Australian National Parks: 2008

Monday, December 8, 2008

Barrington Tops National Park

Barrington Tops National Park

This rugged park is full of contrasts. Carved out of an ancient volcano, it rises from near sea level to over 1500m. In the lower valleys, you'll find World Heritage-listed subtropical rainforests. Up on the plateau, there is subalpine woodland which regularly sees snow in winter.

Most of the area is declared wilderness, and it's a well-known destination for bushwalkers. But the park is accessible even to those with limited mobility. Its excellent track network extends from short, easy walks to steep overnight treks.

The park's varied environments are home to a wide range of plants and animals, and it protects more than 50 rare or threatened species. In this area, many northern and southern plants meet the limit of their range.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Accommodation In Australia

Bunya Mountains National Park

Bunya Mountains National Park
Rising abruptly from the surrounding plains, the cool peaks of the Bunya Mountains reach more than 1100m and offer spectacular mountain scenery and views.

Embracing much of the mountains, 11 700ha Bunya Mountains National Park is best-known for its bunya pines, with their distinctive, dome-shaped crowns. But they’re just one of many plants protected in the park’s rainforests, eucalypt forests and woodlands. High altitude grasslands include rare grasses, and are internationally important.

Birdlife is abundant, with brightly coloured parrots popular visitors to picnic areas. Rare and threatened birds, reptiles and mammals are found in the park.

The Bunyas are also famous as a place where Aboriginal people gathered for seasonal feasts of bunya pine ‘nuts’. Europeans established a pioneer timber industry, relics of which remain today.

Just 90 minutes’ drive from Toowoomba, or three to four hours from Brisbane, Bunya Mountains National Park offers bushwalking, camping, heritage and unique nature.
Things to doPicnic, birdwatch, nature study, take photos.

Visitor facilities
Campgrounds, walking tracks. Picnic areas at Dandabah (electric barbecues), Westcott and Burton’s Well (fireplaces and firewood at both). Bring kindling and a fuel stove in case of wet weather.

Best time to visit

Bunya Mountains is generally cooler than surrounding plains. Night temperatures can fall below freezing in winter, and can be cold even in summer, so bring warm clothing whenever you visit. Summer days can be hot, with temperatures to 30deg. Annual rainfall is about 1050mm.

Best times to visit are generally autumn and spring, when days and nights are moderate — neither very cold nor hot.

In 1908, about 9000 hectares were gazetted as the Bunya Mountains National Park, the second National Park in Queensland. The National Park now covers 11,700 hectares of tall, moist rainforest, natural grasslands, eucalypt forests, woodlands and other dry rainforest communities. Vine thickets, dominated by bottle trees or brigalow and belah can be found on Western slopes.
Bunya Mountains National Park protects the region's bio-diversity, cultural heritage sites as well as its breathtaking natural scenery. Precious bush remnants, lush natural Heritage are permanently preserved in the National Park thanks to the foresight and tenacity of our environment conscious forefathers.

The National Park forms a microcosm for nature and environmental studies. Set in a wilderness location and featuring the largest forest of bunya pines in the world, enthusiasts flock here to study the remarkable variety of rare bird species, flora and fauna.
Climate

Bunya Mountains National Park enjoys a mild climate with an annual rainfall of approximately 1050 mm. Heavy fog and mists are common during extended rain periods. Temperatures range between freezing to about 30° C with low humidity. Early morning and evening temperatures may be quite low so come prepared with warm clothing, even in summer. Temperatures are at least 5 - 7° C cooler than the surrounding plains.

ActivitiesResident National Park Rangers offer various activities during school holidays or on busy weekends. You will enjoy a visit to the Information Centre to obtain walking track maps, rainforest information and a guide to Ranger led activities.

Groups can informally explore the 40km of National Park walking tracks, ranging from 500m to 10km walks.

Alternatively the National Park Rangers may help you with informative talks, guided bushwalks, slide shows and evening spotlighting walks. National Park interpretive officers are highly informed and excellent speakers. Contact No: (07) 4668 3127.

