long term goals and what issues you’re trying to address,” Vanessa Macdonald said.

“The indicator that something needs to change is what’s present in the pasture. Take a look at the grasses - what species are there, and what species should be there? Are there weeds, signs of erosion, invasive species or native vegetation?” Ms Macdonald said.

“Land managers like Paul Maher are seeing real improvements in the land,” she said.

“With multispecies, there’s less maintenance - so it saves me time on the tractor and money on spraying chemicals. You just plant it and let it go. I don’t have to spray any weeds, because I haven't noticed any weeds. I’m hoping as I continue planting, the legumes in the multispecies will put more nitrogen into the soil so I can even reduce fertiliser input,” Paul Maher said.

“I’ve had people drive past and call in and see what's going on because it's somewhat unusual for the region. They’ll pull up and ask what I’m growing. It’s got oats, radish and all these white flowers - it’s eye-catching for people passing by,” Mr Maher said.

“My advice is that it’s about trial and error. Just do a small area and see how it goes on your property with your soil types,” he said

Vanessa Macdonald agreed saying working with your land and setting up for success is the best way forward.

“You’ll need to ask yourself, is the seed bed right, do I have moisture, have I got the right mix for my land? FARM can help you answer these questions,” Ms Macdonald said.

Land managers keen to learn more about multispecies cover cropping should get in contact with FARM Agronomy or Southern Queensland Landscapes today.

https://www.farmagronomy.com.au/

Preparation KEY to Surviving Bushfire Season

Sun, 03 Oct 2021 00:45:02 GMT

Experts warn NOW is the time to prepare for bushfire season and protect your family and home.

South-Western Region Bushfire Safety Officer Steele Davies from the Rural Fire Service says wetter than normal weather has given land managers more time to prepare for bushfires this season.

“The fire risk this year is not the same as the last couple of years where we had ongoing drought and high risk owing to tinder dry conditions - but this year we have had a lot of grass growth owing to the higher than normal rainfall, so there’s likely to be a higher chance of grass fires,” Steele Davies said.

According to QFES, if you answer YES to any of these questions, you are at a heightened risk of bushfire.

● Do you live within a few kilometres of bushland?

● Does your local area have a history of bushfires?

● Do you have trees and shrubs within 20 metres of your home?

● Do you live along the coast near scrub?

● Do you live on a farm or near paddocks?

Officer Davies said while the season is shaping up to be less intense than 2019, land managers should not be complacent and things can change at the drop of a hat, so it’s best to always prepare for a worst-case scenario.

“Start preparing now, don't prepare when you get the warning message. This year we have a bigger window and have more options to do mitigation,” Officer Davies said.

“There are a number of ways to manage risk in terms of grass, bush, and trees. Grazing is a key mitigation measure to manage bushfire risk, but you can also try slashing, grading and using herbicides,” he said.

“Rural Fire Services also supports the use of controlled burning to reduce fuel loads. So, get a Permit to Light and get started.”

“Be proactive, be prepared, and

be aware of what you’re doing.”

Undertaking mitigation methods can reduce the risk of a fire spreading from your property to your neighbours, and it can also protect you in an event where your neighbours property is alight.

Southern Queensland Landscapes agreed, saying fire management is a key component of overall land management, and there are a number of ways to manage bushfire risk on your property.

SQ Landscapes Senior Project Officer Natasha Mylonas said reducing timber and other dry organic material on the ground will assist to decrease the intensity and spread of fire in a bushfire event.

“Cool burning techniques shared by First Peoples are being used by more and more property managers. Not only is it an effective tool for reducing bushfire risk, it also preserves the habitat of native animals and encourages native plants and animals to come back into the landscape,” Natasha Mylonas said.

“Your preparations do impact yours and your neighbours’ properties. I’ve seen the contrast after a bushfire near Millmerran, where the scrub and sheds were annihilated on one side of a track, but on the other side that had used cool burning techniques to reduce risk, the fire carried with far less intensity, saving most of the scrub,” Ms Mylonas said.

Rural Fire Service regularly posts local bushfire information and warnings on the Queensland Fire & Emergency Services website.

“Monitor the information and warnings on the QFES website. It will show where fires may start and things to be aware of to protect you, your property and your family,” Officer Davies said.

“Embers can travel hundreds of metres from the source of the fire. So, when there are fires nearby, close your windows, remove curtains, doormats, shade cloths, and remove dry matter. Water down mulch piles and be aware of the direct and radiant heat,” he said.

“My piece of advice is, be aware of your risk and be proactive. Service your slip-on units and pumps, maintain fire access trails, talk to your local fire warden, talk to your neighbours and work out a fire plan.”

TIPS FOR PREPARING

● Clear your roof gutters of leaves, twigs, bark and other flammable debris.

● Check and maintain fire-fighting pumps, generators and water systems.

● Clear out flammable items near your house. Get rid of the firewood, mulch piles, boxes and outdoor furniture you’re no longer using.

● Seal gaps in external roof and cladding.

● Control your weeds - especially grasses as they can have a high fuel load and be quite flammable.

● Trim low-lying branches around your home to a height of two metres from the ground.

● Mow your lawn, whipper snip near access paths and clear out dry grass, dead leaves and branches.

● Display your house number at the roadside - as it can make emergency services help you faster.

● Prepare your response: gather PPE, get your first aid kit up to scratch, prepare an evacuation kit, and review or create your Bushfire Survival Plan here: https://bushfire-survival-plan.qfes.qld.gov.au/

You can find your local Neighbourhood Safer Place, an allocated refuge centre here:

https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/prepare/bushfire/neighbourhood-safer-places

Find your local fire warden: https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/safety-education/using-fire-outdoors/fire-wardens

Find information on the latest bans, restrictions and key contacts (Toowoomba): https://www.qfes.qld.gov.au/fire-bans/toowoomba-regional-council

Catastrophic fires a warning to Heal Country

Sat, 02 Oct 2021 00:45:02 GMT

A Githabul fire practitioner’s call to ‘Heal Country’ or face the consequences has been actioned by land managers near Maryvale.

Fire Lore’s Robbie Williams made the comment on the back of the 2019/20 devastating fire season which saw more than 17-million hectares burned across Australia by uncontrolled bushfires.

Land managers Morgan and Alex Harding of ‘Almor Park’ have heeded the warning after the couple’s property was threatened by bush-fire in 2019. And despite their concerns about inviting fire back onto their property, the pair have overcome their fears in favour of early prevention.

“The bushfires burnt right up to our boundary and came in from every angle. It was hair raising. If it did get into our place, it could have gone through town,” Morgan Harding said.

Ms Harding knew she needed to do something to reduce the fuel load of her 90 hectare stud farm, so she enlisted the help of Southern Queensland Landscapes, who organised Fire Lore to implement a controlled ‘cool’ burn on part of the property.

Ms Harding said the 40 hectare area was also experiencing a weed issue, but it was impossible to get machinery like slashers to the area.

“The weed control with lantana and cotton bush was a really good bonus. It saved us time and money,” Ms Harding said.

“As well as reducing the fuel load, we wanted to get rid of dominant pastures which none of the animals seem to eat, and get rid of weeds without having to use chemicals. The cool burn seemed like a better idea than a controlled burn because it doesn't kill off the good pasture seeds and improves the soil health,” she said.

“We wanted to improve the pastures and soil quality there and we knew the fire would burn a lot of the stuff that was standing dead. In the long run, it will help get the nutrients back into the soil and allow better grasses to grow,”

Cultural fire management has been used for millennia in Australia by Traditional Owners to manage fire risk and restore Country.

‘Cool’ burning involves lighting small, weak fires that create a mosaic pattern as they pass through an area of land. The fire is carefully set so it can be controlled and maintain a cool temperature, to preserve grass seeds and keep the soil healthy.

“The only good fire is the right fire,” Robbie Williams said.

“Our cultural 'Cold' burning techniques remove excess fuels that can build up over time, decreasing the potential of uncontrolled wild bushfires,” Mr Williams said.

“The Earth was created from fire, and fire is what is needed to return things to as they were. The aim is to bring back what’s meant to be here. We’re trying to bring back the proper grasses,” he said.

“Everyone is a part of caring for the land. We want to show people and help the farmers.”

Land managers interested in undertaking cool burns should get in contact with Fire Lore via their website. https://www.firelore.earth/contactus

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes through funding from the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program.

Watering the Wildlife

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:23:10 GMT

Normality is slowly returning to the rainforest on ‘Aborlee’ after years of drought broke in December of 2019 followed by 18 months of better than average rainfall.

Killarney locals Clive & Susan Savage have lived on ‘Aborlee’ overlooking the Cambanoora Gorge for more than 15-years - during which time they have developed a strong attachment to the landscape and an acute understanding of its ebbs and flows.

Both Susan and Clive have been strong community advocates for the environment; Susan dedicating hours of her time and expertise each week to the local Bushcare Group.

And for the pair, it's been the last handful of drought years that have proven particularly taxing and heart-wrenching.

“At the height of the drought we were bringing in truck-loads of water just to keep the animals alive, with the help of funding from the Queensland Government Nature Refuge scheme” Susan Savage remembers.

“We put shade cloth over the dam to minimize water loss also thanks to help with funding; and the place was so dry we were concerned about fires that were getting closer. And there was a real absence of birds. It was eerily quiet,” Ms Savage said.

“There was just the two of us here so we managed to hold on to as much water as possible for a long time but when the dam was just a crust of mud and the rainforest was crisp underfoot we started putting basins of water out around the rainforest just to keep the animals going,” she said.

Susan and Clive also set up cameras triggered by motion to capture who and what was drinking from their basins.

“It was amazing the wildlife that came to drink from the basins and during the peak of the dry we captured almost 2,000 photos,” Ms Savage said.

See a selection of the incredible photos captured drinking from the basins by Clive and Susan on ‘Aborlee’ here.

“It was also a little heart breaking when we saw how thin some of the animals were - you see a drought impacts everyone even in a rainforest which is normally lush and green and full of life,” she said.

“We would regularly gather the cameras and look at all the photos and after a while we noticed a sequence - as if the animals would take turns to get a drink, all equally respectful of one another and giving each other space.”

“First the wallabies, then the possums, lizards, snakes, all the different types of birds, each species coming in a wave to drink and take their turn.”

But it was one picture that really surprised the pair.

“Yes, we managed to capture a red-bellied black snake (Pseudechis porphyriacus) taking his turn to drink while a Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons), watched on...a little too closely for my liking too!” Susan exclaimed.

“You see they would normally be adversaries, but during the drought it was like the water basins were a safe place for everyone to drink...everyone to survive,” she said.

“We learnt a lot from the animals during this period about patience, and respect.”

Then in December of 2019 the drought broke.

“We had a lot of rain when the drought first broke; 70mm in one night,” Susan said.

“We were never so happy to hear the sound of rain on the roof. And from there we’ve had consistent and regular rain and slowly slowly we’ve seen rainforest come back to life,” she said.

With the dam now full and the rainforest bubbling with the activities and chatter of birds, Clive and Susan are returning to more normal routines.

Work Experience Inspires Clifton Student

Mon, 27 Sep 2021 04:28:47 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes believes empowered young people are the key to our future, so we were thrilled to welcome enthusiastic year 10 student from Clifton State High School, Piper Brady, when she joined us for work experience in the Toowoomba office.

Piper told us she learnt a lot during her week with SQ Landscapes, and sat down to write a report about her time in her own words. Read it below.

My time with Southern Queensland Landscapes

by Piper Brady

Coming from my small state high school, I decided I wanted to do my work placement with a conscious and aware group of people, and I chose Southern Queensland Landscapes in Toowoomba.

I was initially drawn to the hard and honest work they do with the environment and working with people to ensure the best outcomes for everyone. Coming from a farming family and community, I understand how much love the landholders all have for the soil and the land we live on, and how important it is for everyone to try and help it thrive.

I won’t lie and say this industry is exactly what I expected. Both more like an office job and more like a scientist than I would have thought, but it certainly was important. I worked with most people in the office, and met with various people, landholders and other industry people and businesses alike.

I went out with (Principal Project Officer) Vanessa MacDonald on Monday. We drove to Millmerran to join Rebecca Kirby from Millmerran Landcare to assess the new contour banks and clean up an exhausted grazing paddock. Looking at the multi-species grazing paddock that was planted was also quite interesting. The turnips’ purpose was to break up the rocky soil, the grain was to make the vegetation more attractive to stock, and the legumes were to reintroduce nutrients into the soil.

On Tuesday, I worked with (Principal Project Officer) Alun Hoggett on the mapping software. He went into extensive detail on the different uses, requirements and makes of the maps they use here. Using the program Queensland Globe, I used the different layers to more thoroughly understand the different kinds of ecosystems in our state, and particularly, our region. Going in depth on the groundwater-dependent ecosystems of the Condamine River and surrounding floodplains, my area made a lot more sense to me.

Wednesday with (Principal Project Officer) Holly Hosie consisted of identifying brigalow, softwood scrub and Queensland grasslands. We went from Irongate reserve to a property in Mt. Tyson and did a BioCAT biodiversity assessment on an area of Queensland listed grassland. We also went to Jimbour and did another BioCAT assessment. In all, the day was very interesting to me, and I can now properly identify saltbush and cattle bush.

On Thursday, I went out with (Project Officer) Isabella Murphy to do a property assessment of a beautiful property south of Warwick, on the Granite Belt. We were meant to be assessing the new fencing around a waterway and checking the progress of a recent cool burning. However, I will admit that I was rather focussed on the beautiful wildflowers and waterfall on the property. The property itself was beautiful, a true example of the region.

On Friday with the communications ladies, (Senior Project Officer) Kellie Stewart and (Project Officer) Alyssa Glover, I spent the day writing this. I’m not very used to writing things intended for an audience more than an English teacher, but I have given it a go.

All in all, this experience has really opened my eyes, not just to the wonderful people in the conservation industry, but also to the land I very much love. I have cherished my time doing work that has actually made a difference. I’m thankful to the whole team for being so welcoming and kind, and am looking forward to hopefully meeting these guys again.

By Piper Brady, Year 10.

Diversity of Plants Builds Soil

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 05:24:17 GMT

‘Diversity of plants builds soil’ was the key message for more than 150 farmers and land managers who converged on Highfields near Toowoomba recently.

They were attending the Creating Functioning Soils Conference hosted by Southern Queensland Landscapes and featuring international soil expert Dr Christine Jones and five local experts.

Agronomist Ian Moss told the crowd there were three things they could do to improve the function of their soils including increasing soil organic matter, addressing nutrient cycling and thinking hard about the damage we do to the soil.

“I really do think we need to rethink the assumptions we make about how plants pick up nutrients,” Ian Moss said.

“When you do a lot of plant testing and soil testing you realise that there’s not always a lot of correlation with what’s in the soil and what the plants are taking up,” Mr Moss said.

“And there’s new science and research around a process called rhizophagy where plants are feeding microbes sugars and that’s enabling and giving the energy to those microbes to go and access nutrients and then the roots are literally taking those microbes inside and stripping the nutrients from them,” he said.

“It’s a pretty exciting new discovery.”

“Rhizophagy (means root eating) or rhizopghapy cycling or symbiosis is a cyclic process whereby bacteria and fungi cycle between a free-living phase in the soil and a plant-dependent phase within cells of plant roots. The discovery that plants actively cultivate and then extract nutrients from symbiotic microbes is new.”

Meanwhile, David Lange from Auscrimper discussed the need to get more water into soil and more water into the whole landscape.

“I think probably the most important thing we can take away as regenerative farmers is to keep something green growing in our soil all the time,” David Lange said.

“Because the green plants are cycling carbon and they’re working the water cycle and they’re working the mineral cycle and that will all lead to a healthier soil and ecosystem in our soil,” Mr Lange said.

Farmer and 2017 Nuffield Scholar Alex Nixon agreed, adding that for his grain and beef enterprise, “Devon Court” near Roma, the number one priority was ground cover.

“We try to have a big focus on keeping 100% ground cover, 100% of the time, both in our farming portion of our land and our grazing,” Alex Nixon said.

“Number two is utilising the tools we already have in our tool bag like zero till planters and stripper fronts to try and leave as much residue behind as possible,” Mr Nixon said.

Owner and Operator at Nyngan Seed Graders, Martin Williams said we’ve got to get our thinking right and in a holistic way.

“We want to be looking at the big picture and condensing it all down and then getting it in our head because if it doesn’t happen in our head it won’t happen in our paddock,” Martin Williams said.

“Plants build soil. And what’s even more important than that is that diversity of plants build soil. All the great soils in the world were built by plants,” Mr Williams said.

BEAR Biologics Agroecologist Sarah Fea further added that people need to start thinking of their soil as a living thing.

“I’d like people to really connect that soil is living, it’s a living entity,” Sarah Fea said.

“So if I can think, what it is that makes it (the soil) comfortable as another organism...so, how do you change tillage practices? How shall we relook at pesticides? How can we start changing these sorts of things to help that living organism function better without those things impeding its ability to actually function,” Ms Fea said.

“Another key thing is to look around the room and see this great community and work out how to get more involved in and keep this conversation going. To keep ourselves engaged on this journey,” she said.

As the major drawcard for the conference, Dr Christine Jones put it simply.

“All a farmer really needs to know is how to have increased plant diversity; because that will have the flow on effect of increasing microbial diversity in the soil- and soil function depends on soil microbial diversity,” Dr Christine jones said.

“Several years ago we didn’t understand that the soil microbiome controlled the functioning of soil,” Dr Jones said.

“So we have to understand how to stimulate soil microbiome, we understand how to stimulate soil biology in terms of having increased abundance and diversity of microbes in the soil which means we need to have increased diversity of plants above the ground because it is the plants that support the soil microbiome,” she said.

For more watch the Creating Functioning Soils Conference video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Ixsjzbxng
Become an SQ Landscapes Member and find out about future events lik e this https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/become-a-member
Subscribe to our E-newsletter list https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/about-us#SubscribetoourE-Newsletter

This project is supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.

What to look out for at the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 01:55:37 GMT

The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is set to impress this year with incredible local displays, music, food and wine tours, and activities for the kids. Our Toowoomba staff are starting to get excited as they watch the flowers grow from one of the major gardens just steps from our office, Laurel Bank Park.

Project Officer Alyssa Glover said she’s been eagerly waiting to join in on her first carnival of flowers since moving to Toowoomba five months ago.

“I am so incredibly excited for the carnival of flowers. I am always in awe of Toowoomba’s beauty, so I really can’t wait to discover more of it and be involved in this year’s program offers,” said Alyssa Glover.

We’re equally as excited for this great local event that supports our people and economy to flourish, so we compiled a list of what to look out for this year.

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR:

FOR THE KIDS

Sideshow Alley

From Friday September 17 - Sunday September 19

Ferris Wheel

From Friday September 17 - Sunday September 26

Chalk Art in the Park

From Saturday September 4 (see program for times)

FOR THE FAMILY

Free floral displays in botanic gardens

Wednesday September 1 - Thursday September 30

Grand Central Floral Parade

Saturday September 18, 10am

Parkland Entertainment

From Saturday September 4 (see program for show times)

Night Garden Powered By Ergon Energy

Wednesday September 1 - Thursday September 30

FOR THE ADULTS

Festival of Food and Wine

From Friday September 10 to Sunday September 12

High Cheese

Saturday September 4

Foodie Tours

From Friday September 3 (see program for more details)

Community Floral Events

From Friday September 10 (see program for more details)

MAJOR GARDENS:

Laurel Bank Park
Queens Park
Spring Buff Gardens

TOOWOOMBA EXHIBITION PRIVATE GARDENS:

Val Peachy, 5 Fern Drive, Kearneys Spring
Ian & Cheryl Feeney, 2 Blue Meadow Court, Blue Mountain Heights
Adrian & Gail Wockner, 5 Horizon Court, Highfields
Rod & Jill Osborne, 11 Horizon Court, Highfields

FOR THE FULL PROGRAM:

https://www.tcof.com.au/official-program-2/

Experts warn, get pests under control now

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 23:11:12 GMT

Time is running out to control feral pests and weeds before the warmer weather hits.

