Regional Natural Asset Management - February 2014
By: Natural Asset Management Coordinator, Travis Sydes...
It has been a busy to start to 2014 with a range of projects coming to a close and a raft of material out for consultation (what better way to start the year than reviewing legislation and wading through strategic assessments?).
On the submissions front the Queensland Governments Biosecurity Bill was out for the duration of the Christmas break (nice timing, please tell me that was a coincidence). The Bill will supersede the Land Protection Act and other legislation pertaining to the management of weeds, pests, pathogens and diseases of agriculture and the environment. Given the cramped timeline and the fact that most of our hardworking NAMAC were still on a well-deserved break we provided comment to inform LGAQ's submission rather than solo author our own. The Bill is going to parliament again on February 6 so we will wait and see how comments have been addressed. More on this topic when we receive word back.
The Great Barrier Reef Strategic Assessment has been keeping many souls busy around the region and up and down the coast as they grapple with this two part behemoth. The Commonwealth has authored the first component focusing on the marine aspect of the assessment whilst the State has delivered a coastal zone (terrestrial) component. FNQROC is providing comment aspects on the Coastal Zone Strategic Assessment to several submissions on the table. If you have time to complete a quick survey prior to Friday then head to http://www.reefhaveyoursay.com.au/.
On the project front our collaborative work with Terrain NRM identifying Strategic Offset Investment Corridors for the Wet Tropics Bioregion has come to close with the final draft off to the State this week. There are still many questions and uncertainties to be addressed in regard to how this will relate Local Government particularly with regard to the pending revised offset policy and planning schemes. More on this in the coming months as the implications become clearer. An important outcome of the SOIC project is we have used the opportunity of analysing a plethora of spatial data to launch directly into the review of the Wet Tropics NRM Plan and the Water Quality Improvement Plan. These plans will guide NRM investment in the region over the coming years and we are looking forward to a more integrated approach to regional planning as a result of Local Government being involved in the process.
For more information or to keep abreast of new developments and forums in this space join our mailing list to recive meeting notifications go to the regions very own resource at the Far North Queensland Pest Advisory Forum Website www.fnqpaf.com.au.