Country to Coast News

Grants cover producers’ training course fees

Queensland producers undertaking courses on dealing with the impacts of climate change can now apply for the reimbursement of costs through the FarmReady Reimbursement Grant Program.

The Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) courses eligible for reimbursement are Better Decisions in the Business of Beef (contact is Bill Holmes, Townsville); and Stocktake (contact is Jane Hamilton, Roma).

The program will provide assistance to primary producers in developing skills and strategies to help them deal with the impacts of climate change.

Through FarmReady, primary producers can receive up to $1,500 each financial year for approved training activities and a further $500 assistance toward travel and accommodation.

Training providers must apply to register their course with FarmReady. Applications will then be assessed to ensure they meet the required criteria. Supported training must focus on at least one of the following key learning areas:

• understanding the implications of climate variability and climate change;
• integration of new techniques, including high-level technical skills, for sustainable production as a result of climate change;
• natural resource planning and adaptive management like planning for sustainable use, integrated catchment management, drought management, fire management, and flood management as a result of climate change;
• farm business management, risk assessment and identification of management options;
• development of research and analytical skills to be applied in primary production enterprise;
• strategic planning and thinking, scenario planning, decision making holistic "whole farm" planning;
• financial management, such as budget preparation, monitoring and reporting, and ability to understand financial statements; and
• human resource management/management of people.

As there are many training providers submitting courses for approval, trainers should apply for course registration at least four weeks prior to scheduling training.

Participants need to seek pre-course approval, at least five days prior to the course date, to be eligible to receive reimbursement.

Senior project officer Karen Fox is coordinating the FarmReady registration process for all Queensland Primary Inudstries and Fisheries training. If you are interested in registering training activities with FarmReady please contact Karen.

For more information contact Karen Fox, Senior Project Officer, Industry Services for Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries on (07) 4631 5379 or Mobile 0428 102 337. Visit www.farmready.gov.au and for the Farmready Guidelines: http://www.farmready.gov.au/training_providers.html

Online survey

An online survey seeking feedback on the Caring for our Country business plan, the targets and the application process is now available online at http://www.nrm.gov.au/ccbpe/

Feedback and suggestions provided in the three questionnaires will be used to inform the development of the 2010-2011 Caring for our Country business plan. The three survey areas are:

• CFOC Investment proposal application form;
• CFOC Business Plan 2009 – 2010; and
• targets.

There is no information on the site about when the survey closes, so if you would like to provide a response it is better to do it sooner rather than later. Visit www.nrm.gov.au for more information.

Public comment invited National Koala Conservation and Management Strategy

People interested in the management of koalas or koala habitats are invited to have their say on the draft National Koala Conservation and Management Strategy 2009-2014.

The strategy will outline the actions required over the next five years to conserve koalas and their habitat. Information gathered through the public comment period will be used to make further updates. The national strategy is being developed jointly by the Commonwealth, states and territories through the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council.

More information and a copy of the draft strategy can be found at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/koala-strategy

Submissions close COB Wednesday August 5, 2009.

Tell Landcare Australia What you Think

The 2009 Landcare and Coastcare groups survey is now open. This annual survey gives landcare and Coastcare groups the opportunity to share their experiences and opinions with Landcare Australia.

The results are kept in mind when shaping new initiatives, funding opportunities and campaigns over the next 12 months. This is a great opportunity for groups to let Landcare Australia know about challenges they're facing, what they're most in need of and what they've been up to recently.

The survey takes around 10 minutes and only needs to be done by one member of each group.

Everyone who completes the survey will go in the draw to win a SONY data projector (VPLEX5). There are also 20 Landcare and 20 Coastcare wide-brim hats available for interested survey participants.

If you're part of a landcare or Coastcare group, click here to take the survey.

Introduction to Evaluation and Program Logic workshop

The Australian Evaulation Society (AES) is running a workshop on Introduction to Evaluating and Planning in Brisbane on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 August at the Park Regis. This two-day workshop, lead by Dr Delwyn Goodrick, will define the core features of and approaches to program evaluation and in particular, the use of program logic and program theory, in shaping evaluation design and methods of data collection and retrieval.

The workshop will benefit anyone who is or expects to be involved in planning, conducting, managing or purchasing evaluations of policies, programs or projects – including graduate students.

Participants will learn about:

• the major types of and approaches to program evaluation;
• the role evaluation can play in effective public policy implementation;
• program logic and program theory, and how they can be used to design and conduct effective evaluations; and
• planning evaluations to address key evaluation questions.

Workshop fees are: $600 AES members & those from non-government not-for-profit organisations, $886 non-members (incl. GST) and there is a 50 per cent discount for full-time students. Lunch, morning and afternoon teas will be provided. A certificate of attendance will be issued to delegates at the end of the workshop.

Workshop places are limited. For enquiries contact the Australian Evaluation Society on (02) 6262 9093, fax (02) 6262 9095 or email: aes@aes.asn.au

Queensland Regional Achievement Awards

The Queensland Regional Achievement Awards close 31 July, 2009. There are categories for business and employment, events and tourism, arts and culture, regional service, environment and landcare, youth leadership and community of the year. Further information is available at www.awardsaustralia.com or by calling 1300 735 445.

Queensland Landcare Awards closed 10 July, 2009. Further information is available at www.qwalc.org.au.

Cane Farm and Reef Set to Benefit

Vince Papale and workshop participants inspect proposed wetland site

The first artificial wetland of its type in the region is set to be developed on a Burdekin cane farm.

The concept was discussed at a recent workshop aimed to bring cane farmers and wetland construction experts together.

