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Partnership combines traditional practices & modern science to save endangered turtles
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).

by Caleb Back 31 Oct, 2023
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.
by Caleb Back 05 Sept, 2023
Annual General Meeting When: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 Where: Online via Zoom Time : 9.00am for 9.30am start
by Caleb Back 05 Sept, 2023
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by Caleb Back 02 Aug, 2023
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by Caleb Back 01 Aug, 2023
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by Caleb Back 01 Aug, 2023
 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."
by Kellie Stewart 04 Jul, 2023
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 Kellie Stewart 05 Jun, 2023
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by Caleb Back 05 Jun, 2023
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.”
by Caleb Back 05 Jun, 2023
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