Bunya Forest Encounters group provides an excellent service for staff training sessions or environmental interpretation and educational groups. Contact No: (07) 4668 3020

The Australian Alps National Parks

Stretching from Canberra through the Brindabella Range to the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales and along the Great Divide through eastern Victoria, Australia's alpine and subalpine environments are unique and special."

As a well-watered, snow-clad and mountainous area in a mostly dry and flat continent, the Australian Alps with 1.6 million hectares of protected areas are of great significance.
The parks contain plants and animals found nowhere else, a rich and diverse Aboriginal and European cultural heritage, magnificent outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities and the headwaters of some of Australia's most important rivers.

Victoria's Alpine National Park at 646,000 hectares is the State's largest and protects our highest mountains and varied alpine environments. Extensive snowfields are the primary winter attraction; the warmer months bring stunning wildflower displays and opportunities for bushwalks and four wheel driving. Enjoy varied and beautiful summer wildflowers, and discover a whole range of other plants and animals, all adapted to cope with climatic extremes. The Alpine National Park has the greatest range of flora and fauna of any national park in Victoria
With adjoining national parks in NSW and the ACT, The Alpine National Park forms a protected area that covers almost all of Australia's high country. It's one of eight Australian Alps national parks that are managed co-operatively to ensure that Australia's mainland alpine and sub-alpine environments are protected consistently and that policies and guidelines across State and territory borders are compatible. Australia's Alps are vitally important as a source of water in our dry continent. Most of the major rivers of south-eastern Australia have their sources there.

Things to Do
Skiing and other snow sports entice many thrill seekers to the park in the winter months. Downhill skiing is based at resorts such as Falls Creek and Mount Hotham, alternatively try cross-country skiing, perhaps with snow camping. Walking. From short strolls to the the 655 km Australian Alps Walking Track which traverses the Alps from Walhalla to Canberra.

WARNING: Ensure you are prepared for sudden weather changes on any walk, short or long. For information on walking tracks visit the Australian Alps National Parks website. Cycling. There are many great trails including the challenging Great Alpine Road which runs from Bright to Omeo. Fantastic opportunities for Four-Wheel Driving. NOTE: A number of tracks are closed seasonally to protect the environment. Hunting is permitted in accordance with regulations Fishing. Superb opportunities for river fishing in stunning alpine landscapes. Esp Brown Trout in King and Rose Rivers and at Lake William Hovell. Commercial tour operators offer a variety of activities such as horse riding, canoeing, rafting, rock climbing and mountain biking.

Facilities
Accommodation ranges from bush camping to lodges and motels in surrounding towns, and in the adjacent ski resorts of Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buller and Dinner Plain.Facilities at picnic spots are generally limited to fireplaces, picnic tables, and in some cases toilets. Be self-sufficient with drinking water. Carry it in and/or know how to make untreated water safe for drinking. For more information contact Parks Victoria on 13 1963 or visit the Department of Human Services Better Health website http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/.

Heritage
Aboriginal people went to and through the Alpine area over thousands of years, and knew its flora, fauna, geography and seasonal changes intimately. Groups visited the Alps in summer to hold ceremonies and gather the nutritious Bogong Moths that shelter there. Today, Aboriginal communities in Victoria, NSW and the ACT take a particular interest in the management and heritage of the high country. Much more of the Alps’ Aboriginal heritage was revealed by the fires of 2003 and archaeological surveys were carried out in the following year.

European pastoralists from NSW started moving south into the Alps in the 1830s. Grazing began around Omeo in 1836, and runs were taken up in the foothills. Summer grazing soon extended to the higher country, and huts were built there for shelter and storage during stock mustering. You can experience this history by visiting the cattlemen's huts dotted along the high plains or the ruins of Wonnangatta Station (home of the pioneer Bryce family for many years). Wallaces Hut near Falls Creek, built in 1889, is one of the oldest surviving huts in the area. Sadly many huts and other heritage sites were burnt in the fires of 2003.