That’s the advice from Southern Queensland Landscapes who claim control efforts become increasingly more difficult with the onset of Spring.

Feral Pig Expert & General Manager, Darren Marshall said land managers need to take advantage of the last days of cooler weather to get control of pest populations.

“As Spring comes on board, it makes pests hard to control as there’s a lot more food in the landscape,” said Darren Marshall.

“Winter, and while it’s cold, is the best time to control feral pests because they are resource stressed; and as a result more likely to go for traps,” Mr Marshall said.

“When they have other options, they won’t always go for the traps. That’s why it’s crucial to get them before we enter Spring,” he said.

Whilst pests like feral pigs (Sus scofra) are not known to hibernate during cold weather, the change in season often prompts land managers to notice more pigs in their landscape.

“While the warm weather moving in won’t necessarily affect the migration of pests like pigs, it will affect their breeding as they’ll have plenty of food resources,”

“My biggest piece of advice for land managers is to take advantage of the last weeks of cold weather to trap and bait ferals looking for an easy feed before the spring comes,” said Darren.

Spring also spells trouble for land managers looking to get on top of weeds.

Principal Project Officer Holly Hosie said Spring usually brings an abundance of rain.

“When the warm weather comes, we get more rain and seeds germinate better and spring is when a lot of the weeds flower and seed,” Holly Hosie said

“As we come into spring in southern Queensland, we’re seeing parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus), and other introduced non-palatable grass species pop up like giant rat’s tail grass (Sporobolus pyramidalis), and the usual suspects like harrisia cactus (Harrisia martinii), and mother of millions (Bryophyllum delagoense),” Ms Hosie said.

Land managers who feed out their livestock in winter might see more weeds popping up on their property.

“Land managers need to be extra vigilant about weeds popping up particularly in areas where cattle are fed. This is because if you bring in feed from another area, it’s quite possible that it could be harbouring weed seeds,” she said.

Both agree that a fast hand and watchful eye are the key to surviving spring.

“It’s not too late to get on top of your pest problem, but you need to act fast,” Darren Marshall said.

“Meanwhile, If any weeds pop up and look unusual and if you’re not sure about it, you should always ask your local council or Biosecurity Queensland about it,” Holly Hosie said.

“Make sure you know what you're dealing with, have a plan in place, and get the right advice in order to treat weeds in the most efficient way for your land,” Ms Hosie said.

If you’re concerned about invasive weeds on your property, get in contact with your local council or Biosecurity Queensland: https://bit.ly/3s5agK2 .

Feral pigs (Sus scofra) caught on a monitoring camera in Southern Queensland. Supplied: Project Officer Lachlan Marshall.

Feral pigs (Sus scofra) caught on a monitoring camera at night in Southern Queensland. Supplied: Project Officer Lachlan Marshall.

International Soil Scientist Inspires Land Managers to Create Functioning Soils

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 01:39:38 GMT

More than 150 land managers gathered at Highfields Cultural Centre when Southern Queensland Landscapes hosted internationally renowned soil scientist Dr Christine Jones.

Dr Jones presented to the sold-out event on how to Create Functioning Soils and explained why it is so important to your entire enterprise and landscape.

Ticket holders attended from hundreds of kilometres around Toowoomba; with many ardent followers making the journey to listen to her speak again. Justin & Lorroi Kirkby from Gravesend, NSW, said they had seen Dr Jones six times now and each time they take away something new from her presentation.

Key takeaways included:

Biodiversity is important for all life
Multi-species from mixed plant families work better to improve soil condition and carbon retention
Soil processes are linked to the health of the landscapes and to the people who consume food from the landscapes
A simplified system is a dysfunctional system

Stay tuned to our September Newsletter when we bring you video highlights from the event, together with key points from Dr Christine Jones and the event panel experts Martin Williams, Sarah Fea, Alex Nixon, Ian Moss and David Lange.

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Header image by Lucy Cooper.

Event attendees Libby Gardiner (Toowoomba) and Vicki Mayne (Burncluith, near Chinchilla).

Event attendees Shane Mayne (Burncluith, near Chinchilla) and Bruce Alchin (Cambooya).

Event attendees Peter Grayson (Emu Vale), Andres Spragge (Tannymorel, near Killarney) and Alan Davidson (Tannymorel, near Killarney).

Event attendees Kathy O'Connell (Rathdowney) and Bryant Ussher (Kin Kin).

Event attendees Adam Gould (Southbrook) and Matthew Baldwin (Harlaxton).

Event attendees Marcia Smith (Whorl Ag, Pittsworth), Phil Thompson (Pittsworth) and Matt Clark (Millmerran).

Event attendees David Curtis (Milmerran), Chris Skillington (Clifton) and Ted Callanan (Nobby).

First Nations Set To ‘Heal Country’ Through Art

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 22:52:09 GMT

Artists throughout the region are abuzz with the launch of Southern Queensland Landscapes Inaugural First Nations Art Competition.

SQ Landscapes First Nations Committee Chair, Chris Joseph said the competition was launched during NAIDOC Week and aims to give artists from Toowoomba west to Thargomindah, north to Taroom and south to the NSW border an opportunity to showcase their amazing talent.

“We have some incredible artists in this area and thanks to an anonymous donation made to the organisation specifically for a First Nations Art Competition, SQ Landscapes is honoured to work with the 28 Nations in this region to develop these artists skills and provide opportunities to not only showcase their work, but meet other artists and learn from already established artists like Uncle Colin Jones,” Chris Joseph said.

“Uncle Colin, who has exhibited his incredible works in galleries throughout Europe, America and Australia, will be offering feedback and guidance in his role as judge of the competition, together with established portrait painter and Owner of Toowoomba’s Murray’s Art & Framing, Sue McMaster,” Mr Joseph said.

“The theme of the competition is ‘Heal Country’ in line with this year’s NAIDOC theme and for Southern Queensland Landscapes this dovetails beautifully into our mission as a community owned organisation to work with communities to create ‘flourishing landscapes’,” he said.

“Country is inherent to our identity. It sustains our lives in every aspect – spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally. It is more than a place. When we talk about Country it is spoken of like a person. Country is family, kin, law, lore, ceremony, traditions and language. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples it has been this way since the dawn of time” – The National NAIDOC Committee (NNC)

There’s more than $8,000 in prizes to be won through the First Nations Art Competition and entrants from 15 years of age could be eligible to enter*.

“There’s three categories for the competition being 15-17 years, 18-24 years and 25 years plus; and from these three categories a Grand Prize winner will be announced,” Chris Joseph said.

“Entrants must also identify as First Nations people from one or more of the 28 Nations in the Southern Queensland Landscapes area and a full list of all 28 Nations are available on our website and in the Competition Guidelines,” Mr Joseph said.

“Winners will be chosen based on their creativity, story-telling ability, skill and adherence to the theme ‘Heal Country’,” he said.

All entries will be on display during NAIDOC Week 2022 with winners announced during NAIDOC Week festivities.

For full competition details and information on how to enter visit https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/first-nations-art-competition

*Full Terms & Conditions apply.

Partnership combines traditional practices & modern science to save endangered turtles

Wed, 21 Jul 2021 01:27:36 GMT

High intensity bushfires around Deepwater National Park, south of Agnes Waters in Queensland last year, have this year created an inviting environment for red foxes (Vulpes vulpes).

Southern Queensland Landscapes Senior Project Manager, Tom Garrett said the clearing of undergrowth has made it easier for foxes to hunt small lizards and birds; and ultimately turned the area into a favourite hunting place for predators including foxes, wild cats (Felis cactus) and dogs (Canis lupus).

“As more foxes and other predators move into the area and increase pressure on food resources , the foxes begin to disperse and it doesn’t take too long for them to find the Marine turtle nests,” Tom Garrett said.

Port Curtis Coral Coast country includes beaches and islands that are some of the most important marine turtle nesting sites in Queensland, supporting significant breeding populations of the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), the vulnerable green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the vulnerable flatback turtle (Natator depressus).

Tom and conservation detector dog Rocky, have been working with the Gidarjil Bundaberg Land and Sea Rangers for about six years now helping identify, map and control pests in the Port Curtis Coral Coast Native Title region.

The Gidarjil Rangers look after the area totaling 46,000km2 (22,000km2 land & 26,000km2 sea); and caring for Country and protecting threatened species is their focus, combining traditional knowledge, practices and Lore with western science to do so.

“Rocky will find an active den and then the Gidarjil Rangers will go in and have a look at the site and decide how to coordinate control efforts,” Mr Garrett said.

“My aim is to empower the Gidarjil Rangers to make the commercial pest work in the region their own,” he said.

Gidarjil Sea Ranger Coordinator, Saranne Giudice said Tom has been training the Sea Rangers to undertake innovative and strategic control activities.

“This includes fox den detection with conservation detector dog ‘Rocky’, fox den mapping, fumigation and the implementation of any other appropriate control methods,” Saranne Giudice said.

“The aim of the joint project is to support the survival and recovery of marine turtle clutches and hatchlings by reducing predation by the introduced red fox,” Ms Giudice said.

“The rangers are really proud to be undertaking this project with Tom, Rocky and SQ Landscapes to reduce the pressure on endangered marine turtle clutches and other native species in the Port Curtis Coral Coast Native Title area,” she said.

While Tom is the teacher, he said he is always learning.

“I’ve learnt heaps from the Gidarjil Rangers. They share their traditional knowledge with me. We have conversations about cultural burning, native animals in the landscape and their stories and totems. I’ve learned through stories about how they are attached to land and sea,” Tom Garrett explained.

“The relationship I have with the Gidarjil Rangers is great; they keep in close contact with me for advice and mentoring in pest management and our combined work has helped the group secure a commercial contract this year with the Bundaberg Regional Council, which is fantastic,” Mr Garrett said.

“And for me, I take a lot of the knowledge about Country the Gidarjil Rangers have taught me and apply it to other projects throughout the Southern Queensland Landscapes region. It really is a very symbiotic relationship that we have developed, and combined it truly drives flourishing landscapes,” he said.

LEARN MORE: https://www.gidarjil.com.au/

This project is funded through the Australian Governments Bushfire Recovery for Wildlife and Habitat Community Grants Program.

Marine turtle eggs destroyed by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) along the beach.

Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett and conservation detector dog Rocky near Deepwater National Park.

Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett works with the Gidarjil Bundaberg Land and Sea Rangers using technology to track Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes).

Plastic Free July

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 09:00:54 GMT

150 million tonnes of single use plastic waste is produced every year. Senior Project Officer Jacinta Cox says Plastic Free July is a cause close to her heart.

"On the issue of plastic, our family tries to reduce plastics wherever we can…being keen river enthusiasts, we are always doing our part to pick up plastics as we find them in channels and just throw them in the car to take to the nearest bin," said Jacinta. The amount of waste we produce in Queensland is growing at a much faster rate than our population growth, and as a state, we have a lot of catching up to do in terms of how we approach recycling and resource recovery.

Jacinta says recycling doesn't have to be stressful, and that small, every day changes can make a BIG impact. “In addition to doing the ‘right thing’, see if you can think of just one way you and your family can address the three ‘R’s:” she said.

REDUCE

Reduce your plastic packaging.

"I pack my son’s lunchbox with reusable containers. He has reusable containers for everything! We have a tiny bottle for his juice/milk, metal straw and all shapes and sizes for other items. Do you really need glad wrap for your sandwich? Well, if you have a tight fitting container, you don’t! Admittedly you may have to still transfer food from a bigger plastic item to the smaller containers – but it’s still a lot less plastic then throwing away several small items every day,”

Buy local and support farmers markets.

“We buy what fresh food we need just for the week from our local farmers markets, that way there’s no pre-packaging and much less food wastage. If you plan well, I promise you will also save money," she said.

RE-USE

Invest in ‘reusable consumables’.

"Single use plastics can include your cleaning products - and think about it, the plastic waste can really add up when you have kids! We use refillable cleaning products where we can. It can be cheaper and better for the environment to use refillable products - or make your own,”

Re-use takeout containers.

“Although they can be a hassle to wash and re-use, takeout containers can be used more than once! My husband uses them for organising nails and screws, and I like to use them for freezing food portions and leftovers. Most reused plastic containers eventually crack and need to be added to the recycling bin, but at least you’ve extended their life and more than likely reduced the need to purchase additional containers in the process.”

RECYCLE

Cash in your drink containers.

"I was so happy when they brought back the cash for containers scheme. There’s not a single kid out there who won’t absolutely love collecting all the recyclables and getting cash for them,"

Help drive change.

“Insist your governmental representatives commit to more investment in research and development for the recycling of plastics. Plastics are a valuable resource and one day soon our kids will be wondering why on earth we ever threw it away,”

Learn more about how Queensland aims to tackle plastic waste:

https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/113368/plastic-pollution-reduction-plan.pdf

Soil Health and Regenerative Agriculture

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 02:27:37 GMT

Change is underway at Kioma Station near Toobeah in South-West Queensland, to improve profitability and create a more sustainable farming system.

Local landholders around Toobeah, west of Goondiwindi, were invited to a field day in June to see first-hand how farming country is being regenerated at Kioma, a large, mixed farming and grazing operation. The day was hosted by Southern Queensland Landscapes’ Emma King, whose husband Angus is the farm manager at Kioma.

Around 30 people braved the cool and windy weather to hear more about how to manage and improve soil health and ground cover with the help of multi-species plantings and vermiculture, from fellow land holders and agricultural service providers.

The day began with a talk from veteran farmer, Ran Mitchell, who took visitors back in time, to share he and wife Jenny’s journey over 50 years to regenerate the soil on their farm near North Star in North-West NSW.

The Mitchell’s began focusing on ‘regenerative’ agricultural principles decades ago, before the term ‘regenerative agriculture’ had been coined. Over the years they’ve developed a passion for harnessing and working with the natural rhythms of their land, flora and fauna. Unlike today, Ran was breaking new ground, figuratively speaking.

Rod and Maree Farrow, (Rod works for Ran on Leyland) run Vermagra – their worming farming enterprise. The team uses very few pesticides, plants multi-species cover crops and includes regular long fallows in the farming system.

“I watched the opening up of land for farming in what was to become known as ‘The Golden Triangle’,” Ran says.

“It didn’t take long before I could see and sense that we were working against our soil and nature in severe ways. The sound of shear bolts breaking on the neighbour’s blade plough as it hit stumps kept me awake at night and led me to the realisation that this was not the way forward.”

It was 45 years ago after having some basic water infiltration tests done on a stand of native vegetation and in a field that had been farmed since the 1930s that stands out.

“I can’t remember what the different infiltration rates were, but we were so dismayed we parked the disc ploughs we had and began no-till farming in earnest,” Ran said.

“To you people here, now is the time to form a vision for the future.

“To start, make just one plan to change one thing for the better.

“It’s ultimately about helping balance what we take out of the soil and putting back in the most natural way.

“One handful of fertile soil contains more living things than people on Earth – just recently we’ve learned that the underground livestock (biology) living in a hectare of healthy soil, would weigh eight tonnes.

“Eight tonnes of things we can’t see but need to grow and preserve.”

Kioma provided the perfect backdrop to discuss soil health, now nearly 15 years into a journey in regenerative farming. Much of the journey has been guided by Ian Moss from FARM Agronomy & Resource Management (FARM), who was on hand to share his knowledge and discuss options and decisions for planting and managing forages and/or pastures from a regenerative agriculture perspective. He’s working with Angus and farming manager Ewen who oversees the regenerative farming strategies, including their on-site worm bioreactors.

Ian says the aim is to build the capacity of the soil to improve productivity and profitability by focusing on soil quality, namely through increasing soil organic matter levels.

Kioma is a mix of clay vertisols, varying from red through to lighter black country and was previously managed in what is generally described as ‘traditional’ farming methods, in a winter-crop dominant system, heavily relevant on herbicides and synthetic fertilisers.

The current regenerative system grew from an early focus on nutrition.

“In the early days I was helping nutrition, which included a focus on soil testing and fertiliser rates,” Ian said.

“An initial step in this journey was to add liquid injections at planting and seed dressings to provide micronutrients with biological seed treatments.”

The next big step was looking at soil fertility as a whole and move to more long-term thinking and planning.

“As agronomists and farmers, we are really good at looking at a paddock and working out how to make the most money from it in the next six months,” Ian said.

“What we aren’t so good at, is understanding the impact of crop sequences, fallows and covers over 10 years, these are big things that make a difference to profitability.

“To determine what was needed long term required us to look at what was holding back yield, sub-soil constraints and a method to rebuild soil health over time.”

Changes at Kioma have included an aim to keep 20 percent of the area for summer cash cropping to spread risk and give opportunity to grow cover crops in long fallows. The farm works towards a five-year rotation of three winter cash crops in a row then a long fallow summer cash crop.

“We have moved chickpeas to the last winter crop before long fallowing to sorghum because it doesn’t have value as a standing stubble cover crop – we will plant cover after chickpea harvest at the earliest opportunity.

“The rotation plan rarely happens as planned and we deliberately throw out the five-year plan every time we have a decent fall of rain, or a planting window closes.

“By doing that and having cover crops in the mix we’ve been able to help Angus utilise them for grazing, which was particularly valuable in the last drought.”

They’ve moved away from pre-plant N application and are now using a spreader to add N in the form of sulphate of ammonia if, and when needed. Plant testing is another widely used tool.

“Often it’s the nutrient excesses that we deal with first before the deficiencies,” Ian says.

“By knowing what is left in the soil, post-harvest, all the options are open to us.”

Multi-species forage crops are a key to improving soil health. The field day visitors had a close look at a field planted with oats, barley, triticale, wheat, field peas, vetch, tillage radish, forage brassica and falcon leafy turnip. The multi-species aspect is building better quality and quantity of forage and the diversity of plant roots helps build the soil through promoting biological growth and water infiltration.

The next big step will bring the worms into the mix, starting this year. A liquid extract from the vermicast will be used for seed dressing, liquid injection at planting and as foliar treatments to reduce reliance on synthetic fertilisers.

Ian says the interest in regenerative agriculture is certainly growing. So what brings landholders to explore regenerative ag?

“There are two main reasons landholders come to us,” he said.

“Either they’ve seen and heard about regen ag and what we do, or, more and more I’m getting phone calls from people saying ‘I don’t know what I need to change but know I need to change something’ mainly because they’re experiencing increases in farming costs but not seeing this translated into increasing yields.

“My job is to make ‘sustainable farming profitable’.

“It is really about the farming system and starting to understand and appreciate the actions we take and how they affect everything else, in terms of the long-term health of our soil – which is the greatest asset we have on our farms – if it is healthy.”

The field day wound up with a presentation from Christian Capp from Data Farming who gave a practical and useful outline of the value of data and mapping to manage soil and farming systems.

To learn more about events like this, check out: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/events

Become a member of Southern Queensland Landscapes: https://www.sqlandscapes.org.au/become-a-member

Article authored by: Melanie Jenson

This event was supported by Southern Queensland Landscapes and Millmerran Landcare through funding from the Queensland Governments Natural Resource Investment Program.