NQ Dry Tropics and WetlandCare Australia ran the workshop, which was funded under the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country Reef Rescue initiative.

Nic Cobcroft, a WetlandCare Australia Team Leader, said cane growers Vince and Rita Papale seized the opportunity of funding support to rehabilitate a former wetland, which was a less productive and seasonally wet area of the farm.

“The wetland will help to improve water quality leaving the property and entering the Great Barrier Reef and spoil from the site will be used to boost overall farm productivity,” Nic said.

To read the rest of this article visit the media releases page of NQ Dry Tropics website.

NQ Dry Tropics Welcomes Landcare Announcement

NQ Dry Tropics welcomes a recent move by the Australian Government to continue to fund the national network of local landcare facilitators. This will include one position for the Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM region.

Immediate funding will be provided to NQ Dry Tropics to allow the organisation to once again employ and host a dedicated landcare coordinator, initially until the end of the year.

Seen as critical for engagement of landholders and continued land and water management improvements, the role of the landcare facilitator will be to promote sustainable farming practices to help secure the productivity of agriculture in the face of climate change.

Bob Frazer, Chief Executive Officer of NQ Dry Tropics, said: “we welcome the opportunity to formally recommence hosting and supporting the landcare facilitator role. NQ Dry Tropics as an organisation is well placed to do that as we have a whole of region focus and the role of the landcare facilitator is closely aligned with our core business.”

Click here to read more.

Traditional Owners newsletter hits the stands

The first NQ Dry Tropics Traditional Owner newsletter is out, summing up what the Traditional Owner Management Group and the NQ Dry Tropics Community Engagement team has been up to over the past 12 to 18 months.

NQ Dry Tropics has helped a number of different Traditional Owner Groups develop management plans, conduct workshops and research.

Conservation Volunteers acts on Climate Change

Stuart State School students get their hands dirty planning trees along Stuart Creek

Conservation Volunteers Australia has established the Action for Climate Change program to address the growing concern about climate change and its potential impact on the environment.

The program will educate and empower the community about climate change and idenitfy what individuals can do to reduce their impact on the environment.

This year BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) will support the Action for Climate Change program through their commitment to voluntarily offset the emissions from housing in the township of Dysart.

Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s Norwich Park and Saraji mines will be the main sponsor for the program in central Queensland and they are putting the call out for more community groups and individuals to joint hem.

“BMA is showing leadership in the community and is planting 135,000 native trees, shrubs and grasses in central and northern Queensland and at Conservation Volunteers’ habitat forest in Victoria known as ‘The Island’, said CVA Partnership Manager Kate Dortmans.

The native plantings will deliver positive outcomes to the natural environment and through this partnership we will help educate students about climate change and help them to identify behaviour that contribute to global warming.

In Townsville Conservation Volunteers Australia has been working with Stuart State School planting trees along Stuart Creek, enhancing the riparian zone close to the school. The children get to plant trees and watch them grow as the plantings create habitat and seed banks.

“Teachers are able to develop teaching opportunities around the practical activities and talk about issues such as reducing carbon footprint,” Carolyn Luder, Project officer for Townsville explained.

“It is really exciting to do something positive and practical with the young people so they are optimistic about their future and the future of their immediate environment.”

Commonwealth Bank Staff Community Fund Opens 2009 Community Grants Program

Commonwealth Bank Staff Community Fund recently launched the 2009 Community Grants Program, which will provide over $500,000 in individual grants of up to $10,000 for programs to improve the health and wellbeing of Australian children.

The Community Grants Program is one of the largest grant initiatives in Australia and has contributed over $1.5 million to over 200 charities to fund local community initiatives since 2007.

The Commonwealth Bank Staff Community Fund is Australia’s longest running employee contribution program with 4,000 current and retired Bank staff making regular salary contributions to support children’s charities in Australian communities.

Ms Barbara Chapman, Commonwealth Bank Group Executive and Staff Community Fund Chair said the Community Grants Program is another way that Commonwealth Bank makes a tangible positive impact to the lives of Australians in their communities.

“The Commonwealth Bank is a part of every Australian community. As well as supporting the needs and goals of our customers, we as an organisation support community initiatives ranging from financial literacy, Indigenous programs, sport, welfare, the environment and the arts,” Ms Chapman said.

“The Community Grants Program is just one of three major programs the Staff Community Fund supports, which also includes Clown Doctors and Midnight Basketball.”

Ms Chapman said the Grants have benefited charities from a national to a local level including charities like centr-es for disadvantaged youths, sports clubs, education centres and groups that provide equipment for sick and disabled children.

Applications open 15 June and close 31 July, 2009.

To apply, visit commbank.com.au/communitygrants.

Website sorts native frogs from cane toads

NQ Dry Tropics has developed a website to help residents distinguish native frogs from the exotic cane toad.

NQ Dry Tropics Project Manager, Meredith Anderson said the website, www.frogsnotcanetoads.com.au, was a great way for school students and members of the community to become familiar with the native frogs found in our backyards that look similar to the cane toad.

“Australia has some wonderfully unique biodiversity and frogs are no exception,” Meredith said.

“We have a wide range of native frogs many of which have brown colourings and can at times be mistaken for cane toads.

“While we support the humane control of cane toads, an introduced species to Australia, we urge the community to be certain that they are not harming native frogs by mistake,” she said.

Read the rest of this media release here.

This edition, can be found on our website:
http://www.nqdrytropics.com.au/resources/

Country to Coast News is produced by NQ Dry Tropics and this edition was compiled and edited by Heidi Mangan. Your feedback and contributions are welcome.