From the 1850s to around 1900, gold lured many people to the Alps. Relics can still be seen in Historic Areas adjacent to the park, and towns like Dargo, Harrietville, Mitta Mitta, Omeo and Bright have strong links to the gold era.

The 1939 bushfires in the forests around Melbourne and the boom in house-building after World War II led to a greatly increased demand for timber from the Alps. This resulted in the building of a network of roads that helped open the Alps to visitors. Today tourism is one of the most important activities in the Alpine area.

The fires of December 2006-January 2007 have resulted in further heritage loss. Surveys and restoration works are under way or planned.

Aboriginal Traditional OwnersParks Victoria acknowledges the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Victoria - including its parks and reserves. Through their cultural traditions, the Bidawal, Dhudhuroa, Gunai - Kurnai and Nindi-Ngudjam Ngarigu Monero identify the Alpine National Park as their Traditional Country.Further information is available from Aboriginal Affairs Victoria AAV and Native Title Services Victoria .

Fauna
The park supports a wide diversity of animals, including threatened species such as the Smoky Mouse, Broad-toothed Rat, Powerful Owl, Spotted Tree Frog and She-oak Skink.
The rare Mountain Pygmy-possum, the world's only exclusively alpine marsupial and the only marsupial that stores food to last throughout the winter, lives on isolated rocky slopes covered with heathland. This specialised habitat is only found in a few places within the Victorian and New South Wales Alps.

Bogong Moths are interesting insects inhabiting the Bogong and Dargo high plains and peaks between November and April, away from the heat of the inland plains. They shelter in rock crevices and provide food for Mountain Pygmy-possums and Little Ravens.

Vegetation
More than 1100 native plant species are found in the park, many of these specially adapted to survive the severe winter climate. Twelve species, including the Bogong Daisy-bush and Silky Daisy, are found nowhere else in the world.
Mature Alpine Ash forests are common as you go up the mountains, and Snow Gums are the predominant eucalypts in the woodlands around the snowline.
In higher exposed areas where conditions are too severe for trees, the vegetation changes to heathlands, alpine herbfields and grasslands, mossbeds and snowpatch communities.

Bald Rock National Park

Bald Rock National Park is located in the Northern Tablelands adjacent to the Queensland Border. The entrance is 29 km north east of Tenterfield along the Mt Lindesay Road. Bald Rock is the main feature of the Park. This magnificent dome is 750m long and 500m wide, rising 200m above the surrounding forest and is the largest exposed granite type rock in Australia.The rock is not a true granite, being classified as Stanthorpe Adamellite, it is of Lower Triassic age showing marked phases in mineralogy and texture. Resultant soils are generally poor and sandy.Together with the adjoining Girraween National Park in Queensland and Boonoo Boonoo National Park to the east, the region preserves land with magnificent recreational and conservation value.

WALKS

The Bungoona Walk of 2.5km leads you gently through interesting bush and huge boulders to the summit. Follow the signs and white markings back down the sloping rock face for a more direct descent. The climb rewards the visitor with a full 360 degree view of the granite dotted landscape and to the north east, the volcanic plugs of the McPherson Range and the upper Clarence River. The sense of exposure on the saddle of Bald Rock, the view from the 1277m summit and the ever changing colours of the rock wall make it an unforgettable experience.ACCESSA gravel access road of 5km runs from the Mt Lindesay Road to the Rest Area and Camping Area north of the Rock. Tables, cooking galley, rubbish pits, pit toilets, fire places and water are provided.

WILDLIFE

Run-off from the large area of bare rock produces a high moisture level to the bush immediately around the base. This in turn produces an area of Wet Sclerophyll forest, whereas the remainder is dry Sclerophyll forest. In addition there are heaths on the rock & hanging swamps in lower areas. Residents include the Swamp, Red Neck and Black Striped Wallabies, Eastern Grey Forester Kangaroo and the Wallaroo. Various large possums, including the Greater Grey Glider may be spotted at night. Koalas, Wombats and Dingoes have been seen. The Lyre Bird and Satin Bower Bird are regularly observed.