Goondiwindi Cotton Tackling Fast Fashion

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 02:16:00 GMT

Goondiwindi cotton is breathing new life into old Sheridan sheets and hi-vis clothing with an innovative new textile recycling practice. A farm in Goondiwindi is taking old textiles and shredding them to spread on top of cotton crops as a fertiliser for the crops, in the hopes to bring recycling into the mainstream production line.

In this never-before-done trial, the cotton farmers are hoping the reused cotton ‘fertiliser’ will provide benefits to soil health, including improving soil moisture retention, carbon capture, and increasing microbial activity.

The breaking down of these garments in soil offers far more environmental benefits than if they were to break down in landfill.

The test will likely lead to more investigations into non biodegradable elements such as synthetic dyes, buttons, zips, synthetic threads and tags. The trial is expected to conclude at the end of harvesting season, in early to mid 2022.

"The potential to divert clothing from landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially feed our soils could help deliver more sustainable practices in multiple sectors,” said Dr Oliver Knox from the University of New England.

"We grow it here and we should be able to bury it here with positive environmental and economic impact on the local community,” said local farmer and Goondiwindi Cotton owner, Sam Coulton.

Textile waste is a significant problem in Australia, and implementing practises like this creates a circular life cycle for clothing, minimising waste and enhancing outputs. Southern Queensland Landscapes is excited to track the progress of this experiment as it develops further.

Soil your Undies for Soil Health

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 02:11:58 GMT

Soil health is the name of the game for any landholder wanting to decrease their inputs and ensure the longevity of their land. There are no quick fixes in soil health, and all your actions on land can impact the health and fertility of your soil. Although your soil may appear a certain way, it can be tricky to fully gauge the health of your soil. So, how do you know if your soil is healthy?

Well, why not try this experiment. All you have to do is soil your undies! Try these steps:

Purchase a pair of white 100% cotton underwear (no dyes or polyester blends).
Dig a shallow hole, 5cm deep, but wide enough to fit the underwear.
Cover with soil and mark the burial site with a flag, or another identifying marker.
Leave the underwear buried for two months.
After the two months are over, carefully dig up your underwear.
Examine the level of decomposition.

This experiment tests the microbiology in your soil. If you find that the underwear is quite decomposed, you’ll find that you have active microorganisms in your soil - meaning that your soil is probably healthy! However, if there is little difference to the underwear, your soil may be lacking nutrients, or have very little microbial activity.

Reasons your soil may not be healthy:

It’s lacking moisture.
It has been over cropped or over used.
It has very little biodiversity.

CottonInfo, who heads the Soil Your Undies experiment, recommends testing on different areas of your property at the same time to compare the differences in soil health on your property. Try testing areas that are grassy, or have been revegetated, with drier, high traffic areas to compare and contrast how pasture management affects soil health.

You can contribute to an understanding of soil health and citizen science by submitting your decomposed underwear to CottonInfo. Find out more here: https://www.cottoninfo.com.au/soil-your-undies

If you give this experiment a go, let us know what your results are. If you’re keen on learning more about enhancing your soil health, get in touch with us today by emailing admin@sqlandscapes.org.au.

Print out instructions: https://www.cottoninfo.com.au/soil-your-undies#:~:text=All%20you%20need%20to%20do,activity%2C%20which%20indicates%20healthy%20soil.

National Drought Summit in Toowoomba

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 20:00:02 GMT

Southern Queensland Landscapes CEO Paul McDonald had the valuable opportunity to learn from and network with experts in drought resilience at the National Drought Summit in Toowoomba recently.

The event was attended by over 150 scientists, community leaders, politicians, industry representatives, not-for-profit organisations, and landholders from all around Australia to take proactive steps towards a drought resilient Queensland.

The summit was jointly convened by the National Farmers Federation (NFF) which was ably led by its Chair and keynote speaker of the summit, Fiona Simson.

"The new National Resilience and Recovery Agency is very fortunate to have Coordinator General The Honourable Shane L Stone AC QC charting its course," said Paul McDonald.

"There were several key outcomes from the summit. However, the clear message is that we all need to work together to support our communities. Better networking in our efforts will be critical moving into the future," Mr McDonald said.

"The unanimous focus on helping our producers and communities find new tools, approaches and innovations recognised how resilient all these great bush people already are. All they need is knowledge-based support and opportunities to network to better inform their decision-making," he said.

"The opportunity to share experiences and information at a national scale was invaluable."

Southern Queensland Landscapes looks forward to working with the National Resilience and Recovery Agency into the future.

National Drought Forum keynote speaker Fiona Simson, NFF President.

Bruce King, CEO Regional Investment Corporation BAgEcon, MBA.

Coordinator General The Honourable Shane L Stone AC QC.

Workshop equips landholders to fight Harrisia

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 01:54:21 GMT

Landholders and experts in pest management have gathered in Leyburn to workshop the regions strategy for controlling and ultimately eradicating Harrisia cactus.

Southern Queensland Landscapes Graduate Project Officer, Isabella Murphy said the workshop was focused on helping landholders understand how to identify Harrisia cactus and effectively control the pest.

“John Conroy and Tamara Taylor from Biosecurity Queensland (BQ), were guest speakers at the event; along with Mat Warren from Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC),” Isabella Murphy said.

“Harrisia cactus is a restricted, invasive plant that was introduced to Australia as a pot plant; and is detrimental to the condition of native vegetation and grazing practices with the plants vicious spines causing physical damage to livestock,” Ms Murphy said.

“Participants at the workshop learnt the identifying features of the different species of Harrisia cactus and the best practice control methods currently on offer,” she said.

There are a number of options to landholders looking to control and eradicate Harrisia cactus including chemicals like Access® Herbicide and diesel fuel, biocontrols and manual controls.

“The variety of recommended options for control of Harrisia cactus are outlined in the ‘Weeds of Southern Queensland’ 4th Edition’; an extremely valuable resource that SQ Landscapes can provide to landholders who are interested in knowing more,” Isabella Murphy said.

“Workshop participants learnt the importance of following label instructions for the chemical control of Harrisia cactus,” Ms Murphy said.

“It can be tempting to increase the ratio of chemical in the mix hoping for a more substantial kill rate; but this often only results in an artificial burn of the plant where the chemical has made contact,” she said.

“By sticking to the recommended mix and completely dousing the cactus you will give the plant time to draw the chemical all the way to the root extremities before it dies, ensuring a full death not just a ‘burn’ or the appearance of death.”

Meanwhile BQ explained what biocontrols were available and when to use this method.

“Tamara Taylor told us BQ have been researching the effectiveness of mealy bug and the potential use of stem boring beetle in the control of Harrisia cactus, but it was really emphasized that the best time to use this type of method is when there is a dense infestation where chemical or manual control just aren’t an option,” Isabella Murphy said.

“Biocontrols are a more long-term control method where infestations are established, and preference should be given to chemical or manual controls when new outbreaks are identified or where landholders need to get control quickly,” Ms Murphy said.

“And don’t forget the importance of washing machinery and mechanical cross- contamination between paddocks or properties; if you’ve been somewhere where you may have picked up Harrisia cactus seeds or fragments on your vehicle make sure you decontaminate by thoroughly washing before you move onto clean landscapes,” she said.

If you think you may have Harrisia cactus on your property please contact Graduate Project Officer Isabella Murphy by phoning 0417 746 532 or via email at Isabella.murphy@sqlandscapes.org.au

“Landholders will not get in trouble for having Harrisia cactus on their property. Contacting Southern Queensland Landscapes with this information allows us to assist SDRC in monitoring the infestation, and ensure concerned landholders get the right information about options for control and eradication to effectively manage outbreaks,” Ms Murphy said.

This project is funded by Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program.

Harrisia cactus is a clambering succulent with angular branches, robust spines, showy white or pinkish flowers and bright red fruit.

Sticking to label instructions for chemical control and completely dousing the cactus will give the plant time to draw the chemical all the way to the root extremities before it dies, ensuring a full death not just a ‘burn’ or the appearance of death.

The fruit of Harrisia cactus is bright red with spines and contains many seeds giving the plant huge potential for spread and propogation.

Harrisia cactus has complex and extensive root system which can spread metres from the actual plant posing difficulties when using chemical controls.

Rocky's Back in Rockhampton

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 06:09:11 GMT

After about six months' rest, Southern Queensland Landscapes’ conservation detector dog ‘Rocky’ has hit the ground running for his first project of the season together with handler Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett.

The pair headed off for some fox detection work at a restricted military training area on Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton with Tom saying Rocky was eager for his first day on the job; wasting no time getting started.

“He knew straight away when he was in the vehicle on the way to the job that he was heading to work. He reacts when we put his coat and GPS collar on; his nose goes down to the ground and his tail wags a million miles an hour,” Tom Garrett said.

“The only way into Shoalwater is via helicopter and although Rocky had never been in a helicopter before, he handled it like a champ,” Tom said.

“It was a first for the pilot too, because he had never had a detection dog on his chopper before either,” Tom chuckled.

Across the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, Shoalwater Bay has the biggest roosting site for some 32,000 migratory shore birds as well as a significant population of green sea turtles.

“Rocky’s job was to identify the presence of pests including rabbits, foxes, wild dogs and cats, and assist in streamlining their eradication. His work is paramount to the protection of these migratory shore birds and green sea turtles during their breeding cycles and ultimately the biodiversity of the entire region,” Tom said.

“Our clients, the Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA) and Australian Defence Force wanted to see if foxes were impacting these birds as they were nesting,” he said.

“While Rocky didn’t find any active signs of foxes on this occasion, he did discover an abandoned fox den. The FBA will now go into the area on the back of Rocky’s sweep and search and conduct further investigations to confirm Rocky’s assessment.”

Rocky skills are particularly valuable in areas where control methods have been applied and there are few pests remaining; and where the terrain makes it difficult for pest technicians to operate alone, such as at Shoalwater Bay.

“With his work at Shoalwater complete for now, Rocky has been looking forward to the season ahead and for some time has been telling me he’s ready for work,” Tom said.

“He does some funny things if he's not working,” he shared.

“I taught him to find my keys and mobile phone so that if I lose them on a job, Rocky can help me find them. And sometimes I forget where I've put them so Rocky comes in super handy then. But every now and then if I leave my shoes or keys out, Rocky will pick them up and take them outside to hide them; showing me he’s keen to work,” he said.

SQ Landscapes’ Conservation Detector Dog Program is set to expand with Tom preparing to take charge of a new dog in the coming months.

“We’re investigating the possibility to train the new dog on honey bees and diseases on honey bees from overseas,” Tom said

“Our new dog is currently undergoing preliminary training and we’re hoping to announce his or her arrival in the coming months,” he said.

As for Rocky, it’s on to the next job!

To learn more about Tom and Rocky’s story, click here.

Rocky walking to the helicopter used to transport him and Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett around the beaches at Shoalwater Bay.

Tom and Rocky Find Message in a Bottle

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 06:08:40 GMT

A red helicopter docks on top of damp, fine sand in the distance. Waves softly crash against the shore as a dog in a red and black vest scours sand dunes looking for fox dens. Today, it is his handler that makes the big find.

It is warm and sunny at Shoalwater Bay and Senior Project Officer Tom Garrett sets out with Rocky the conservation detector dog early in the morning to complete fox detection works along the beach.

Shoalwater Bay is a military training area off the coast of Rockhampton in Central Queensland. The base was established in 1965, and has been restricted to public access since then. The beach doesn’t see many visitors at all.

The area is known to attract debris; the result of tidal movements that suck all sorts of things onto the beach. Light bulbs, gas bottles, eskies, soccer balls and other miscellaneous items of rubbish discarded by vessels or caught up the tides.

Tom made his way along the waterline, peppered here and there with ocean debris. His eye caught something unusual and out of place glistening in the sun. As he moved closer, he noticed that it was an opaque glass bottle - and there was something inside it.

This was a rare find for Rocky and Tom. They’d worked beaches for years and heard stories of people finding a message in a bottle, but had never experienced it before, nor knew of someone who had.

Tom carefully unscrewed the bottle and removed the paper inside. On an A4 blue lined note, letters in black sharpie jumped from the page...

We are a group of sailors on board a 40 metre sailboat! We left Lyttelton, New Zealand on 31 March 2018 and are ten days into our six week journey to Tahiti. We are expecting some heavy weather from a yet to be named storm so we’ve spent the day securing the boat, tying things down, padding loud pots and pans, getting the sails ready. We have 21 oceanography college students and 13 professional crew onboard. If you are reading this, I would love to hear from you. [CONTACT EMAIL]

Tom pocketed the bottle and note and he and Rocky continued on their task of sweeping the bay for foxes.

Back at the office, Tom retraced his steps and shared his curious find with new staff member Alyssa Glover in the Communications team of SQ Landscapes. Alyssa set out to find the author of the letter - casting off an email to the address detailed on the note...and waiting like all good anglers wait for their catch.

Three days later, Alyssa received a reply to her email.

Lauren Heinen was a marine biology graduate when she boarded the Robert C. Seamans ship as a cook in 2018. Lauren and her 34 crew-mates were confined to a 40 metre space for 40 days studying plankton levels at different sea temperatures. The days were often long. Lauren said the journey from Lyttleton to Tahiti is the longest you can take without seeing land.

Inspired by stories from a previous ship captain and as a means of entertaining herself and communicating with the outside world, Lauren started writing letters during the long evenings. She would fold them up and seal them inside a bottle before throwing them into the sea next afternoon - and watching as the bottle drifted off beyond the horizon.

“I guess I wanted to see if I could have some kind of connection beyond my 34 crew-mates. A really distant connection; and having a message I’m sending out to the world feels like a broader connection,

“I thought, wouldn't it be a cool thing - what might happen,” Lauren said.

The bottle Tom found at Shoalwater Bay with Rocky was some 3,862 kms from where it was cast into the ocean 1,111 days earlier. The bottle’s journey was just short of the total 40 day journey the author Lauren had taken to Tahiti from New Zealand.

“I have thrown about 25 bottles over my eight years at sea and only ever heard responses from four of those messages. It was a shock, and very exciting when you got in contact. So far this is the longest time period between the bottle being thrown and being found,” Lauren said

“The first bottle was found in New Zealand a week or two later. All the others have been found a couple of weeks or months after throwing them into the ocean. It makes me wonder how long it was on the beach before someone found it,” Lauren said.

Lauren also encouraged other students aboard the Robert C. Seamans to join her in sending letters.

“It’s really exciting to hear from students when their bottles get picked up. It's kind of a fun community activity- writing messages and throwing them overboard.” Lauren said.

Now living in Wisconsin USA, Lauren reflected on her time aboard the Robert C. Seamans with great fondness - eager to get back out to sea once Covid restrictions ease.

“I feel like it's magic on both ends - the writing of it and preparing of it and getting together with other students and shipmates to throw it overboard - that's exciting, and then hearing from people who find it years later, that is really exciting,” Lauren said.

Without saying it in words, Tom conveyed the magic of his find at Shoalwater Bay. Although separated by distance, Tom’s remarkable find connects him with Lauren, the sailor who’s words would travel 3,862 kms in an opaque glass bottle, to deliver a message to a man and his conservation detector dog, three years in the future.

Tom now has a forever story to tell about his time at Shoalwater Bay, and Lauren found what she was always seeking for… a really distant connection.

Lauren Heinen (pictured) is the author of the note.

Oceanography student aboard the Robert C. Seamans, Haley Rogers (pictured), throws a bottle out to sea.

Platypus Plateau

Mon, 31 May 2021 04:29:42 GMT

Platypus numbers appear to be on the rise following improved weather conditions in the Border Rivers region. Landholders along the Macintyre Brook had noticed dwindling platypus numbers in recent years due to drought (and possibly carp) which destroyed their habitat and limited food supplies and resources. Sightings of platypus were few and far between.

With access to Commonwealth Government funding through the Northern Basin Fencing Program, SQ Landscapes has been working with landholders to install riparian fencing along the Macintyre Brook to improve the environment for platypuses.

Recent good weather has seen sightings on the rise in and near the areas that have been fenced.

Currently, platypus are under threat from habitat loss due to drought. Data suggests that 22% of the platypuses’ habitat in Australia has declined in the last thirty years. Calls are being made for the Government to protect these animals by listing them as vulnerable.

These calls followed reports that the 2019/20 bushfires had killed an estimated 2% of Australia’s total population of platypuses.

Due to the fact platypus are not considered vulnerable or endangered, money is not readily available to invest in projects that help the platypus population in Southern Queensland to prosper.

The platypuses' unique biology makes them a special part of our biodiversity in Australia. Platypuses are not found natively in any other part of the world. The iconic Australian animal is a very rare type of mammal called a monotreme. There are only two species of monotreme in the world, the platypus and echidna (the latter is also known as a spiny anteater).

The origin story of the platypus in the Aboriginal dreaming nods to their uniqueness.

According to Aboriginal legend, the platypus originated when a young female duck mated with a lonely and persuasive water-rat. The duck’s babies had their mother’s bill and webbed feet and their father’s four legs and handsome brown fur.

(Australian Platypus Conservancy)

Further habitat loss is feared for the monotremes if action is not taken.

For more information about the protection of platypuses, visit: https://platypus.asn.au/

Hebel - Tiny Town, BIG Personality!

Mon, 31 May 2021 04:29:38 GMT

At a T-intersection on the Castlereagh Highway about 65 kilometres south-west of Dirranbandi, Queensland sits a tiny border town called Hebel.

It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of town supporting a district population of about 70 and featuring a handful of buildings; including church, convenience store (come-service-station, come-post-office) and historic pub - originally opened in 1894 as a Cobb & Co changing station.

Hebel has suffered more than most in recent times following blow after blow of seven years of drought, compulsory water buy-backs and finally a world-wide pandemic which saw borders slammed shut and the town’s life-blood of tourist dollars run dry overnight.

And for 12-months the doors to the pub and convenience store remained closed...

Local grazier and businessman Frank Deshon described how hurt the town was when Southern Queensland Landscapes visited recently.

“For a town like Hebel, the pub is its hub and the barometer of the community. It’s a meeting place where people can share a few stories and laughs and with the pub closed for 12 months Hebel was really hurting,” Frank Deshon said.

“We employ quite a few locals and everyone gets down in the dumps when there’s nowhere to take the missus for dinner,” Frank said.

So in March 2021 Frank bought the pub and convenience store, reinstated publican Mervin Pullen and partner Kim and just three weeks ago the first XXXX Gold was pulled from tap.

“Yeah, the beer on tap was a long time coming! I am very proud to be part of the Hebel town, it’s just a beautiful place and home is home isn’t it,” Frank said.

“Hebel is the gateway to Queensland from the Castlereagh Highway and the Cobb & Co staging post is very iconic so while the doors remained closed the buildings were just going to deteriorate. Now they’re being used and looked after again,” he said.

Hebel is home to an elderly population, many who are still living and working on farm. So once a week Frank and the team at the pub supply a cooked meal delivered to the door.

“They’ve been here for countless years and they all still contribute and are a really important part of the community. So we also began running a raffle at the pub on a Friday night, proceeds of which go to providing our elderly neighbours a second meal each week delivered to their door so we can check on ‘em,” Frank said.

They’ve got big plans for Hebel including a caravan park for travellers to Lightening Ridge and the opals. And as SQ Landscapes rolled out of town a convoy of caravans and motorbikes pulled up across the road from the iconic pub - cameras out, people stretching and taking photos.

