A forum to be held on 14 and 15 April at Maryborough Town Hall will give the community a chance to learn about opportunities for Indigenous organisations working in the environment and natural resource management sector. 

The Natural Resource Management Business & Indigenous Employment Forum has been organised by Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) and international conservation organisation Fauna & Flora International with support from the Qantas Foundation and the Department of Environment and Resource Management. 

Chris McCarthy, BMRG’s Murri Engagement and Projects Officer, said the forum will be an opportunity for people who want to engage with and learn from Indigenous organisations in the environment and natural resource management sector. 

“The forum will provide Indigenous individuals, groups and organisations with an opportunity to identify and discuss contracting needs, recruitment and employee retention challenges, opportunities for employers and employees, training needs and business management issues,” Mr McCarthy said. 

The forum will host a number of guest speakers from a number of organisations including the Bunya Mountains Murri Rangers Group and Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. 

Campers, beach-goers, and holiday makers are reminded to dispose of their rubbish appropriately over the Easter break. 

Mary-Alice Swan, Burnett Mary Regional Group’s (BMRG) new Coastal and Critical Aquatic Habitats Coordinator, said plastic, cigarette butts and other rubbish all have the potential to kill coastal and marine animals such as fish, shorebirds, turtles and dolphins. 

“When enjoying our unique beaches, rivers and beautiful bush over Easter, we should try to leave them in a better state than we found them,” Ms Swan said. 

“Put your rubbish back into your esky or bag; don’t leave it there to be washed into the waterways and the oceans.” 

“The recent floods and rains were a reminder of how litter and all sorts of things can be swept into creeks and rivers, even from urban areas, so it’s best to dispose of rubbish properly.” 

A UN study in 2006 revealed an average of 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of the ocean. The health of coastal and aquatic habitats is of large concern to Ms Swan, whose responsibilities in her new role at BMRG include reducing threats to coastal systems. 

 Presentations delivered at the Inaugural Reef Rescue Showcase held last month in Cairns are now available. The presentations include:

• A focus on best-practice science and engagement | NQ Dry Tropics
• Strong partnerships and sound delivery model engaging cane growers in the Lower Burdekin | NQ Dry Tropics
• An overview of Reef Rescue | Mike Berwick
• Partnerships for Practice Change | Fitzroy Basin Association
• Grains BMP program - boosting productivity and reef water quality | Grains BMP officers and participants
• What we understand and what we need to understand better: the change in research focus | Hugh Yorkston, GBRMPA
• Underpinning science to target improved practice change | Fitzroy Basin Association
• Industry-wide Reef Rescue projects - big picture projects helping out regional growers and graziers
• Milking the P's to change: powerful partnerships using performing programs, precision planning and proven practices | Rick Kowitz, Queensland Dairyfarmers' Organisation
• Horticulture: in partnership with the Reef | Growcom
• Healthy Country: managing the land for healthy waterways - a case study from SEQ | SEQ Catchments
• Reef Rescue success in the Wet Tropics | Terrain

See agenda and registration form below.

Location

Come along to the annual Burnett Mary Region Partnership Showcase and Natural Resource Management Awards night!

The Burnett Mary Regional Group for NRM Inc (BMRG) is leading a Community Coastcare project designed to increase the community’s awareness of shorebirds. The project, Feathering the Future of the Burnett Mary, will include hosting a number of dog walkers’ breakfasts, school activities and community events around the region to let us all know how important our shorebirds are.

NatureAssist is for rural Queensland landholders to help sustainably manage their land, conditional upon them entering into a nature refuge agreement. NatureAssist is a competitive market-based incentive scheme that gives landholders throughout rural Queensland the opportunity to tender for financial assistance to carry out on-ground management actions that will maintain or enhance their property’s conservation values.  Expressions of interest must be submitted by 16 March 2009 (5pm AEST). Landholders can express their interest by completing a simple one-page expression of interest form available at www.epa.qld.gov.au/naturerefuges or by calling the EPA Customer Service Centre on 1300 130 372.