ACTIVITIES

Bald Rock itself and the many geomorphological features of the Park offer a challenge to nature photographers. Just how do you capture their impact and grandeur? The translucent new growth of the leaves in summer, the gold of autumn and winter, the misty rain, the dew drops on the grass and Casuarinas - it is all here waiting.Exploring Bald Rock and its surrounds can be a unique and enjoyable experience as there are so many interesting features for naturalists. However, as no other walks are marked, a map and compass should be used to ensure safety. The rocks may be slippery after rain or snow and in the mornings - especially in winter. Suitable rubber soled footwear should always be worn when clambering over the rock outcrops.With care, much of Bald Rock can be explored and this is a truly unique experience walking over the steep, exposed rock surface high above the countryside. Clusters of boulders, canyons, wonderful echo points, caves, beautiful and fascinating plant communities are just some of the things to be found by the curious walker.

South Bald Rock, 5km south of Bald Rock, although not so grand, is said by many to be even more interesting. It can be reached by taking the marked track from the Rest Area. Allow a day for an easy walk and plenty of time to explore.MAPSHema Maps produce a 1:33,000 topographical map of the area titled Girraween, Bald Rock National Park including Boonoo Boonoo National Park. This is an excellent and current map and is available at the Tenterfield Visitors Centre. For more information on this area please visit Granite Belt Tourist Association
GUIDING SERVICES
A highly recommended way to see both Bald Rock and Boonoo Boonoo National Parks in the one day is to relax and let Woollool Woollool Aboriginal Culture Tours look after you. The Aboriginal guides provide comfortable air conditioned transport, commentary on the White and Aboriginal history, bush tucker and natural history of the area. Lunch provided. Bookings through Tenterfield Visitors Centre or your accommodation.

Accommodation is available in Tenterfield, to the south, or in Liston, to the north of Bald Rock. Information is available from the Tenterfield Visitors Centre.

Bald Rock National Park is a national park in northern New South Wales, Australia, just north of Tenterfield on the Queensland border. On the other side of the border the national park continues as the Girraween National Park.

The park is named after its most prominent feature, Bald Rock, which is a large granite outcrop rising about 200 metres above the surrounding landscape. Access to the rock is provided by a sealed road into the park and walking tracks to the summit. Two tracks are marked, a steep one up the exposed face, or an easier gradient through bushland around the back. The summit offers panoramic views of the surrounding bushland, but vegetation on top prevents a full 360° view.

The park is in the New England granite belt, where about 220 million years ago an episode of granite magmatism resulted in the intrusion of the Stanthorpe Adamellite into the surrounding metamorphic and sedimentary rock. Subsequent uplift and erosion of the New England Fold Belt has seen the majority of the surrounding sediments and metamorphic rocks eroded away, with the Stanthorpe Adamellite remaining due to its resistance to weathering.

This regolith has created a landscape with many exposed inselbergs of granite rocks, some balancing on top of each other, or forming natural arches. The walking track going up the back of Bald Rock leads through such an arch.

Just off the road beside the park is Thunderbolt's Hideout, a set of caves and overhanging granite rocks. It was thought to have been used by bushranger Captain Thunderbolt

Red Centre Way among top Australia attractions

The Red Centre Way is a road network linking Alice Springs, through the West MacDonnell Ranges, to Uluru in Central Australia. [AAP]Also Of Interest:
The "Red Centre Way" in central Australia has been identified as one of the nation's top tourist attractions.

Tourism and industry representatives are meeting in the central Australian town of Alice Springs to identify 15 of Australia's best experiences.

Parks Australia says infrastructure improvements around the Red Centre Way has helped it find a place in the top places to visit, which also includes Kakadu National Park.
Parks Australia project officer Bruce Leaver praised investment in the Red Centre Way from Australia's Northern Territory.