So if you find yourself in the area, swing by Hebel and say g’day to Frank and Mervin and spend some money at the pub or convenience store - because you’re not just buying a beer or putting some fuel in your car; you’re ensuring a tiny town with a big personality flourishes!

The historic Hebel Hotel originally opened in 1894 as a Cobb & Co changing station.

Hebel Hotel Publican Mervin Pullen is pictured on the verandah of the pub with partner Kim.

ABC Journalist Belinda Sanders recently visited Hebel Hotel and is pictured taking a photo of publican Mervin Pullen and owner Frank Deshon.

Saltbush Lamb - Uniquely Australian, Locally Grown

Mon, 31 May 2021 03:44:56 GMT

Who could have predicted 18 years ago, when Dirranbandi grazier Duncan Banks secured a small amount of seed capital to cover the deposit of Saltbush seedlings through a regional NRM group (now Southern Queensland Landscapes), that the decision would result in strong local demand for his uniquely Australian brand of lamb and lend itself to the establishment of a local boutique abattoir in St George.

Declining wheat yields and the need to find a new income source for the family property of 50-years, ‘Dunwold’, has seen more than 1,000 hectares fenced into 25ha paddocks and over a million Saltbush planted along the Castlereagh Highway since 2003.

“Saltbush has enabled us to triple traditional stocking rates of sheep on our natural grasslands and provide us with continuity of feed,” Duncan Banks said.

“We try to graze a Saltbush paddock reasonably hard and then we rest it for 6 months, so a paddock only gets grazed twice a year,” Duncan said.

“It’s not a complete feeding system; they still need the grass and a little supplement to put fat on them but Saltbush allows us to have a continuous supply of lambs all year round,” he said.

“Plus the Saltbush has reintroduced biodiversity to our property; we now see plains turkeys which can scare the living daylights out of your horse on occasion and squadrons of zebra finches; and the budgies have come back this year too - these are important to the whole system.”

While Duncan hasn’t crunched the numbers on it he says his lambs can put on up to 2kg a week.

“We’ve had lambs on the Saltbush with medic growing put on some mad numbers and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you we had a mob of drought master steers put on huge weight gains in a month on the Saltbush paddocks - the weight gains are incredible,” Duncan said.

“But you can’t have sheep and cattle feeding on the Saltbush continuously, you’ve got to rest it,” he said.

For 11 years local butcher Paul Arnall of Maranoa Meats in St George has driven past the ‘Dunwold’ paddocks of Saltbush and watched their Merino sheep thrive throughout the seasons.

“One day I just decided to pull in and see if Duncan and his wife Gerry wanted to supply us with their Saltbush lamb,” Paul Arnall said.

“You see I wanted to provide that paddock to plate experience for our customers and so I recently built with our son our own abattoir in St George; so now we can process livestock not far from where it’s grown, which means the animals don’t get stressed travelling and the meat is tender,” Paul said.

“The nearest abattoir was 115km away in Surat; then 300km to Cunnamulla and 200km to Roma,” he said.

“And there’s a lot of protein and minerals in the Saltbush that is unique and provides a really good flavour to the meat that kind of lingers on your palate. My Mum is the biggest critic and Mum just won’t have anything else now.”

Currently ‘Dunwold’ provides about 15 sheep every 10-days or so to Maranoa Meats in St George.

“Usually we sell our lambs by the truckload. Now we can sell a handful at a time and it’s only a small number but over a year it adds up to a good number of sheep,” Duncan Banks said.

“It’s easy work for us; we run a few sheep in and we’re getting great enjoyment out of everyone eating the same quality of meat we get at home on ‘Dunwold’,” Duncan said.

“Cause once you’ve eaten Saltbush lamb, and especially ‘Dunwold’ Saltbush lamb you won’t want anything else,” he said.

Paul Arnall agrees saying the feedback has been phenomenal.

“We could definitely be doing double to triple what we are currently doing and I do have plans to further develop the business online and commercially into restaurants,” Paul said.

“Saltbush Lamb is a uniquely Australian product with a unique taste that is a really good talking point,” he said.

“People want local, they look for local and so relationships like this are really important to our business and to our community.”

National Reconciliation Week with Ross Mitchell

Wed, 26 May 2021 22:00:02 GMT

On the 27th of May, National Reconciliation Week kicks off for it’s milestone 20th year. At SQ Landscapes we are passionate about our people; and celebrate the diversity of our staff. As we reflect on the significance of National Reconciliation Week, Kooma man and new staff member Ross Mitchell generously shared some of his experiences on Country and his hopes for land care in the future.

Ross recently came on board as a Project Officer and member of the SQ Landscapes First Peoples Committee. Ross has also taken on the role of Regional Agricultural Landcare Facilitator (RALF) for the Southwest region. His extensive experience with community outreach and engagement are grounded in Ross’ passions for working with people.

Ross brings extensive knowledge of Country to his role at SQ Landscapes, through his project work and role as a Common Law holder and director of Kooma Aboriginal Corporation Native Title PBC.

“I am the current Chairperson and have been for the past eight years of two adjoining stations, Murra Murra and Bendee Downs Stations South of Charleville. It is 225 000 acres, which runs a small herd of cattle and sheep; about 36 000 hectares [of it is] declared Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) and Nature Refuge,” said Ross.

Outside of his role at SQ Landscapes, Ross keeps himself busy as a Specialist Director and one of the founding members of Paroo Nebine Aboriginal Corporation in Cunnamulla.

Ross is also a Director of the Bidjara Aboriginal Corporation in Charleville at Yumba Sandhill Reserve. Ross’ position at Yumba Sandhill Reserve holds great significance to Ross and his family, as it was the place of a fringe camp his family was removed from in 1966.

“My family were the last to be removed from the Yumba Reserve into town. There were many tribal Nations there, and there were up to 40 families that lived there,”

“With the Bidjara Aboriginal Corporation, we’re working to acknowledge the people who lived there when it was a reserve, and share their stories and knowledge from this historic time in Australian history,” said Ross.

Ross’ resilience and hope for change have motivated his work and fuelled his desire to work for better outcomes for people and Country.

Ross is currently working with the Charleville team on a project proposal to bring Rangers to four local Aboriginal community groups. The project proposal relates to the Land and Sea Ranger Program, and involves the Kooma, Bidjara, Mardigan and Kunya nations.

Ross says his goal for the future is to see all land holders and nations working together on Country for a better outcome for Country.

“[Our goal] as knowledge holders is to educate the younger generation about how to work with the land for better outcomes,”

“This can only be achieved by working together, sharing knowledge and culture, respecting each other and working for common goals,” said Ross.

National Reconciliation Week marks an important week for reflection on one of the world’s oldest cultures.

Ross’ passion for flourishing landscapes stems from wisdom taught to him through his culture.

“We don’t own the land, we belong to land (Mother Earth),”

“Our Totems, our song lines, our story lines and lore come from Mother Earth,” said Ross.

We are incredibly proud to have Ross in our team and look forward to his contributions in the future.

Let's Talk Soil Carbon

kellie.stewart@sqlandscapes.org.au (Kellie Stewart) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 00:14:31 GMT

Strive to Improve Your Soil health! And Keep Excellent Records and Soil Samples – that’s the message to farmers from internationally renowned soil carbon expert, Dr Terry McCosker at workshops held in Goondiwindi and Warwick recently.

More than 100 farmers and industry representatives attended the ‘Let’s Talk Soil Carbon’ workshops hosted by Southern Queensland Landscapes; many hoping to understand the complex legislation and identify ways to implement soil carbon sequestration on their own farm as a new income source.

While just 1% of all carbon projects currently underway in Australia is from agriculture, Resource Consulting Services (RCS) Director, Dr Terry McCosker told the gathering plans to improve the legislation are in progress to make it easier for agriculture to realise income from carbon projects.

“It’s a bit of a problem at the moment and the complexity and methodology outlined in the act makes it difficult for farmers to take part,” Dr Terry McCosker said.

“Currently the legislation allows for farmers to 1) measure their soil carbon improvement or 2) calculate improvements based on modelling developed by the CSIRO,” Dr McCosker said.

“Both have limitations in as much as measuring can be costly and for many small farms, it may not be viable,” he said.

“And with modelling it’s a blanket approach which gives everyone in a certain restricted region the same baseline, which means if you have been a proactive farmer practicing soil carbon sequestration techniques you will start on the same baseline as your neighbour who has done nothing; this is not the best fit for people outside high soil organic carbon regions as indicated via the CSIRO mapping.”

But a third option is in the pipeline; a hybrid approach which will combine the best of both methods 1) and 2) and hopefully resolve some of the complexities of implementation being experienced by the agricultural sector.

“It is going to get less complex and it will be more relevant to the agricultural industry in the future as we fine tune things; and I expect we are probably a year away from seeing the changes the industry needs,” Dr McCosker said.

“In the meantime, farmers should look at how they can improve the health of their soils and start putting in processes to keep excellent records of their activities to achieve improvements including basic agronomic soil samples; so that if the regulated market for ACCUs is not viable, there may be alternatives on the voluntary market. However focussing on productivity improvements should be the first priority.” he said.

“At the moment some farmers feel the work they have done in the past is not recognized and I understand their concern but any improvement in soil health will be contributing to productivity and profitability,”

“But I believe the problems with the current regulations are addressable if we keep communicating and pushing for change; however our first priority is to focus on improving soil and ecosystem health for better productivity and profitability. Any gains from carbon or environmental credits is a bonus for the future….”

Dr Terry McCosker will present at two more workshops set to be held in Chinchilla and Charleville during May and he encourages landholders in these regions to attend so they can plan and prepare for advantageous changes to the legislation which will see the adoption of soil carbon projects in agriculture made easier.

Let’s Talk Soil Carbon – Chinchilla

WHEN: 18 May 2021

WHERE: Chinchilla Cultural Centre, 80-85 Heeney Street, Chinchilla

CONTACT: Anita Erba at anita.erba@sqlandscapes.org.au

Let’s Talk Soil Carbon – Charleville

WHEN: 20 May 2021

WHERE: Charleville RSL

CONTACT: Kate Percival at kate.percival@sqlandscapes.org.au

ENDS

Fish-friendly water extraction

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 00:20:59 GMT

Earlier in March, SQ Landscapes Principal Project Officer, Paul Webb teamed up with Peter Ebenwaldner from AWMA Water Control Solutions to speak with people in the Border Rivers about fish-friendly water extraction.

Currently, millions of fish are lost from the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin when they are drawn through large pumps and water diversions. Fisheries biologists from around Australia are working to quantify this problem and to develop solutions. Together with recreational fishing bodies and industry body representatives, they are developing guidelines for fish-friendly water extraction. With New South Wales and Victoria already slowly addressing the issue, there has been limited awareness and uptake in Queensland rivers to date.

Working to raise awareness about the issue, Peter and Paul met with irrigators, local government, First Peoples, recreational fishers and other community members of the Border Rivers to discuss scientific and engineering information and showcase a sample fish-friendly pump screen. Initial responses varied and included surprise, scepticism, curiosity and calls to action.

While some irrigators indicated solutions would also benefit from managing trash that currently clogs pump intakes or sprinkler irrigation systems, others were concerned about the cost and logistics of installing and operating screens. Most indicated they would be more open to the new technology with the assistance of public funding and support while screens are trialled in the northern, ephemeral river systems.

Peter showed interested parties the AWMA designed and constructed sample screen, which bolts onto a 30cm/12” pump intake pipe and is “fish-friendly” for pump intakes of 10 megalitres per day. The screen size, spacing and internal baffles ensure entry velocities of approximately 0.1 metres per second. At these velocities, fish do not get wedged against the screen as they can swim away. Small amounts of debris that settles on the screen are removed with the autorotation process and the internal and external brushes. The open pump ends routinely have entry velocities of over 1 meter per second and large apertures resulting in fish sucked into the pipe and pump and/or debris wedged against coarse mesh trash screens.

It is hoped that Murray-Darling Basin “Toolkit” money will be made available to subsidise early adopters of this fish-friendly technology. Announcements on Toolkit funding is anticipated in the near future.

For information about fish-friendly water extraction, click here to visit the Fish Screens Australia website. For more samples and information about solutions produced by AWMA, click here to visit their website.

Compost Talk

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 04:54:03 GMT

SQL Project Officers, Isabella Murphy, Natasha Myolanas and Vanessa MacDonald recently dropped by for a site visit with Allora Landholder, Bill Burge.

Passionate about regenerative farming, Bill and the team chatted all-things compost, including how SQL may be able to provide support.

Bill's regenerative farming highlights the ‘closing of the loop’ for nutrient cycling on-farm. Crops are regeneratively grown with minimal industrial inputs producing feed for livestock as forage or grain, the byproducts being fodder and manure which are added to a compost heap for curing before being returned to the paddock.

Composting keeps biomass containing valuable carbon on-farm while improving soil carbon sequestration capacity. When compost is added to the soil, it supplies important nutrients, provides food for soil microbes, and creates healthier soils and produce.

If you would like to learn more about Bill's regenerative farming and the process of spreading the compost back on the paddock watch the YouTube video embedded below. For more even more information, click here to head over to Burge Pastoral Farming channel on Youtube.

Are you a landholder in the Southern Queensland region? Would you like to know more about regenerative farming techniques? Contact our team today for a chat.

New land management alliance raising the bar on sustainability

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 04:19:47 GMT

Queensland’s peak agriculture industry bodies, natural resource management organisations, and environmental advocates have formed a working alliance to pool their resources and experiences in support of landholders and sustainable land management.

The new Land Management Alliance (LMA) said they welcomed the biodiversity-carbon pilot trials announced earlier this month as a stepping-stone for the development and implementation of a more broadly based certification system embedded in every-day land management and taking this step was the next logical building block in that process.

AgForce CEO Michael Guerin said his organisation, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF), Australian Land Management Group (ALMG), Southern Queensland Landscapes, and the Lock the Gate Alliance together bring a sustainability approach that considers every aspect of land management.

“Our new LMA has endorsed ten key principles for the design and operation of a stewardship certification system – with particular focus on landholder participation and the credibility of the certification,” Mr Guerin said.

“We want to engage landholders in a broad-based, meaningful way via a stewardship system that is outcome rather than practice based and reward them for well-managed landscapes.”

Australian Land Management Group CEO Tony Gleeson said he believed stewardship should be embedded in on-going land management and deliver continuous improvement across the economic, environmental, and social spectrums.

“What we’re proposing is a voluntary, whole-of-farm, landscape linked certification system that isn’t restricted to particular ecological features such as biodiversity, or water quality, or whatever,” Mr Gleeson said.

“A system that is operated by an independent entity outside of government and industry, and whose standards and certification are provided on an open, competitive basis by accredited trainers and auditors.”

QFF CEO Dr Georgina Davis said the LMA was sending a clear message to policy makers that most landholders are focussed on sustainable and profitable production, while looking after the environment and natural assets.

“Many landholders have made significant progress to proactively change their existing land management practices, but some need help making the transition,” Dr Davis said.

“By investing in capacity building through extension and education programs we’ll help landholders understand regenerative farming, as well as discover ways to profit through conservation.”

Lock the Gate Alliance Co-ordinator Rick Humphries said it was important that any stewardship program thoroughly addressed the complete range of environmental impacts relevant to an individual landholder’s situation.

“If stewardship programs only focus on specific, narrow issues, they will by definition only attract a relatively small number of landholders,” Mr Humphries said.

“That’s not to say specific issues such as biodiversity and soil carbon cannot be rolled into a comprehensive system – they can – but if we want to maximize the number of landholders involved in such a scheme it must be able to handle a much broader range of environmental impacts in order to increase productivity and profitability.”

Southern Queensland Landscapes Chief Executive Paul McDonald supported those claims by stating that the work done by NRM organisations so far had not reached enough landholders.

“For around 20 years, NRM groups have worked with landholders to help them balance profitable production and environmental needs; however, this work has reached less than 20 per cent of land managers,” Mr McDonald said.

“If we’re going to make a greater impact, we need to work with the other 80 per cent and consider new ideas and approaches that can become the next steps on the journey for landholders.”

For more information about the Design Principles for a Land Stewardship Certification System, click here.

Low profile contour banks - game changer for Qld grazier

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 04:13:01 GMT

Just seven months after purchasing a 56,000-acre grazing property north of Quilpie, Dan & Louise Hoch together with brother-in-law Alan Truss have quadrupled the volume of feed on sections of their property despite under average rainfall.

Mr Hoch credits the success on 'Maybe' to the installation of low profile contour banks or spreader banks on clay pan country where water was causing erosion and running off with very minimal infiltration.

He says they found out about this new concept of spreading and slowing down the water during a field day hosted by Southern Queensland Landscapes.

"About six months before we bought 'Maybe' we had attended a field day at 'The Lake' near Quilpie, where soil conservation expert Ray Thompson gave a talk about spreader bank," Mr Hoch said.

"And when we saw the clay pan country on 'Maybe' we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to trial the concept and see if we could harness the power of the flood plains to re-establish native grasslands and increase feed volumes," he said.

Roughly 20km of low profile contour or spreader banks were installed on 'Maybe' over a two day period during December 2020.

"A spreader bank is built by a grader and surveyed to a perfect level not to stop but to spread water allowing the water to soak into the ground and grass to grow," Mr Hoch said.

"About two weeks after installing these contour banks we got about 2 inches of rain; and within a month of the work we had feed. I was just so surprised at how quickly the grass came up," he said.

"The result means a huge amount to our enterprise in the areas that we have installed the spreader banks and we would have easily increased production or volume of feed in these areas by 3 or 4 times."

"It means the grass lasts longer and instead of having to move stock away we can keep them in this area for longer."

At an approximate cost of $4 an acre, which includes dry-hire of a grader, Mr Hoch said it's not too expensive for the production value the banks create and that he plans on doing a lot more restoration banks on his property in the near future.

"I highly recommend trying the spreader banks to anyone who wants to give it a go and on problem areas of their property and suggest they do a trial and see how it goes; but I am sure they will like the concept and get the results they want.

"The introduction of the spreader banks has been a game changer for us and it will turn low production country in high production country long term."

Project removes 158,000 rabbits from farmlands in Toowoomba Regional Council area

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 06:10:23 GMT

February 28, 2021 will signal the end of a program which has resulted in 158,000 rabbits being removed from the breeding cycle on farmlands between Highfields and Upper Yarraman.

Sustainability experts, Southern Queensland Landscapes spearheaded the project together with the Darling Downs Moreton Rabbit Board, Toowoomba Regional Council and Biosecurity Queensland; over the past three years surveying some 3,200 properties for rabbit infestations.

SQ Landscapes Project Officer & Feral Pest Expert, Lachlan Marshall said 700 of those properties surveyed were identified as battling significant issues.

“With funding provided by the Queensland Feral Pest Initiative (QFPI), we were able to remove 676 breeding warrens from approximately 700 properties,” Mr Marshall said.

“Collectively those warrens were conservatively capable of producing 4,400 offspring per month; so, this program has been running for three years and if you do the Maths that’s about 158,000 rabbits,” he said.

“But when you factor in those rabbits can start breeding at 4 months of age the compounding population impact is around a million rabbits effectively removed from the breeding cycle; and that result has significant implications to the sustainability of farmlands affected.”

Geham grazier Peter Patzwald said the project has made a big difference to his operation.

“It’s been dry for the past couple of years and obviously when it is dry the rabbits are eating something that a cow could be eating instead, so we were very keen to work with the project coordinators and get rid of the rabbits we had in burrows spread over a couple acres,” Mr Patzwald said.

