Projects funded under the Natural Resource Management Expansion Program
More than $43.6 million in funding has been awarded to 14 projects, delivered by 7 regional natural resource management (NRM) organisations, helping protect and restore Queensland's natural landscapes.
Gulf Savannah NRM—Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Ltd
The Improving condition of Native Riparian Vegetation by Tackling the Neem Threat in the Gilbert River Catchment project will target the removal of neem trees, including the removal of an historical need planation, resulting in:
- 100 hectares of improved native riparian vegetation along the Gilbert River
- 1,580 hectares of improved grazing land condition.
The Restoring the ecological value of springs forming part of the groundwater dependent ecosystems of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) project will improve 12 hectares of GAB spring wetlands in the Northern Gulf NRM region by managing feral pigs, cattle, weeds and undertaking revegetation works.
NRM Regions Queensland—Queensland Regional Natural Resource Management Groups Collective Ltd
The Measuring and Communicating our on-ground impact project will:
- develop new and improved methods to monitor and collect evidence-based data to demonstrate the impact of projects
- build on the Queensland Government's investment in the State-wide Indicators Framework (SWIF).
NQ Dry Tropics
The Climate-Ready Coastlines in the Lower Burdekin project will protect coastal and wetland ecosystems by reducing weeds, pests, fire and human impacts. The project will improve:
- 60 hectares of wetland health through the control of aquatic weeds and feral animals
- 10 kilometres of waterway connectivity by the removal of barriers to fish passage
- 20 kilometres of streambank condition through the control of riparian weeds and feral animals
- 58 hectares of native vegetation condition (beach scrub) by reducing direct threats including weeds and feral animals
- 4.8 hectares of coastal zone condition through dune stabilisation works including revegetation and fencing.
The Climate Resilient Rangelands project will support land managers to undertake threat mitigation and better grazing management activities in the Lower Burdekin region to improve the condition of:
- 1,400 hectares of grazing land
- 30 hectares of native vegetation (softwood scrub)
- 20 hectares of wetlands.
The Fighting Invasive Species Together project will support land managers in the Townsville Offshore and Lower Burdekin catchments to improve:
- 26 hectares of native vegetation condition by controlling weeds and feral animals
- 2,000 hectares of vegetation resilience to wildfire through low intensity cultural burns and collaborative fire management planning.
Reef Catchments (Mackay Whitsunday Isaac) Limited
The Cattle Creek – A reach scale approach to riverine restoration project will:
- improve streambank condition along 8 kilometres of Cattle Creek through engineered streambank restoration
- increase native vegetation extent across 8 hectares adjacent to Cattle Creek by revegetating riparian areas with endemic species.
The Improving Koala Habitat and Connectivity in the Mackay Whitsunday Isaac region project will:
- undertake on-ground works to improve the condition and connectivity of 57 hectares of prime koala habitat from Koumala to the Eton ranges.
The Mackay Whitsunday Inshore Resilience project will:
- increase threatened breeding outcomes by supporting the recovery of inshore fringing reef around the Whitsunday Islands, using coral larval reseeding
- improve 1 hectare of coastal wetland health, specifically the Pioneer Bay seagrass meadow, through targeted re-seeding of damaged or fragmented patches of the seagrass meadow.
Southern Queensland Natural Resources Management Ltd.
The Protecting Southern Queensland Waterways through Grazing Management project will:
- improve the condition of 124,500 hectares of land and riparian native vegetation along priority waterways in southern Queensland
- support land managers to design and install fencing and watering points to better manage stock in high value ecological waterways.
The Ensuring Thriving Koala Populations in Southern Queensland project will:
- improve 300 hectares of habitat through enhanced fire management practices
- reduce predation from wild dogs and invasive cactus across 17,000 hectares
- install 12 Koala ‘bridges’ over wild dog exclusion fences to improve connectivity for foraging and breeding.
Terrain NRM—FNQ NRM Ltd
The Green Connections—Regional nature repair for climate resilience project will improve the extent and condition of 75 hectares of threatened ecological communities and native vegetation across the Wet Tropics region.
Fitzroy Basin Association Ltd
The Marine Turtle Guardians project will provide specialist pest management control activities across 295 hectares to support the health and survival of marine turtles that nest and hatch along the Capricorn and Curtis Coasts. The project will also support volunteers to assess and respond to threats during the turtle nesting seasons.
The Nature Positive Fitzroy Farms project will work with land managers in Brigalow Country to improve:
- 10,400 hectares of land and soil condition
- 2,880 hectares of native vegetation
- 2,000 hectares of King Blue Grass (part of a threatened ecological community)
- 2,400 hectares of Koala habitat.