Coastal and Marine

Coastcare Grants Announcements

The region has received over $820,000 as part of the federal Government’s Caring for our Country Community Coastcare programme. It brings the total of recently-announced Commonwealth funding to over $5.5 million to deliver natural resource management outcomes in the Burdekin Dry Tropics region, including over $3 million for the Reef Rescue project and almost $2 million in Open Grants funding.

The Community Coastcare grants now form part of the Caring for our Country business plan. Proposals for funding were sought from May to July this year. A focus was placed on projects that would:

• protect and rehabilitate coastal environments and critical aquatic habitats; and
• enhance community skills, knowledge and engagement with Indigenous Australians, volunteers and coastal communities.

Dr Rachel Allan, NQ Dry Tropics Coastal and Marine Programme Coordinator, said that the Communty Coastcare funding will greatly benefit the local region. “The community coastcare grants provide a further boost to our region. It enables us to carry out much needed on-ground natural resource management and enhance the community’s involvement throughout the Burdekin Dry Tropics Coast.”

Commenting on the funding awarded to NQ Dry Tropics, she said the project Empowering the community coastcare movement in the Burdekin Dry Tropics will have a strong community educational aspect as well as help train coastal community groups on how to develop projects, apply for grant funding and implement the projects.

“This project raises the awareness and capacity of the Burdekin Dry Tropics coastal community - specifically volunteer community groups, traditional owner groups, schools and the broader community - to implement future projects. It will also help to understand the significance of migratory shorebirds, and appreciate the relationship traditional owners have with dugong and turtle, which are all issues of national significance.”

Coastal Books are available now!

The publications Coastal Birds of the Burdekin Dry Tropics and Coastal Plants of the Burdekin Dry Tropics are currently available from NQ Dry Tropics.  Please call 4724 3544 to obtain a copy. 

The NQ Dry Tropics plan has several programme areas, including the Coastal and Marine programme which has a number of targets set for the future.

Long-Term Targets

Long-term (approximately 50+ years) targets are valuable in terms of guiding current land and water management planning and provide an important context for setting measurable and achievable targets in the shorter term in the Coastal and Marine Programme. They are:

• By 2050, coastal assests identified and protected from impacts of development and public usage.
• By 2050 there will be a measured improvement in the condition of estuarine, coastal and marine enviroments and water quality stemming from improved practices in the regions catchments.
• By 2050, habitats utilised by marine species of importance to the community will be identified and managed to promote proliferation of those species.
• By 2050 the connectivity between fragmented coastal habitats along with fresh water and marine environments will be re-established.

Medium-Term Targets

Specific and time bound targets to be set for the medium term (10-20 years). They are:

• By 2010, there is effective protection of and improvement in the condition of esturine, coastal and marine assets.
• By 2010 benchmarks for improvement in condition of coastal and marine assets will be established through regular monitoring and review.
• By 2015 coastal ecosystems will have demonstrated an improvement in biodiversity as community structure is enriched by a reduction in threatening processes
• By 2015, habitat degradation and human activities that threaten important marine species will be identified and mitigated.
• By 2025 connectivity between and within fresh water and marine ecosystems will be restored.