“It’s been great; we’ve been able to get rid of the rabbits and it’s been a real opportunity for us to get some education on a pest that we just didn’t grow up dealing with; we didn’t have the knowledge to know how to get rid of them,” he said.

“But I am amazed at just how easy it was to get rid of them once you knew how and I would absolutely be involved in a project like this again because its provided real results for our business.”

Meanwhile, grazier Mark McLean said through the project he had about 40-50 burrows removed from his property near Crows Nest.

“Rarely do I see a rabbit now. It’s hard to put a price on just how much they were eating but I am sure they were eating a fair bulk of the grass under the cattle,” Mr McLean said.

“And they’d normally go for the sweetest, greenest grass which is good for the cattle too. And if you put improved pastures in, well they’d make a fair dent in that as well,” he said.

“I didn’t believe when Lachlan was telling me at the start of the project that deep ripping their burrows would work; but upsetting their life cycle and destroying their homes has had a huge impact.”

Mr McLean said he had tried trapping, poisoning, fumigating, and shooting in the past and ripping has by far been the most effective pest management tool he has used on his property to date.

“I learnt a very valuable lesson there and I would absolutely recommend anyone with a few rabbits talk to Lachlan and the team at SQ Landscapes about ripping and how they can greatly reduce their rabbit populations,” Mr McLean said.

Southern Queensland Landscapes thanks Darling Downs Moreton Rabbit Board, TRC and Biosecurity Queensland for collaboration on this project and for their excellent survey work which was vital to the success of this project.

Pasture Field Day sparks leafy conversations

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 04:33:18 GMT

At the end of January, around 20 people attended a Pasture and Weeds Field Day in Cunnamulla. Hosted by SQ Landscapes as part of the Queensland Government's GrazingFutures initiative, the event featured three presenters who shared insights into Pimelea, weeds and spreader banks.

Supporting local landholders to make the most of rain and their pasture during drought, the Field Day focused on sharing various techniques. For example, ways to combat and manage erosion, improving pasture through grazing management, optimising rainfall and drought management through utilising spreader banks.

Murray Wingett and Erin Platz from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) shared a wealth of information about Pimelea and weeds. Discussions highlighted current Pimelea research and ongoing trials, signs of cattle poisoning, how to access free disease diagnostic services, signs and symptoms of three-day sickness and weeds of the Paroo Shire. The session was packed with practical information and tips.

Afterwards, SQ Landscapes Project Officer, Glenn Landsberg hosted the group at Harriman Park. Using the property as an example, Glenn explained how spreader banks work, their effect on pasture and how to build them. It was an excellent opportunity for landholders to gain practical and first-hand insights, and the session sparked ongoing conversations with the group.

For more information about Pimelea, click here to visit the DAF web page or get in touch with the SQ Landscapes team or local Council for more information about weeds in your area.

This project is supported by GrazingFutures, an initiative of the Queensland Government to improve drought preparedness and resilience for Queensland producers.

Agreement Unites Farmers & Sustainability Experts in Murray Darling Basin

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 23:38:22 GMT

Feb 10, 2021

Queensland’s peak farming body and Australia’s newest natural resource management group are set to embark on a historic partnership aimed at driving healthy, sustainable landscapes in the Murray Darling Basin.

The move comes after the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) and Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on issues of common ground.

The agreement will see both QFF, SQ Landscapes and their extensive membership networks collaborating on policy, processes and communication with the aim of driving sustainability and profitability in agriculture for the long-term benefit of the landscape and those people and businesses within it.

SQ Landscapes CEO Paul McDonald says they will work together to positively influence government, industry and communities to ensure a productive and sustainable future for the region’s rich farming lands.

"This Memorandum of Understanding will enhance members’ ability to coordinate and facilitate production and economic improvements within the Murray Darling Basin in Queensland while taking great care of our land water, vegetation, soil and the animals which rely on them.”

“SQ Landscapes is excited to be working with QFF to encourage innovation and practice change by sharing knowledge and learning together with land managers.”

QFF CEO Georgina Davis says the agreement would see both organisations adopt a collaborative and collegiate approach to the issues facing our farmers and the communities and industries which rely on them.

“The approach will assist both organisations and their members to maximise return on investment through integration of delivery and reduction in any possible duplication of administrative and other costs where practical.”

“In turn, this will allow us to increase investment and support to both QFF and SQ Landscapes’ interests and members as they relate to sustainable rural production and natural resource management.”

QFF is the united voice of intensive, semi-intensive and irrigated agriculture in Queensland. QFF engages in a broad range of economic, social, environmental and regional issues of strategic importance to the productivity, sustainability and growth of the agricultural sector. QFF’s mission is to secure a strong and sustainable future for Queensland farmers by representing the common interests of its members organisations.

Please contact SQ Landscapes’ Communications Officer Kellie Stewart via 0427 468 861 or kellie.stewart@sqlandscapes.org.au or QFF Communications & Media Officer Kayla Plunkett via 0448 000 692 or kayla@qff.org.au for interview requests.

Having a splash taking stock of the waters!

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 06:57:04 GMT

Late last year, in partnership with Queensland Parks And Wildlife Service rangers, our team conducted fish surveys in the lower Paroo catchment and parts of Currawinya National Park.

The surveys follow on from previous activities and aim to assess the presence and relative amounts of alien fish in the system, as-well-as the return of native fish to the long droughted creeks, waterholes and lakes.

Freshwater ecologist, Dr Adam Kerezsy teamed up with SQ Landscapes Senior Project Officer, Chris Crafter and Queensland Parks And Wildlife Service staff. Under the direction of the Ranger in charge, Shellie Cash, the group surveyed fourteen sites across selected permanent, semi-permanent and episodic wetlands of the lower Paroo River and Currawinya National Park. Providing valuable fauna and pest knowledge, the activities also support monitoring obligations for the Ramsar site.

So, what were the survey results?

The team sampled 2477 fish across the fourteen sites with the most abundant species being Spangled Perch (1562).
Alien species were less than 5 per cent of the total with only 107 sampled.
Carp were generally only in samples from the Paroo River Waterholes and Boorara creek, although two Goldfish were caught at Werewilka creek.
No alien species have been detected in any of the lakes samples yet.

This survey provided exciting results. Its success highlights the health of the system, with the breeding of native fish replenishing the wetlands despite being dry for so long. The diversity of freshwater species and invertebrates and relatively low alien fish was positive news too. Results demonstrate the importance of good management of the Paroo River and protection of the wetlands as a natural system to the health of the Murray Darling system.

Take a look at the photos below - just some of the many creatures surveyed by the group.

The activities took place under the directions of Queensland Parks And Wildlife Service & Partnerships as part of SQ Landscapes Regional Land Partnerships Environment project.

Cochineal Insects & Devil's Rope Pear

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 06:45:28 GMT

Darling Downs RALF, Anita recently joined Biosecurity Queensland to inspect a devil's rope pear (Cylindropuntia imbricata) infestation near Mount Dumaresq in the Southern Downs, and assess the effectiveness of the release of cochineal insects (Dactylopius tomentosus) .

A biocontrol agent, the insects are small in size and red. They form a white protective coating seen on plants where they are active. Most effective in dense infestations, the insects weaken the plants by sucking the sap, which can cause them to collapse and die. The above photos show the impact the cochineal is having on both mature and young plants.

While biocontrol alone will not eliminate an infestation, it is proving effective in combination with other control methods, such as mechanical, physical and herbicide use.

In Queensland, devil's rope pear is a Category 3 Restricted Invasive Plant. Its spines can cause injury to humans, stock and native animals. It can impede access and reduce stock-carrying capacity (in dense populations), and it can become the dominant species in the landscape and displace native and pasture species.

For more information about devil's rope pear, click here to view the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries' brochure.

If you think you may have devil's rope pear on your property, please contact the SQ Landscapes team , Biosecurity Queensland or your local Council.

Southern Queensland - You are standing in it!

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 06:34:00 GMT

Have you seen the Big Map of the Landscapes of Southern Queensland? It touched down late last year in Goondiwindi, St George, Roma, Miles and Dalby at our round table events. It has been a focus of community conversation about how people value the landscapes across the region, and how we can work together to ensure they flourish into the future.

While community round tables have already been hosted in Charleville, Quilpie, Thargomindah and Cunnamulla, the Big Map is set to continue its journey when it travels to Mitchell, Stanthorpe, Millmerran and Toowoomba next month.

Round table events have been a vehicle for meaningful and collaborative conversations. A major discussion point has been the need to do things differently in terms of the stewardship of natural assets. Other topics explored include the drought, grazing pressure, pest management, carbon farming and the need to enhance the health of our soils and grasslands.

Conversations to date have highlighted that communities, industry and local governments are doing incredible work and that other outcomes could be achieved by working together as a region. This conversation extends to communities working collaboratively, inspiring each other and future generations. Igniting the passion to feel proud of the region and of the community work invested in looking after our landscapes, has been a rallying call from attendees at our round table events.

The purpose behind the round table events, including those still to be hosted, is to collate the ideas, knowledge and experiences from the community, land managers and First Nations peoples. This information will inform discussions at three regional workshops to be held in March. The regional workshops will use a process called a design charrette to engage community and industry representatives, and local and invited knowledge holders, to help reimagine a future for the region in tune with community aspirations.

This powerful combination of insight and future visioning will help tell the story of the landscapes of Southern Queensland, and be the driving force behind a meaningful and collaborative action plan for the future. The plan will be used to attract investment and interest, to support communities across the region to care for Country, achieve outcomes in the paddock, backyard and beyond, and help land managers find new ways to become more profitable on their place.

Community consultation will continue over the next six months, with the view of the action plan being finished by the end of 2021. To learn more about the action plan, contact Andrew Davidson on andrew.davidson@sqlandscapes.org.au .

Would you like to have your say at an upcoming round table event? To join us in Mitchell, Toowoomba, Stanthorpe or Millmerran, click on the button below for dates, times and to RSVP. For additional queries about the events, contact Jenny Cameron on (07) 4620 0111 or jenny.cameron@sqlandscapes.org.au.

Image Caption: The Big Map with attendees from the Goondiwindi Community Round Table event.

Christmas Beetles: A case of bah humbug or something more sinister?

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 04:14:00 GMT

Heralding the beginning of the festive season, Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus) use to be a common sight. Sadly, this well-known species has become scarcer over recent years, with sightings of the beetle declining. So, is this a Christmas case of bah humbug or something more sinister?

A Christmas Miracle

Christmas beetles begin their life cycle as grubs and spend a year underneath the surface of the soil. They feed on decaying organic matter and plant roots. After pupating, adults emerge around mid-November to December and can be spotted feasting on eucalyptus leaves.

Like Christmas decorations hanging from the tree, these iridescent insects can occur in large numbers. Many of the approximately 35 species of Christmas beetles are endemic to our shores. Their colours vary from metallic greens and golds to pinks and browns.

A cultural interest, many of us have a fondness for Christmas beetles. Perhaps childhood memories of the metallic scarabs frolicking in our backyard around Ch ristmastime . The truth is , their bright exterior, calm nature and cheerful name tend to give them top marks in the likability stakes.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

There is no compelling research that says Christmas beetle s ha ve disappeared altogether. However, there is anecdotal evidence that points to their decline, especially in urban areas. While there can be a natural fluctuation of insect populations over time, in this case, habitat loss is cited as the most likely cause of the beetles' drop in sightings.

Like other insect species, the Christmas beetle appears to be a victim of the urban sprawl.

Declining insect numbers is a growing concern not just in Australia, but across the planet. In fact, in 2018, Australian entomologists gave a grim warning. Following the collation of 73 long-term studies of global insect numbers, they cited that in decades to come, 40 per cent of the world's insect species could become extinct.

Keeping the Christmas beetle spirit alive

I f you are a fan of the humble Christmas beetle, there are steps you can take in your backyard and community to provide a more hospitable environment. For tips, click here to visit the Backyard Buddies website, an Australian education initiative.

Australian Museums also has an Xmas Beetle ID Guide App. Free to download, the app can help you discover the wonderful diversity of Australia’s most famous beetles. Visit the Apple Store or Google Play for more information.

What you need to know about National Threatened Species Day

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 21:00:01 GMT

Do you know what a Thylacine is? Its common name is the Tasmanian tiger (pictured above), and the last one in existence died on this day in 1936.

60 years later, Threatened Species Day was marked for the first time on 7 September with its significance growing every year.

The death of this magnificent creature, and subsequent extinction of its species serves as a stark reminder that the day may very well come when you’re trying to explain an animal you once loved to your kids, and will be faced with adding that they will never be able to see them for themselves.

Day to day, it can be difficult for people to understand why they should care about threatened species. One of the best ways to think about the situation is with wildlife species as bricks in the house of the natural world. You can eliminate a few bricks and the house will probably remain standing – although it will be weaker. But once you start knocking out brick after brick, eventually whole walls will collapse and the house along with it.

We humans live in that house too. So it’s important to care for its existence and reinforce its strength.

National Threatened Species Day is especially pertinent to Australians in 2020 with the 2019 bushfires wiping out an estimated 480 million native animals – many of which were already endangered or threatened, compounded by the ongoing drought and increasing pressure from invasive species.

In the SQ Landscapes region, more than 155 recorded species of mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and insects are classified as threatened.

So, Threatened Species Day, what to do? Here are our recommendations.

GET OUT AND ABOUT

With all that’s going on with COVID-19, now is the ideal time to be exploring the national parks in your area that have been on your list forever and not got around to seeing yet.

Top of that list should be to visit Currawinya National Park, located in Hungerford Queensland. It’s a freak of nature in the best way, a wetland in the middle of the arid south west. It has one freshwater and one saltwater lake forming part of the Currawinya Ramsar Wetlands where shorebirds migrate to nest every year in vast numbers. We are proud to be involved in protecting Currawinya through our Environment Project under the National Landcare Program.

Also worth noting is that Currawinya is famously a key habitat for the national treasure that is the bilby.

Image: Save the Bilby Fund

Spotlight on the Bilby

Now endangered, bilbies are a key species affected by Australia's mammalian extinction crisis. There are only around 700 of these guys left, a huge decrease when you consider they used to inhabit 70% of Australia's landmass. Feral predation and habitat loss are the culprits behind the decline of this Aussie icon, a common scenario for many threatened species.

Despite this, there's been some exciting progress for bilby recovery in the last few years. At Currawinya National Park, bilbies now live in a cat-free enclosure thanks to Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Save the Bilby Fund. The protected population are fenced off to ensure the individuals have a chance to live and successfully breed, which they have managed well since the first release in April 2019.

Outside the fence, ongoing feral animal control programs also assist in protecting bilbies into the future. Programs such as these are coordinated by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Save the Bilby Fund and us - SQ Landscapes.

INCREASE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Threatened species don’t just live in national parks though. Sadly, this means the environments where they live often don’t have the same protections. The Brigalow Belt is one such environment.

With its vast, open forests and woodlands, the Brigalow Belt is home to many rare and threatened flora and fauna species. This is another key site for our project work with the National Landcare Program, where we are working to preserve brigalow remnants that date back to prehistoric times for threatened animals like the regent honey eater.

Spotlight on the regent honey eater

The regent honeyeater is a striking bird to behold, with flashes of black and yellow delighting twitchers and unsuspecting bushwalkers in Australia's south east alike. Sadly, spotting these stunning birds has become more difficult than ever, having been described as "one step from extinction".

Because of their critically endangered status, regent honeyeaters are one of 20 birds that the Australian Government has prioritised resource allocation to support the species recovery effort.

The Regent Honeyeater is found in eucalypt forests and woodlands, particularly in blossoming trees and mistletoe, but widespread clearance of their habitat has seen their numbers decline and their range shrink, while encouraging more aggressive species of honeyeaters, such as noisy miners, to thrive.

These feathered gems are a 'poster bird' for threatened species, and are strongly associated with their remaining home on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, where our work is taking place.

Image: Australian Geographic

Although it seems obvious, where habitats become rare and endangered, so do their residents. One such habitat is the grasslands of the Darling Downs and one such resident is the grassland earless dragon.

Once one of the most common vegetation types across our region, the grasslands are now approximately one percent of their former area due to overgrazing, weed infestation and feral animals. For the flora and fauna that live in these treeless grasslands, the reduction in habitat size has been devastating.

Spotlight on the grassland earless dragon

Given the status of their home, it’s unsurprising that these tiny ground-dwelling dragon lizards were upgraded from threatened to endangered earlier this year.

Although their name suggests they are earless, they do have ears, but they lack an external ear opening and their ear drums are covered by scaly skin. Found in the cracking black soils and grass tussocks of the Darling Downs, organisations like ours are working hard across priority areas in the region to assist land managers with maintaining the grassland remnant habitats of this species, with an investment from the National Landcare Program.

If you’re not familiar with these habitats or want to learn more about the plants and animals which exist in these environments, it’s important that you do your research and boost your knowledge through the channels available to you.

If you decide to visit a national park, visit their website before you go so you know what animals to look out for, as well as visitor guidelines re: hours, accommodation, safety and conduct. Official social media channels are great places to get up-to-date information on when certain animals have been spotted, what new studies are being conducted, and ways to be involved in helping our threatened species.

Image: Robert Ashdown

...and finally

BAKE!

The Threatened Species Bake Off is an invitation to Australians to bake a dessert in the shape of a threatened species to commemorate Threatened Species Day.

Hosted by the Threatened Species Commissioner, this is the perfect event to put your quarantine baking skills to good use. Butterfly cakes decorated like real butterflies? Honey jumbles in the shape of honey eaters? Let your imagination run wild.

The focus for 2020 is ‘What’s in your backyard?’, highlighting the fact that nearly one third of Australia’s threatened species are found in urban areas.

You can take part by uploading an image of your baked goods to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram by using the hashtag #TSBakeOff and tag the Threatened Species Commissioner, alternatively send an image of your baked goods or a link to your iNaturalist records to tsbakeoff@environment.gov.au .

In-house expert appointed to national committee

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:47:29 GMT

Darren Marshall, SQ Landscapes’ pest and community engagement specialist has been appointed to the steering committee for the National Feral Pig Action Plan, representing natural resource management groups in Australia.

General Manager of Commercial Programs, Darren’s recent position on the committee will help inform the plan for how Australia will address its ongoing battle with feral pigs.

Feral pigs ( Sus Scrofa ) destroy landscapes, decimate key wildlife habitats and reduce the value of productive agricultural lands, making them high on the agenda for control efforts on every scale. The National Feral Pig Action Plan is currently being developed to provide a national policy framework for these feral pig control and management efforts in Australia.

With a background in the Australian Army, and using the skills he has learned through a long career in environmental roles, Darren has built a reputation for high level expertise and knowledge in the feral animal management field. This knowledge and experience, and in particular the application of this to feral pigs, will provide highly valuable insights to inform the national plan.

“Feral animal work is what my passion and drive is, and what I’ve been doing for a long time.

“I’m looking forward to representing NRM groups who do such a great job of working with landholders and industry partners to carry out landscape-scale control projects for feral species like pigs.”

Darren grew up on the land, and with a deep appreciation for the balance between production and environmental values.

“Growing up on a farm you grow up shooting. Then I joined the Army and I was shooting there so it (feral animal management) was a natural thing – I had that in me,” he says.

“The environmental side, with its feral animal connection, was a logical place for me to go because early in my career I could still do the shooting, still be outside, and still know I was doing the right thing by the environment and land holders.”

After more than 20 years working in this arena, Darren says his favourite element of natural resource management has evolved over the years, both with the changes and advances in resources, legislation and technology, but also within his own lived experiences.

“As I’ve grown up and learned more, I’ve become torn with the balance between agriculture and conservation, and that has made me think ‘what can we do to better manage these environmental areas?’

“Originally it was the wildlife, but as I’ve worked over the years my passion has become more about education and more about engagement with landholders; actually working with them to develop ideas together, especially on the feral animal stuff.

PhD – Feral pig research could be a game changer

Darren is also working towards a new degree, studying his PhD through the University of New England in collaboration with supervisors from Penn State University in the United States of America.

“My PhD is about engaging people in the feral animal field, and how I work with people.

“The skills I have learned through my PhD have been essential because in this field, we don’t work with feral animals, we work with people and recognising that has been one of the keys of my success.”

Some of the biggest hurdles Darren has had to overcome when working with the public (in relation to feral animal management) was the myths and misconceptions landholders have with regards to natural resource management (NRM) organisations.

“Because of the ecology of feral animals and their home range size, there’s no point dealing with two or three landholders if the animal’s home range is seven or eight properties.

“Unless you have everyone working together, you won’t have any environmental impact, no matter how much you bait or trap.

“Some of my biggest successes in gaining landholders trust have come from being able to show farmers the research data from electronic tracking collars, because data doesn’t lie.

“That transparency and trust creates community engagement and ultimately success.”

Darren has appeared on ABC Landline twice as an expert in feral pig knowledge and management. Watch the segments here.

Bushfire Habitat Recovery Program

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 23:30:53 GMT

Land managers, landholders, farmers, environmental custodians – it doesn’t matter what you call them, the men and women who live on and work, the land are as diverse and unique as the properties they call home.

What is a common thread amongst most landholders though, especially those in the Southern Queensland (SQ) Landscapes region, is their attitudes towards what they do, and why they do it. Their resilience, pride and passion for land management, environmental protection and recovery, and sustainability is unbridled.

Recently an SQ Landscapes project team worked closely with 17 such regional land managers to kick off the delivery of the Bushfire Habitat Recovery Program . Utilising $100,000 in funding from the Australian Government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery package, the team reached out to regional land managers in the Main Range area whose properties had been affected by the 2019 bushfires. Their goal was to determine who needed support in recovering vital native landscapes from the rapid post-drought and post-fire regrowth of weeds including lantana, blackberry, African boxthorn and velvety tree pear.

What the team discovered through working with these land managers, whose 17 properties totalled an area of more than 9,000 hectares, is that their experiences over recent seasons have been harrowing, testing their resolve and pushing their resilience to the brink.

As the 2019 fires burned through their region, Mal and Leonie Stacey watched 50-metre-high flames come over the mountains from the national park bordering their land. They fought hard to create firebreaks to protect property that has been in Mal’s family since 1946. As well as being a cattle property, the land is where the couple raised their three sons, instilling in them the farmers’ ethos that hard work builds character.

“It’s not all beer and skittles,” Mal said.

“People often only see the front of house stuff.

“They don’t see the constant effort and work that’s required to maintain and protect the land during times of drought and fire.

“It’s constant, but it can also be good fun.”

Following the fires, their property had an influx of blackberry and lantana. Leonie said funding provided by the program enabled them to conduct management spraying, a task they wouldn’t have been able to do with a reduction in income following the fires and no income with COVID-19 travel restrictions.

“If you don’t get onto them [weeds], they spread and then it’s an uphill battle,” she said.

“I dread the thought of what would have been here at the end of spring without this support, and the subsequent spraying activity.”

Land manager Phil Bowles echoes these sentiments. His circumstances made him ineligible for financial drought or fire support from the government. His monetary priorities had to focus on feeding his livestock and repairing infrastructure post-fire, with weed management moving further down the ‘what can be done with limited funds’ list.

Invasive blackberry is the main concern on his property. Phil says the unyielding regrowth of weeds is a constant, ongoing battle that is sometimes a struggle to get on top of.

“Weed management is just as important as fire prep is for immediate danger and drought prep is for a dry spell,” Phil said.

“If you’re worth your salt you’re doing it anyway but without the funds, there’s no way I could have afforded it.”

In addition to the financial aid from the program, Phil says the continued contact, information and support from the SQ Landscapes team made a big difference.

“As a farmer, you work from daylight to dusk – if it needs doing, you just do it.

“My hands are hard, and I definitely get tired.

“But I eat the best beef, the best pork and lamb, the freshest eggs and the freshest vegetables.

“You’ve got to love what you do because if you don’t, you just won’t do it.”

As well as assisting with weed reduction and management, the Bushfire Habitat Recovery Program also helped increase the area covered by a Southern Downs Regional Council aerial wild dog baiting event in May 2020, and tracked koala sightings pre- and post-bushfire. Of the 17 properties who took part, six land managers said they have seen koalas since the bushfires, most in a healthy condition and at least one with a joey.

SQ Landscapes Senior Project Officer Natasha Mylonas says government funded programs like the Bushfire Habitat Recovery Program enable resources to get to where they are needed.

“The rapid and targeted approach taken by the Australian Government to roll out this support meant we could just get stuck in ," Natasha said.

“Working with the farmers, getting to know them and about life on their properties is something special.

"They are all genuine people who take pride in their patch.

“I’m pleased the program has been successful in aiding those in need after the bushfires, and the coordinated pest and weed control has been a huge positive step towards native species recovery in the area.”

The 'Creek Doctor' diagnosis

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 01:40:11 GMT

In June 2020, Peter McAdam AKA the 'Creek Doctor' took a trip to consult on water flow issues endemic to south west Queensland.

Landholders in the south west region experience unique challenges around maintaining hydration in their landscapes because of the velocity in which water runs off the land as a result of historical landscape change - where it used to take two days for rainfall to move over the land, it now takes just two hours.

To help landholders in the south west region better understand what they can do to improve the conditions for water on their properties, SQ Landscapes engaged Peter McAdam AKA 'The Creek Doctor' to travel and consult at sites around Eulo, Hungerford, Quilpie and Charleville with the aim of improving landscape hydration and in-stream flows.

Peter is an environmental consultant specialising in fluvial geomorphology , a niche skill set which sees him prepare detailed environmental management plans, compliance activities for new and expanding developments, environmental awareness training and facilitating environmental workshops.

A small group of landholders whose properties fall within the priority areas under SQ Landscapes’ Regional Land Partnerships and Natural Resource Investment Programs gathered in each locality to hear from and discuss with Peter what opportunities they could explore to cost effectively slow the flow of water, how stream systems work from top to bottom and the legalities around what activities can be considered.

He discussed a number of topics with attendees including the hydrological cycle, understanding stream structures, creeks and catchment basics, factors that affect stream competence and permits including legal and physical access.

Here are the top 3 things Peter says are important to consider when working with waterways after his visit to the south west:

1. Some of the creek systems are in good condition and some are badly damaged. Think about ways to look after the good ones, don't just blow your time and budget trying to do big experimental jobs on highly degraded systems. Learn on the small stuff.

2. The water moves downstream and the sediments move downstream, so the erosion is moving upstream. Think about it. You will learn more about your system walking upsteam, 'thinking as the streambed' than you will walking downstream 'thinking as the water'.

3. Many of the interventions to improve infiltration and slow velocities won't require a permit. They are common farming practices. You can try them now - learn from each other. Many others are doing good things. Some works within creeks should need a permit. You may still be able to do them, but with reasonable and relevant conditions. Turn it into a learning exercise not a 'battle with bureaucracy'.

Extra tip: If you're serious about this type of work, borrow or share a laser level. Parts of the country (in the south west region) are so flat that you probably won't pick the contours accurately without one. They're not that dear to buy, and great for many jobs like roads and yard building.

Every stream system and property is different, but it's important to look at the movement of water beyond fence lines and how it interacts with landscapes on a broader level.

We are very grateful to have had Peter come out for an initial consultation in the south west, and look forward to potentially working with him again later in 2020.

You can find the Creek Doctor on Facebook or contact him via email: peter@thecreekdoctor.com or phone: 0427 100 960

Discovering what swims beneath

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 02:55:47 GMT

Earlier this month, we conducted a fish survey in partnership with Queensland Parks and Wildlife (QPWS) Rangers in the lower Paroo catchment and parts of Currawinya National Park.

The survey was a collaborative effort which aimed to assess the presence and relative amounts of feral fish in the system as well as the return of fish stocks to the long droughted waterholes and creeks, add to the fauna and pest knowledge of the park and monitor obligations for the Ramsar site.

The activities took place under the direction of QPWS Rangers and as part of SQ Landscapes’ Regional Land Partnerships Environment project.

Researchers teamed up with SQ Landscapes and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) to survey nine sites in the permanent, semi-permanent and ephemeral wetlands of the lower Paroo River and Currawinya National Park.

Dr. Adam Kerezsy from ‘Dr. Fish Contracting’ and his assistant Martin Denny braved the cool conditions with SQ Landscapes Senior Project Officer Chris Crafter and QPWS staff under the direction of the Ranger in charge, Shellie Cash, over the course of a week delivering exciting results.

The team sampled over 1500 fish across the sites with good numbers of native fish species including Hyrtls Tandan, rainbow fish, spangled perch and yellowbelly. Alien fish were comparatively rare in all the sample sites with carp present in all permanent and semi -permanent sites.

Chris Crafter said the survey was crucial to learning about what’s living in the catchment, providing a baseline of information.

“This survey has been a great opportunity to better understand these complex and remote environments within the Paroo catchment."

“To find so much evidence of native fish breeding and dispersing throughout the system in such a long drought is an excellent result that shows the resilience of these arid waterways,” she said.

“Introduced fish like goldfish were detected in two locations and Gambusia were found in one ephemeral waterhole. We also found other important wildlife including turtles, shield shrimps, brine shrimps, yabbies and even some leeches,” she concluded.

Currawinya Wetlands are listed under the Ramsar Convention for Wetlands of International Importance. They are one of Australia’s most important inland waterbird habitats. The landscapes of the park support various wildlife and plant species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world and are also places of great cultural significance to Traditional Owners the Budjiti People, with immense ceremonial and spiritual importance.

Lake Wyara and Lake Numalla are an important feature of the park which also protects thousands of years of Aboriginal cultural heritage and 19th and 20th century pastoral history.

The domestic killer living in your neighbourhood

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 00:36:36 GMT

In Australia, the devastation to our native fauna caused by the natural predatory instincts of feral and domestic cats is staggering and causing dire biological consequences. In May, the internet was shocked by an image from a wildlife detection camera near the Queensland - Northern Territory border capturing a large feral cat carrying a sand goanna, which can weigh up to six kilos. Through our own environmental project work in southern Queensland, we too have discovered plenty of cats on cameras in areas where we were searching for wildlife.

The predatory habits of cats see them target a range of wildlife species. Larger animals like kangaroos, wedge-tailed eagles and dingoes are safe from cat predation, but almost every other Australian species fall into the category of prey.

Feral felines

For decades, organisations like the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and Biosecurity Queensland have conducted research to assess the habits and habitats of feral cats, their negative impact on Australia’s native wildlife and how those impacts can be lessened and/or eradicated.

A variety of methods have been employed (with varying success rates) including labour-intensive camera-trap monitoring, GPS tracking collars, population density recording and consultation with First People trackers.

A report co-authored by Biosecurity Queensland (cited by ABC News ) estimates “there are as many as 5.6 million feral cats across 99.8 per cent of the country”.

With each feral cat killing 740 animals on average per year, the data shows around one billion mammals, 596 million reptiles, and 316 million birds are killed annually. That’s around 1.91 billion less bilbies, frogs, rosellas, sand goannas, cockatoos and wallabies (to name just a few of the threatened and endangered species who become prey to these highly efficient hunters). It's no wonder Australia is in an extinction crisis, with the worst mammalian extinction rate of any country in the world.

Domestic danger

Closer to home, new research has found domestic cats are causing similar deaths and destruction to local wildlife populations.

An April 2020 Wildlife Research report by CSIRO Publishing states that while domestic cats kill an average of 186 animals per year, (a quarter of a feral cat’s kill rate), their kills have a higher concentration rate in one area e.g. a town or city – 50 times higher per unit/area. Domestic cats also appear to make no distinction between introduced species e.g. rats and mice, versus native ones.

A 2019 Animal Medicines Australia survey found that of the 61 per cent of Australian households who own pets, 27 per cent of those are cats. Factoring in these findings combined with domestic cats living longer than feral cats, the severity and extent of the devastation cats pose to Australian’s native wildlife is alarming.

So, what can you do to help?

Tips for protecting wildlife from your feline assasin

If you have a cat, there are a number of precautions you can take to be a responsible pet owner, including spading. (Your vet will agree.)

No councils within the SQ Landscapes region require cats to be kept indoors at all times. However, all councils have regulations and recommendations regarding microchipping, de-sexing and monitoring your cat, so it’s important to regularly check your regional council's website for updates and information about mitigating the risk.

All of the information and research shows that cats kept inside aren't a danger to wildlife. Keeping cats in also protects your pet from becoming victims themselves. Pets are hit and killed by cars often, while wandering animals are prone to fighting with other cats or dogs, or catching diseases.

If you can’t keep your cat inside all the time, here are some tips for being a responsible pet owner;

• Dusk, dawn and evenings are when many nocturnal animals are waking up and beginning to move around looking for food. It’s important to keep your cats inside during these times, but all times is best.

• Make sure your cat is de-sexed to prevent an increase of unwanted strays with nowhere to be but outside with no other option for food.

• Start the routine of being indoors from a kitten. Only feed and play with your cat inside, so they know to come/stay inside for affection and sustenance.

• If possible, create an enclosed outdoor space on your balcony, patio or in your backyard.

• Put a bell or a reflective mirror on your cat’s collar, to make them less effective at stalking.

Reconciliation Week with Uncle Herb Wharton

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 02:40:45 GMT

In the spirit of reconciliation and to help our Team and Board at SQ Landscapes better understand and work with our region’s First Peoples, we took part in a special online event during Reconciliation Week (27th May - 3rd June) to hear from two amazing Queenslanders. Elders Aunty Ruth Hegarty and Uncle Herb Wharton kindly gave some of their time to recount their respective stories about what it was like for them growing up Aboriginal in Australia and their views on the path to reconciliation.

Since our company's experience hearing Uncle Herb's stories during Reconciliation Week, he has been awarded Member (AM) in the General Division for 'significant service to the literary arts, to poetry, and to the Indigenous community' as part of the Queens Birthday Honours.

We congratulate Uncle Herb on this significant and well-deserved accolade.

Image credit: By Ali Sanderson via Huffington Post.

Uncle Herb Wharton of the Kooma People

Uncle Herb Wharton was born in Yumba, an Aboriginal camp in south west Queensland near Cunnamulla.

“I was born in 1935 or 1937 – I forget because they didn’t keep records of aboriginal people back then and I didn’t get a birth certificate.” His biography confirms he was born in 1936.

“Then, Cunnamulla was a town where Aboriginal people weren’t allowed to live in town. Growing up down there, even though I got chased with a stick going to school, it was good, we learned dreamtime.”

“I’m glad they forced me to go because I came to realise how important it was to read and write. There was still a lot of racism.”

Uncle Herb recalls that the top camp in Cunamulla had no taps, and the bottom camp they had to walk to the tap at the cemetery.

“My dad would say to the teachers, ‘you can give him the cane or whatever but no homework, because when he gets home he needs to go and get water’.”

“I learnt from the earliest age where my tribal land was, that’s what’s lacking in young people today.”

He says he was more fortunate than some, that he never lost his identity or connection with the land.

“So many of my people were sent to missions to learn white history and religion,” he said.

“I remember when I was 7 or 8, there was a big truck coming in from Thargo (Thargomindah) with lots of kids about 5 or 6 years old, and they were going to put them on a train and send them to Cherbourg.”

“I was talking to some of those kids, and then I got told to bugger off or I’d be in there with them. I wasn’t old enough to realise the significance of the kids being taken from country.”

“My mum told me that where she grew up, when anyone ever came they had to run and hide out the back. But they were protected by a bloke who would stand at the door with a gun.”

When he finished school, Uncle Herb began droving all over outback Queensland and New South Wales. He recalls reading all about Burke and Wills discovering parts of the land but knew that they were seeing for the first time what formed the culture of First People for many generations before.

“It’s not so much about owning the land but belonging to it,” he says.

Uncle Herb saw a lot of the countryside on horseback while droving.

“Eventually I gave up drinking and smoking and had nothing else to do, so I started writing.”

“I’d read a bit of Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson and they didn’t know too much, so figured I could do a better job.”

Uncle Herb wrote his first book of poems called ‘Kings with Empty Pockets’ in the 1980s and after entering them in the David Unaipon Awards for unpublished Indigenous writers and being highly commended, the University of Queensland Press commissioned him to write a Novel. His novel was published in 1992 and is called ‘Unbranded’, detailing his experience on stock routes in outback Australia.

This was followed by ‘Cattle Camp’ in 1994, ‘Where ya' been, mate?’ in 1996, and ‘Yumba Days’ in 1999. Herb recently finished a first draft of a novel called ‘The Munta and the Mob’.

On reconciliation, Uncle Herb believes that handing back Native Land Titles would go a long way towards achieving reconciliation.

“Land rights are important part of reconciliation – we’ve never sold any of it away.”

“I would like to see Native Title given back by the government. I have eight brothers and two sisters, we knew where our country was but now I’m the only one left.”

“I’ve written about some things, but there are other things, I’m unsure how to pass them on. I sometimes wonder who the right person is or do I let it die with me?”

“When my uncle Joe died he left me some things. He told me if they fell into the wrong hands it could cause some strife. So do I pass that on, who I tell about some of these things? I have records and scribble that I have to find ways to safeguard for the future.”

As Uncle Herb expressed his concerns about passing down his stories and history, he recalled a trip he made to Sydney, and a story he was told there.

“I got to go to the Opera House and a fella there reckons that as the people on the land watched Cooky sail into Sydney Harbour, he reached for a wooden thing that the fellas on shore thought was a didgeridoo. But instead of putting it up to his mouth, he put it up to his eye. The First People thought what a silly bugger, playing a didgeridoo with his eye and fell about on the ground in fits of laughter, which is how Cook got the idea no people lived here in the first place.”

“You have to laugh at the history,” he says through a smile, “otherwise you’d cry.”

Uncle Herb still lives in south west Queensland where he was born and says relationships these days around Cunnamulla aren’t any worse than they were back then.

“There’s still discrimination, but I’m proud of who I am.”

“We’ve gotta get rid of the perception of race – there’s no such thing as a different race – we are the human race.” Find Uncle Herb’s books on Booktopia .

Image credit: Goondiwindi Argus

Reconciliation Week with Aunty Ruth Hegarty

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 29 May 2020 00:03:35 GMT

The Reconciliation Week theme 'In this together' is now resonating in ways we could not have foreseen when it was announced last year, but it reminds us whether in a crisis or in reconciliation we are all #InThisTogether.

In the spirit of reconciliation and to help our Team and Board at SQ Landscapes better understand and work with our region’s First Peoples, this week we took part in a special online event to hear from two amazing Queenslanders. Elders Aunty Ruth Hegarty and Uncle Herb Wharton kindly gave some of their time to recount their respective stories about what it was like for them growing up Aboriginal in Australia and their views on the path to reconciliation.

Aunty Ruth Hegarty of the Gunggari People

Aunty Ruth is almost 91 years old. “There aren’t too many people older than me,” she says.

Ruth and her mother Ruby travelled from their home in Mitchell when she was just 6 months old to Cherbourg which the family thought would be just for a little while. Confined by the rules of the ‘Protection Act’ Ruby and Ruth were forced to stay in Cherbourg and were placed in the dormitory system.

Aunty Ruth lived in a dormitory in Cherbourg with around 60 other girls where they were treated like prisoners despite committing no crimes. Mothers would live on one side of the dorm and children on the other side.

The children were whipped, punished physically and psychologically for minor misdemeanours and when she was just 4 years old, Ruth’s mother was sent away to work, causing the pair to lose contact.

Most of us can’t fathom growing up like this or having our mothers taken away from us at four years old, but this was just the beginning of her journey.

10 years later at 14 years old, Ruth herself was sent away from the Cherbourg Mission to work as a domestic servant. She felt alone, isolated and vulnerable travelling to work for strangers.

She experienced no freedom for 22 years before persuading her husband to leave Cherbourg for Brisbane so that their children could live a better life, which they eventually did only because he had an exemption as part of the 1967 referendum. Without this exemption, she was not allowed to leave Cherbourg.

“I spent 20 or so years of my life in Cherbourg, before realising that wasn’t the place for me. Living life in Cherbourg almost taught me not to speak out to those in power.”

“I’ve never known myself to be an Aborigine, because no one ever said 'you’re Aboriginal' – but I found out what it was like when I got married.”

Ruth fell in love, but her husband treated her the same way she had been treated as a dormitory girl.

“The first thing he said to me was ‘I own you’, but I didn’t want to be owned. For the next 15 years he had complete control over my life.”

Photo: Supplied. Aunty Ruth with her mother Ruby.

Ruth has eight children, one adopted, 36 grandchildren, 72 great grandchildren and 29 great great grandchildren.

She didn’t know about her father until she was 56 years old and met all of her half brothers and sisters in Mitchell when she went back. She wasn’t able to learn the Gunggarri language of her people growing up, and is still learning about it now at 90 years old. “It’s a beautiful language,” she says.

Ruth remained connected with the dormitory girls she had grown up with. “We would only talk about life in the dorm to one another, never our children or other people. Those women are my sisters – my family.”

“Before my husband died, he told me to write about my experiences, and by doing this over the past 30 years, I have found myself.”

In Aunty Ruth’s two published books ‘Is that you Ruthie?’ and ‘Bittersweet Journey’, she recounts her personal history as one of the Stolen Generation, her married life, her dealings with the Native Affairs Department and her work in community politics and indigenous organisations. Nowadays, she continues to recount her experiences by public speaking, as an author and writing articles for Facebook.

About reconciliation Aunty Ruth says, “It has to come through acknowledgement, that’s how reconciliation will happen.”

“Acknowledging our language like naming streets after Aboriginal people, let’s do more of that, instead of naming things after Captain Cook.”

“It is important to understand the history of this country, this country belongs to Aboriginal people and we are very willing to share. We need to teach our children the stories too – I’ve got grandchildren of all colours; blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, red hair, brown skin - they need to know their story, it’s a shared history.”

“Reconciliation is something I love. I love to think we are reconciled with one another. I have never been an enemy with the white man. Reconciliation is people coming together, we must close this gap. Reconciliation will only come when the gap is closed. We live in a better Australia now. We have no enemies except the one we make for ourselves.”

Photo: Supplied. Aunty Ruth today.

Don’t be a fire bug this winter

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Wed, 20 May 2020 03:56:59 GMT

Jon Snow had it right - Winter is coming. The air has a new chill and your woollen socks and jumpers are calling.

For many people winter also means fire. Whether it’s a glorious indoor fireplace, an outdoor fire pit or a campfire in the bush, it’s important that you make smart, and safe, decisions to protect yourself and the environment from out-of-control fires or hitch hiking wood bugs.

Sourcing your wood:

Within the Southern Queensland Landscapes region, there is an abundance of insects living and breeding. Many insects, both native and introduced, make their homes in, or exist on, trees, debris, and the undergrowth. Some of these insects can be wood-eating and/or disease carrying.

The Common Eucalypt Longicorn (Phoracantha semipunctata) is an example of a native insect that lays its eggs, which then become larvae, under the bark of sick or dead eucalypts. These insects are known as timber borers. Insects, like borers, as well as wood-rotting diseases, have a limited range of migration and/or spread. Dangers to the ecological balance occurs when people collect and move firewood long distances. These actions can transport insects, larvae and/or eggs, or diseases to areas they shouldn’t be and didn’t exist previously.

Even if the wood you collect looks visibly clear of holes, burrows, insects, eggs, etc., it’s impossible to check every centimetre of each piece, meaning you could accidently transport insects or disease. To prevent this spread there are a few things to consider when collecting firewood;

• Check government websites for restrictions on moving plant material.

• When camping or collecting firewood for fireplaces or fire pits, a good rule is to collect wood from 15 kms or less from the campsite or your home.

• The environmentally safest option is to purchase clean/treated firewood from a store.

Starting your fire:

Before using your fireplace for the first time each year, make sure you give it a good clean to make sure it’s free from build-up and safe to use. If you’re unsure how to, or not confident in doing so, hire a professional for additional peace of mind.

When lighting a fire, either indoors or outdoors, remember not to use accelerants that can be difficult to control. Start a fire with a small flame, then gradually add kindling until the fire is a safe and manageable size. If your fire is outside, e.g.; a fire pit or a campfire, take into account the weather. Wind can carry embers over long distances very quickly, starting new, uncontrolled fires in other locations. Australia has endured and is still recovering from recent wild fires so it's essential not to be careless or casual with your fire.

It’s also vital you regularly check the Queensland Government’s Rural Fire Service Fire Ban and Restrictions page . Lighting a fire in an area with a local or state fire ban is illegal.

Extinguishing your fire:

There are a number of ways to put out a fire. Regardless of whether your fire is contained to a fireplace, a fire pit or a campfire, a combination approach is the best and safest way.

• Let the fire burn out; when you stop adding kindling to the fire, there will be less and less to burn and the fire will eventually die out. However, this will take time and a fire should never be left unattended.

• Smother the fire with a lid; this option is specific to fire pits. By removing oxygen (one of the three requirements for a fire) the flames will die down. Keep in mind however that the embers and ash will still be hot and could reignite if oxygen and a fuel source is reintroduced. This would be an issue if, for example, the fire pit is knocked over on a deck or dry grass.

• Add water or sand to the fire then mix through and spread the ashes; this is a combination of the smothering technique - which will extinguish the flames faster than letting them burn through the kindling - and an extra safety step of also smothering then spreading the ash and embers. This method is best for campfires. It ensures that if the wind disturbs the ember/soil mix there’s less chance of active embers being blown up and restarting the fire at the primary, or a secondary location. It also reduces this risk of burns /injury to a bushwalker or animal who might inadvertently step on the campfire site.

The A - Z of Facebook (Covid-19 special)

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 01 May 2020 05:22:35 GMT

For more than 15 years, Facebook has helped keep the citizens of the world connected. But if the idea of downloading and using an online social media platform is new to you or even makes you a bit nervous, it can be helpful to know a few important points before you dive in. From the Activity Log (A) to Zuckerberg (Z), read on to discover the ‘what’, and more importantly the ‘why’, of a few of Facebook's key functions.

During this time of physical social distancing, but also for those who live remotely and/or have busy lives that stop them seeing people face-to-face as often as they’d like, Facebook an easy-to-use, connection-based platform that’s available to you now. So, let’s get started…

A = ACTIVITY LOG: Your Activity Log is your one-stop-shop for everything you’ve done on Facebook. It lets know what you’ve Liked , who tagged you in photos, who or what you’ve removed, and much more. It’s located on your Profile page and can be searched by year.

B = BIRTHDAYS: You’ll never miss a friend’s birthday again (as long as that friend has their birthday on their profile that is). When you open/login to Facebook for the first time each day, birthdays will appear in your Notifications (see N = Notifications for more information).

C = COMMENT: When you see a post in your Timeline that you want to interact with, you can Like it, Comment , or Share it by clinking in the links at the bottom of the post. Anyone who can see the post, can see your comment so remember to Edit for appropriateness.

D = DELETE: It’s said that once something appears on the internet, it’s there forever. On Facebook, that doesn’t have to be the case. If you write a post or comment and then want to edit or delete it, you can. Similarly, you can hide comments people make on your posts.

E = EDIT: It’s important to know you can edit your words on Facebook. Perhaps the information you posted has changed, or you’ve thought of something extra to add, or spotted a typo. Using the edit function can ensure you create and share the right post.

F = FRIENDS: Facebook was originally created to help people stay in touch with their friends and family. To find friends who also have Facebook accounts, type their name in the search bar and search through the list of profiles until you find the right person. Then send them a Friend Request.

G = GROUPS: People with common interests can create and/or join a group with members living anywhere in the world. Open groups allow anyone to join, while closed groups require an administrator to approve membership, which is often based on interest-specific criteria.

H = HELP: If you’re unsure how to use an aspect of Facebook, or can’t find something, click on the question mark icon, located on the bar at the top of the page. There are suggested topics, or you can search key words in the search box for useful tips and How-To guides.

I = IMAGES: A picture is worth a thousand words and you can post an image (a photo, a GIF, an illustration) with or without words on your Timeline . You can also tag other people in the photo if you’re Friends with them on Facebook but make sure you have their permission.

J = JUST: because it's your view or opinion, doesn't necessarily qualify it for a public platform. Remember, Facebook is a community of all kinds of people from various backgrounds. Ask yourself – could your posts or comments potentially offend, marginalise or belittle people? Or, are they factual, kind, uplifting and/or helpful? Put yourself in the shoes of others and be thoughtful about what you post.

K = KEEP UP TO DATE: One of the best things about Facebook is the ability to see what your friends, both near and far, are up to. People post to share significant life moments and celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, births and holidays. It has also become a place to grieve loss and seek support.

L = LIKE: If you wish to share your feelings about a post, hover your cursor over the word Like and it will give you six emoji options. From left to right; Like (thumbs up), Love (heart), Haha (laughing face), Wow (surprised face), Sad (crying face) or Angry (grumpy face).

M = MESSENGER: The speech bubble icon located on the bar at the top is Facebook’s private messaging platform. Once you are connected ( Friends ) with someone, you can talk to them one-on-one, or in a group, by typing messages or video calling them in Messenger.

N = NOTIFICATIONS: When you log into Facebook, you’ll see the bell icon on the bar at the top of the screen has some numbers next to it. Those are how many notifications you have e.g.; someone has commented on or liked your post, a friend’s birthday, a reminder, etc.

O = OVERSEAS: According to Facebook’s January 2020 statistics, there are more than 2 billion people around the world with a Facebook account. In the Oceania/Australia region, 54% of people have Facebook. That’s a lot of potential Friends you can connect with.

P = POST: Posting on your Timeline is how you let your Facebook community know what’s happening in your life. Click on your name on the bar at the top, then start writing your message, thoughts or news to be shared, in the text box next to your profile picture.

Q = QUIZES: Facebook isn’t just about sharing and interacting with posts. Use the search bar to find quizzes and games you can enjoy on your own. Once you have your quiz results, you can usually share them on your timeline, or invite others to play too.

R = RECOMMENDATIONS: Once you have a group of friends on Facebook, you can ask your community for recommendations on anything from businesses to restaurants. On the left of your timeline is an Explore list, with options including the Recommendations tab.

S = SECURITY: To protect your personal security online, make sure you have a strong password for your account. You should also have your privacy settings set so only those you want to see your posts, e.g.; your friends as opposed to the general public, can see them.

T = TIMELINE: Your Timeline (or Home) is where you see everything your friends, or the companies you’re following, are posting. Scroll to see what’s going on in the world and interact by commenting or liking the posts which make you smile or think.

U = UNFOLLOW: If you don’t like the posts filling your Timeline , you can unfollow the friend/s, or the company, whose content you don’t like. You’ll still remain Friends with them, you just won’t see what they’re posting unless you search for their profile.

V = VIDEOS: Videos are another way people can share what is happening in their lives. They can be added to a post, the same as a picture. Short videos are the easiest and quickest to upload and they should show a genuine side of your personality and life.

W = WHEN: Facebook isn’t something that shuts down at night-time. It is always online. However, to know when your friends are also online, click the Chat box in the lower right-hand corner. Friends who are online while you are you will have a green dot next to their name.

X = Xactly WHAT YOU NEED RIGHT NOW: During the social distancing/self-isolation restrictions of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook is the perfect way to connect, communicate and cope with family and friends. Remember #weareallinthistogether

Y = YES, YOU CAN: You don’t have to be a technology-whizz to use Facebook. The main features ( posting and commenting ) are easy to get the hang of with a little practice. It is free to use and can be downloaded on your home computer, tablet or smart phone. Have a play with it and remember, you can’t break it!

Z = ZUCKERBERG: Mark Zuckerberg is the man behind Facebook. He created Facebook while studying at Harvard University and whether you Like it or not, Zuckerberg is now a multi-billionaire for giving the world one easy-to-use platform for business and personal connection.

To register for a Facebook profile, go to www.facebook.com and sign up. The Facebook application (app) can be download to your smart phone or tablet from the Apple or Samsung app store. To follow SQ Landscapes on Facebook, click the Facebook (f) icon below.

Bush medicine in Australia’s backyard

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 03:33:11 GMT

Bush medicine is a powerful and ancient part of the culture and heritage of many of Australia’s First Nations. For centuries First Peoples have passed down and shared their practices and stories of how Australia’s native flora can be prepared and used for healing.

Bush medicine involves taking the leaves, fruit, bark, sap and/or roots of specific native plants, and preparing them in such a way that their medicinal properties (e.g. antibacterial, anti-inflammatory) are activated. These remedies have been used to treat conditions ranging from upset stomachs and infections, to burns and rashes, and many illnesses in between.

In recognition of 2020 being the ' International Year of Plant Health ' , and with respect to the First Nations of the SQ Landscapes region, here are three native bush medicine plants worth noting.

A word of caution:

Many Australian native plants are highly toxic and difficult to identify. Unless you are experienced in the identification, collection and safe preparation of bush medicine, or accompanied by someone who is, it is inadvisable to harvest or use bush tucker for medicine or food.

P lease also be aware that the harvesting of plants is restricted in some areas e.g. national parks.

Quandong ( Santalum acuminatum )

Quandongs (or Wild Peach) are a native fruit found in arid and semi-arid areas of southern Australia. The mature fruit is bright red and around 15-25mm in diameter. It grows as a shrub or tree and is parasitic in nature, sucking water and nutrients from a host plant to survive. It is a tart-tasting fruit, but the sugar content increases as it dries.

Quandongs contain twice the Vitamin C of an orange, and are a valuable source of Vitamin E, folate, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc.

An incredibly versatile fruit, quandongs can be eaten raw, made into jams, pies and other desserts, frozen, dried, or utilised in bush medicine. Their centre kernels are ground to create powerful antibacterial and anti-inflammatory pastes for treating skin conditions and toothaches, the roots are made into an infusion to treat rheumatism and the leaves to treat stomach aches.

Quandong grind stones have been found in First Nation sites throughout the Murray-Darling Basin and are believed to have been used for more than 50,000 years. They can be difficult to grow domestically but dried quandongs can be found in health food/bush tucker stores throughout Australia and online.

Quinine Tree ( Alstonia constricta )

The Quinine Tree (or Native Quince or Bitterbark) is part of a family of plants known as alkaloids. A common characteristic of alkaloids is a bitter taste, which can indicate either a therapeutic or, equally important if used effectively, poisonous quality.

The ripened fruit is small, round and bright yellow or orange. It grows on full shrubs or trees which can grow up to 6 metres high. As the fruit dries, it sheds its flesh and explodes, shooting the seeds in all directions. Native to coastal areas of northern Australia, north-east New South Wales and the Darling Downs region, the quinine tree grows commonly in thickets on sunny hill sides.

Traditionally, the bark and roots of the quinine tree would be prepared into liquids for treating diabetes and other illnesses including sores and headaches. The fresh fruit can be used to ease toothaches, malarial symptoms including fever, and as birth control.

The potent astringent and antiseptic qualities of the plant can make it difficult to control the outcomes of quinine when used medicinally.

Despite the bitter taste, emus eat quinine fruit which also helps to disperse seeds for regrowth.

Eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus sp )

One of the most prevalent and iconic native Australian plants, the eucalyptus is easy to identify due to its distinct look and aromatic aroma.

There are more than 700 different species of eucalyptus in Australia.

From short and bushy garden species, to the world’s tallest flowering tree (Eucalyptus regnans), eucalypts are incredibly diverse plants. Eucalypt flowers range in size and colour, producing white, yellow, pink and red blossoms. These blossoms attract native stingless bees that help pollinate the plants while producing honey from nectar known as 'sugarbag' bee honey - another bush tucker produced with the help of eucalypts.

Eucalypt aroma can be described as having likeness to peppermint, lemon or pepper. In bush medicine, aromatic plants are regarded as important for treating respiratory diseases. The bark, leaves, flowers and resin known as 'kino' of different eucalypts offer a variety of healing qualities.

Eucalyptus leaves and bark can be infused for body pains, fevers and chills, while the kino can be used to treat wounds and the oil (harvested from glands in the leaves) is used not only by First Nation peoples, but also commercially as an antimicrobial in mouthwash, lozenges, cough suppressants and topical balms.

Fossilised eucalypt flowers have been dated as 52 million years old, while the genome of the Australian rose gum (Eucalypt grandis) indicates these plants have been around for at least 109 million years.

To learn more about this native treasure, visit ABC Science’s Eucalypts: 10 things you may not know about an iconic Australian .

Green Thumbs Beat the Blues

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 01:00:43 GMT

Curb the social isolation blues by growing a vegetable garden at home

Before it was condemned by Australians as the worst year in recent history with devastating bushfires and now a pandemic, 2020 was declared the International Year of Plant Health by the United Nations General Assembly.

In the current climate of social isolation, potential for illness and staying at home to #stopthespread, growing healthy plants - particularly vegetables - can be hobby with many wellbeing benefits.

From a splash of colour to brighten the walls of your home, to the fresh air and sunshine that comes with a backyard garden, and the nutrients of home-grown produce that you don’t have to compete with panic-buyers for, a healthy vegetable patch is the perfect ‘isolution’ for people staying home - young and old.

So, what are the best vegetables to grow now and in the coming months, and how do you manage the fruits (or rather vegetables) of your labour?

What to grow

Tomatoes: Because of the beautiful and frequent Queensland sun, tomatoes, which are normally grown in hotter months, can grow almost all year round in the Sunshine State. If you’re growing tomatoes from seeds, seedlings should break through the soil from 7 – 14 days, with plump produce ready for harvest in a few months. If planting established saplings, produce will be ready sooner.

Due to their height, tomatoes should be planted with a stake or trellises. As the plant grows, secure it loosely with gardening twine or old stockings. Prune the vine into a single stem to structure the tomato’s growth. As a natural protection against insects, you should companion plant tomatoes with basil.

Basil: While basil can be grown successfully in an herb garden, studies have shown it grows better when planted with tomatoes. There are a number of different varieties of basil including Thai, lemon, sweet and bush. Each one has different flavour profiles and intensities. Basil will retain its flavour better if you pinch off the flowering tips.

For the freshest produce, cut the leaves for immediate use. Once the plant starts to die off, pull out the bush and hang it upside down to dry out. The dried leaves can be finely diced for cooking.

Capsicum: Similar to tomatoes, capsicums grow best in sunny areas with good drainage.

They only need a small stake to grow straight, and the stem should be secured as it grows. From planting, capsicum can take up to 3-months to grow produce.

All capsicums are green. However, for the best and sweetest flavour, wait until the produce has ripened fully and changed colour (to red or yellow) before harvesting. To protect the plant and encourage regrowth, cut off capsicums at the stem rather than pulling them out.

Carrots: Grown from seeds, carrots look and grow best when planted in rows. When the bright green shoots of the seedlings are around 5cms (2 inches) tall, usually around 3 weeks from planting, replant your carrots to a distance of 2cm (a little under an inch) apart. When the shoots are 15cms (6 inches) tall, replant again to a distance of 5cm (2 inches) apart. This will prevent crowding and promote growth.

Produce can be harvested as needed but remember to cut off the green tops immediately otherwise they will keep drawing moisture, making the carrots dry. To protect your carrots from insects, companion plant with rows of onion or garlic.

Onions: If planting onions from seeds, you’ll have to plan ahead. Onion seeds grow best in seed raising mix, with the seedlings being moved into a vegetable garden once they’re around 8cm (3 inches) tall. Seedlings can be planted straight into the garden. For the best results, create a trench and lay the seedlings down, covering their roots with soil. Within a few weeks, the onions will be upright and growing strong.

Onions are ready for harvest when their tops are yellow and starting to die. This takes around 6 months, making onions a long-term investment. Spring onions have a much shorter harvest time. They usually shoot within a few days of planting, with produce ready in around 2 weeks. The trade-off is, less fragrant spring onions aren’t as effective as a companion plant for carrots.

Watering

Remember to water your vegetable garden often and thoroughly. Keep an eye on the weather reports and if rain is expected, hold off watering so as not to over-water your crop, with can lead to the underground produce rotting.

Weed management

Weeds, both native and introduced, are a problem in all kinds of gardens and lawns throughout Australia. Weeds can degrade the soil by competing for the nutrients, space and water your vegetables need to grow big and strong.

A combination of an organic herbicide (one that is safe to use around edible plants) and manual weeding, all undertaken on a regular basis will generate the best results for keeping weeds under control. Hoeing your vegetable garden once a week will help stop weeds that haven’t seeded yet from taking root. Hand weeding is required once the weeds have seed heads. Make sure you dispose of the weeds and seeds completely into the rubbish bin (not into compost heaps or the rest of the garden) to avoid transporting the weeds further.

With produce ready for harvest starting in a few months and through to the end of winter, get your green thumb going and you’ll have a bumper crop of healthy vegetables ready to make delicious soups, stews and roasts in no time.

Don’t have what you need to start a veggie garden at home?

Not to worry! There’s no reason to leave the house with many garden suppliers now offering home delivery. Search online and order your seeds, bulbs, fertilisers and tools from a company like Garden Express , Australia’s largest mail order garden supplier.

Check out Gardening Australia's tips for growing winter soup vegetables in the video below.

Brigalow Fauna Survey: Moonie, QLD

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 03:52:38 GMT

We have been busy using science to explore Brigalow remnants in our region to gather baseline data about biodiversity, vegetation types and overall ecosystem health, specifically in the Moonie area.

Brigalow ( Acacia harpophylla ) is a species of silvery wattle that creates open forest and woodland communities known as the Brigalow Belt. Belah, Gidgee, Lancewood and Bendee trees grow alongside Brigalow as part of these forests and woodlands.

Excitingly, the eastern boundary of the Brigalow Belt is an ancient system. There are scattered patches of semi-evergreen vine thickets which are remnants of the extensive subtropical rainforests that occupied much of the brigalow lands millions of years ago. Due to land clearing for agriculture, only fragments of this system now remain.

The Brigalow and surrounding ecosystems provide habitat for many distinctive fauna species, all of which are key indicators of the overall health of the area.

Our team lead by Sandy Robertson and Holly Hosie spent the first week of March camped near Moonie where they identified four key sites across private and public land to undertake a fauna survey. They built trapping mechanisms at each site and recorded their findings over five days to create a snapshot of what lives in the area – read on to see what they found at each site.

The trapping set up

Sandy and Holly set six funnel traps, three pitfall traps along a drift fence and 20 elliot traps -10 on either side of the drift fence at each site.

Two infra-red remote camera traps were also set up at each of the four sites with one to capture feral animals in identified impact zones and one set up at the fauna trap site to measure the movement of species along the drift net.

SITE 1: Open Woodland / Grassland

Characterised by knee high grasses and shrubs, fallen timber piles and a widely-spaced eucalypt trees, the open woodland site produced some of the most thrilling finds of the survey.

A couple of exciting reptile finds were made in the grass including a healthy eastern brown in one of the funnel traps and a Bynoes gecko. Sandy identified the snake within the safety of the trap and carefully released it away from the trap site.

Amphibian species were also trapped, including green striped frogs, rough frogs and wrinkled toadlets. It was the perfect time to survey for frogs following the much-needed summer rainfall.

An eastern barn owl was spotted near the site at night, eastern grey kangaroos passed through the grasslands morning and evening, and a lucky bearded dragon was moved from the road near the site by Sandy. The dragon was in the middle of shedding its skin, something adult dragons do once or twice a year lasting 2-3 weeks.

The infra-red camera at this site captured a number of photos of a mob of feral pigs travelling along an established track late at night and early in the mornings - not a great sign but not unexpected.

SITE 2: Wetland / Woodland

The wetland site provided the highest count of fauna out of all the trap sites. The recent rainfall in the region meant there was plenty moving around – both native and introduced. The site was marsh-like with plenty of mud, grasses, wildflowers and low shrubs.

Frogs were abundant at the wetland site with 167 individuals counted in just one day. Unfortunately, there were plenty of signs of feral pigs also in the area including wallows, hoof prints and uprooted vegetation.

Feral pigs don’t have sweat glands and therefore require water to cool themselves. Additionally, feral pigs eat many native frog species so although it was promising to see so many frog species represented, it was also worrying to see strong evidence of this destructive species once again.

Observed frog species included ornate burrowing frogs, green striped frogs, wide-mouthed frogs and wrinkled toadlets.

Ornate burrowing frogs were the most common species discovered throughout the survey. These frogs are remarkable survivors that – as their name suggests - burrow during dry or cold times, emerging when it becomes warmer and rains. They occur in a wide range of habitats from the coast to central arid environments.

Their feet have special hardened plates known as tubercles that they use like a shovel to help them dig their burrows. They burrow backwards at an angle giving them the name 'backwards-sliding burrower'. (Source: Backyard Buddies.)

A number of other species were also spotted in proximity to the trap site including a lace monitor, brolga, red-tailed black cockatoos and feral species such as mice and a piglet.

SITE 3: Brigalow woodland

The trap sites in the Brigalow woodland revealed a number of reptile species such as Ingram’s skink, Dwyers snake, Bynoes gecko and tree skinks alongside a couple of amphibians – wide-mouthed frogs and ornate burrowing frogs.

Excitingly, a couple of mammals were also observed at this site – a slender-tailed (common) dunnart and an echidna. Australia has the worst mammalian extinction rate in the world so finding mammals in the ecosystems we’re working to protect is always celebrated.

Common dunnarts are endemic to Australia and are nocturnal insectivores whose diet consists mainly of beetles, spiders and cockroaches. Unfortunately, these small marsupials are a similar size and therefore often mistaken for house mice, a pest found in farm houses and sheds all over rural Australia. A trained eye can easily spot the difference though.

Dunnarts have sharply pointed snouts, large, bulging black eyes to help them with their nocturnal hunts and delicate white hind feet with no nail on the inner 'big' toe on the hind foot. They also have white bellies and cat-like teeth, excellent tools for feeding on insects where mice have rat-like teeth for eating seeds and grain.

Caper white butterflies and their chrysalis were found on the native orange bushes, and plenty of birds were observed including Rufous whistlers, an olive-backed oriole and yellow thornbills.

SITE 4: Brigalow woodland and associated wetland

The team were relieved to discover that the second brigalow site had the easiest soil for digging traps into. A Dubious dtella was trapped at this site, a four-clawed gecko native to north-eastern Australia. Tree skinks were also observed to be quite common to the area.

Amphibian species trapped mirrored those caught at the other sites - wide-mouthed frogs, short-footed frogs, green striped frogs and rough frogs. A few other species were also observed near the site such as an emerald spotted tree frog, broad-palmed frog and a number of fluorescent juvenile crucifix frogs.

Crucifix frogs also burrow into soil waiting to emerge after summer and autumn rains. They are one of the few species of Australian frogs which has skin patterning that does not provide camouflage, but instead acts as a vivid warning against predation. It is not clear whether the pattern is intended to warn against a poison, or a bad taste that the animal may possess, however the species and its relatives do also have glands that secrete a glue-like substance which may act as a deterrent against predators such as snakes and birds. One member of the same genus is known colloquially as the 'Superglue Frog' for this reason. (Source: Australian Museum)

Unfortunately, wild dog paw prints were found in the mud around the puddle where the crucifix frogs were found indicating that pigs weren’t the only feral species moving around the brigalow country.

A swamp wallaby made its way through the scrub while the team were working there and like the other sites, insects were abundant. The butterfly explosion was quite the sight with blue tiger and caper white butterflies dancing around the woodland. A large number of native cockroaches were also found at this site.

The team observed a wedge-tailed eagle in the area, pale headed rosellas and a burrowing spider, yet to be identified - added bonuses to the species trapped.

The data we’ve collected from our fauna survey at Moonie is essential as we work towards better understanding the state of Brigalow remnants and the fauna that relies on its existence and health. For information about our Brigalow project, visit our project page.

New weapon for feral pig control trialled in Texas, USA

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 05:08:41 GMT

Feral pig control can feel like a never-ending battle to land managers, and it’s no wonder.

At the end of 2019 it was estimated that Australia has up to 24 million feral pigs, and with plenty of summer rainfall this year, that number is likely to rise.

They are among Queensland's most widespread and damaging pest animals. Feral pigs spread weeds, degrade soil and water, prey on native species, damage crops and livestock, and carry diseases. (Source: Queensland Government)

There are a number of tools and strategies available to land managers in their efforts to control feral pigs in the landscape, which now includes HOGGONE, a bait recently registered for use in Australia.

Our General Manager for Commercial Programs and feral pig control expert Darren Marshall is on the front line of the feral pig problem at home and abroad.

For the past four years, Darren has been researching feral pig behaviours and human involvement as part of a PhD.I which he expects to complete in 2021. His findings to-date have already revealed previously unknown information about feral pig movements and human attitudes toward controlling the pests, which will play a key role in addressing the issue moving forward.

Knowing Darren’s extensive knowledge about feral pigs, Animal Control Technologies Australia (ACTA) recently enlisted his expertise to be part of a critical trial of HOGGONE in Texas, USA.

Using bait - The difference between America and Australia

Feral pigs are a big problem in America, too. Their stronghold is the South - about half of the nation's six million feral pigs live in Texas. (Source: Live Science)

While in Australia, baiting options like sodium fluoroacetate (1080) have been available to land managers to aid in control efforts since the early 1960s, there are currently no baiting options available for feral pigs in America.

This is because in Australia, our native land mammals are primarily marsupial and therefore no other large, native placental mammal species are at risk of being affected by the poison.

While America’s native fauna such as bears, deer, wolves and racoons are at risk of being affected by baits. HOGGONE was deemed potentially useful to the American authorities for controlling feral pigs for this reason – it is pig specific.

HOGGONE trial

The trial was implemented in partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), with Darren consulting for ACTA.

The trial site was set up near Lubbock, Texas where feral pig populations are especially high. The team set up a number of hoppers to free feed pigs before applying the bait. The hoppers have been uniquely designed to target pigs with a magnetised lid that can only be lifted by the strength of a pig. They are the only animals observed to use their snouts to perform a lifting action, which is thought to be a factor of their intelligence level.

“I was really keen when I was contacted by ACTA to be part of this trial to help gather evidence about this particular control method so we can continue protecting farmer livelihoods and the environment from pest animal damage.”

“We are looking to replicate the Texas trial in Southern Queensland in the coming months to determine how we might use HOGGONE to target feral pig populations in our region specifically,” said Darren.

For more information about the use of HOGGONE, contact:

Darren Marshall

General Manager Commercial Programs, SQ Landscapes

Darren.Marshall@sqlandscapes.org.au

0429 056 450

Warrior woman symbol of Gunggari Nation’s strength

creative@austcommunitymedia.com.au (Creative ACM) — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 02:30:31 GMT

Listening to Aunty Lynette Nixon speak about the Yumba [home], it is easy to picture the intoxicating heat, the clear running rivers and the rustling leaves of the trees lining their banks.

Aunty Lynette is a woman of the Gunggari Nation. Throughout her adult life she has worked tirelessly, and fought valiantly, to break down the negative stereotypes towards her people, to restore their land, and to ensure all Aboriginal peoples receive the health care and education every Australian deserves.

“I just wanted to make things better for Aboriginal people – to break down the racial barriers.

“Aboriginals contribute so much to the community.

“Living in the town for a start, but also working on the properties, working at the hospitals and at the schools.”

The town (and community) Aunty Lynette grew up in, and still lives, is Mitchell, Queensland. She says no matter where her work or travels take her, and regardless of the challenges she had to overcome, she will always return to the land she calls home.

“That [Mitchell] is where I belong.

“The Yumba is where I come from, it’s where I’ll always be going back to.”

The land of the Gunggari Nation spans from the headwaters of the Maranoa River in Mount Moffatt (north) to the junction where it joins the Balonne River in the south. The 37,100 square kilometres of Queensland’s Maranoa region (between the towns of Charleville, Mitchell, St George and Bollon) were fully recognised as Gunggari land in 2019 following a third Native Title determination. The land determinations were the result of a series of tough and long-fought battles, with warriors like Aunty Lynette at the forefront.

“I remember, when I was young, people tried to stop us going to the pool.

“But it was a war memorial pool and our mob fought in both world wars so they couldn’t stop us.

“They [the Native Title determinations] took 27 years and we lost people along the way, a lot of our elders and a lot of our young people.

“At times it made me sad and disappointed, but I’ve never been angry because anger doesn’t get you anywhere.

“You have to draw strength from having to fight, from not giving in.”

The determinations and subsequent funding have allowed the Gunggari Nation to re-establish their homeland, which has resulted in people returning to reconnect. Aunty Lynette has mostly happy memories of growing up on the Yumba with her seven brothers and close extended family. She acknowledges her story is not shared by all Gunggari people, with many taken away as young children to missions and/or growing up in foster homes.

“Belonging to the big mob you are never alone.

“But the people who were taken away, they didn’t know who they were or where they came from and it was harder for them.

“But they come from here, and they know who they are now and they’re coming back to heal and to rejuvenate.”

“Strength always comes from the land, your extended family and the big mob.”

It’s that connection and belonging which keep Aunty Lynette fighting for the land and what it represents to her Nation.

“The land is home and it will heal your spirit.

“If you’re feeling down or worn out, you can come home, to this place, and then when you go away, you feel so much better.

“But you better be on your best behaviour when you’re there because the spirits, our ancestors, are in those trees looking down and watching everything!”

The fights for Native Title determination, improved health care and education were about survival for her people, and Aunty Lynette is proud that her legacy has become an inspiration for young Gunggari people. From assisting the University of New England with research into Aboriginal health in south-west Queensland in the 1980s and 1990s, to writing non-fiction and children’s books that are used to teach Gunggari history and language in local schools, Aunty Lynette’s role has become that of a cultural keeper of knowledge for past, and future, generations.

“That’s what you do it for, you do it for the future generations.

“I don’t want our culture and heritage to die or not to be around – it’s very important for it to be carried on.

“A lot of the young kids are taking on the jobs now.

“They’ve stepped up and they’re on the boards, they’re on the committees, they’re fighting the fight and that gives me pride

“They also understand, very importantly, that when you’re doing something like this, you have to make sure you’re doing it properly and doing the right thing.”

Reflecting back on her achievements and successes, there is no doubt in Aunty Lynette’s mind that her strength to persevere came from the land.

“If you look after the land, the land with look after you.

“It [the land] makes you strong, it keeps you going and not enough people, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, understand that.

“It becomes a part of you and so I will always return to our land.”

2020: the Year of the Rat

Wed, 29 Jan 2020 01:51:12 GMT

Meet the Aussie rat pack representing the Chinese zodiac

According to the more than 2000-year-old Chinese zodiac, 2020 is the Year of the Rat. People born in the Year of the Rat are said to be clever, charming and hard-working. Their namesake animals however are rarely described as such.

The most well-known rat in Australia is the common house (or black) rat. This introduced species of rat is found in urban populations. They spread diseases, pose a threat to native wildlife and keep residents up at night as they scurry in walls and rooves chewing on cables and wires.

Like many introduced animals, rats have native Australian counterparts. They are often indistinguishable to the untrained eye but are much better representatives of the characteristics of the rat zodiac.

The water-rat – the clever;

Often referred to by their Indigenous name, rakali, the water-rat is the largest of Australia’s native rodents (40cm – 70cm in length, including their tail).

As one of only two amphibious mammals in the county (the other being the platypus), the water-rats’ body is cleverly designed for its habitat. Found throughout Australia, they live in burrows on the banks of permanent bodies of brackish or fresh water e.g. lakes, dams and urban rivers. They have webbed hind legs, a flattened head, a rudder-like tail, small ears and thick, soft, waterproof fur.

Their waterproof coat almost became their downfall in the 1930s and 1940s. At a time when fur coats and hats were the ‘must-have’ fashion accessory, water-rats were poached for their glossy pelts following a ban on fur imported from the United States. They are now a protected species and their population has recovered to a ‘low priority risk’ conservation status.

The hopping mouse – the charming;

Unlike introduced species of rats and mice, hopping mice have inhabited Australia for more than 4 million years.

Only five (of 11) species of hopping mice still exist; the Spinifex Hopping Mouse, the Mitchell's Hopping Mouse, the Northern Hopping Mouse, the Dusky Hopping Mouse and the Fawn Hopping Mouse. The latter three species are classified as ‘vulnerable’ due to habitat degradation (drought and overgrazing) and predators including cats and foxes.

Each species of hopping mouse can be found in a concentrated section of sand plains or dunes across Australia. They live in burrows or in the hummocks of spinifex and cane grass, often close to water. However, this nocturnal mouse can survive in the desert without drinking, accessing all their water from their food which includes seeds, insects, fungi and even small reptiles.

With a tail almost one-and-a-half times the length of its body, round, fur-less ears and large eyes, these mice are at their most charming as they hop across the landscape like miniature kangaroos on their long, hind legs.

The antechinus – the hard-working;

At a fleeting glance - which is all this animal is likely to give - the antechinus does bear a striking resemblance to a common mouse/rat. So much so, they are also known as marsupial mice.

But on closer inspection of the 10 species of native antechinus, their longer faces and feet, and large, thin ears distinguish them as unique, Australian marsupials. Their habitats are spread around coastal, country regions where they build nests in trees, vegetation and sometimes peoples’ homes.

Reproduction is a life and death experience for the hard-working antechinus. At 11 months of age, males receive all the sperm their body will ever produce, and they go on a mating spree until they die from a testosterone and stress-induced breakdown of their immune system. Females will mate with different partners, often simultaneously, giving birth to litters with multiple fathers. With no open pouch for their young, newborns attached to a teat and need to hold on to feed and survive while the female scurries through the undergrowth.

All of these clever, charming and hard-working animals can be found in pockets of the Southern Queensland Landscapes region. If you find one injured, please phone WIRES on 1300 094 737.