"The investment that the government's been putting into upgrading and presenting and marketing the Red Centre Way goes a long way to presenting this show piece to the world," he said.

"It's up there with Arizona, the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, and the north African mountains, so it's one of the world's top desert mountain systems - and as a tourist attraction that's extremely valuable."
The top 15 attractions will form the basis of an international marketing campaign aimed at attracting more tourists to Australia.

Northern Tablelands Discovery program

Discovery coorindator Rebecca Smith getting gear ready for the overnight camp at the Carrai Plateau next week

Want to get away from it all during the school holidays? If you have a four-wheel drive, then the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has something that might be just what you are looking for.As part of the Northern Tablelands Discovery program, the NPWS is organising a four-wheel drive tag-along tour to the remote Carrai Plateau, east of Walcha.

“Even though the Carrai is only 80km away as the crow flies, it takes more than four hours to get there from Walcha, passing through five different National Parks,” Discovery coordinator Bec Smith said.

“The tour will visit historic places such as Youdales Hut on Kunderang Brook, old mill villages such as Kookaburra and Daisy Plains and take in spectacular lookouts such as Mary’s View and Hoppy’s Lookout.

“The drive also passes through the only patch of cool temperate Antarctic Beech rainforest within Oxley Wild Rivers National Park - a relic of when Australia was part of the super-continent Gondwana.”

The catered tour includes an overnight camp at Daisy Plains Huts. Each car will need to bring overnight camping equipment and all personal effects. Numbers are limited to six vehicles, and each vehicle needs to have low-range gearbox.

The overnight camp will be on Tuesday night - with the tour leaving Armidale that day and returning to the city late on Wednesday.

This tour has never been run in the region before. Discovery rangers will be looking after the 4WDrivers very well, by providing a barbecue dinner, plus bush breakfast and lunch.
Anyone wishing to be involved in the tour is asked to contact the Northern Tablelands Region office in Armidale, phone 6776-0000

National Parks Association conference in Sydney

Australia's historic network of travelling stock routes is facing an uncertain future, as money for their maintenance runs out and farmers over-graze them.
A National Parks Association conference in Sydney has heard the Queensland Government is considering long-term leases for some inactive routes, while the New South Wales Government is discussing plans to sell off parts of its network to raise funds.
Ecologist Bob Sutherst, from the University of Queensland, says neither state government is charging enough to use the routes, which will ultimately destroy them for future generations.
"The current income from grazing stock is just insufficient to cover the costs," he says.
"The figure we've heard is, in Queensland, the travelling stock rates are about one cent per animal per day.
"There's talk about getting up to something like 20 cents per animal but that's still far less than NSW currently charges and that, in itself, is even less than normal commercial rates."

Friday, April 4, 2008

National Parks to increase 50% with eco fund

Queensland will increase its National Park estate by 50% by 2020 and the area under this protection will rise from almost 7.6 million hectares to around 12 million hectares, Premier Anna Bligh said today.

Ms Bligh announced the expansion while attending National Park centenary celebrations at Queensland’s first National park, Witches Falls.

The expansion will be paid for by an 'Australian-first' green fund, Eco Fund Queensland.
“This fund will mean we’re going to expand our National Parks by 50% by 2020 – reaching a target of 12 million hectares by 2020 – that’s almost two Tasmania's or the size of North Korea.
The total area under conservation tenure will grow from 8.3 million hectares to 20 million hectares – the size of Scotland and England combined.

“Eco Fund Queensland will allow the government, companies and in time even interstate and overseas entities to invest in it - while at the same time securing the benefit of adding to Queensland’s conservation areas.

Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara said that the Fund would work in two ways.

“First there is a current need for developments to avoid or minimise environmental impacts.
“This requirement will remain, however increasingly some environmental impacts are unavoidable, particularly with major infrastructure works.

“In such cases proponents of these developments will now be able to approach the new Eco Fund Queensland. This is only after all other measures to avoid and mitigate impacts have been taken. Then the remaining impacts can be off-set by a financial contribution to the Fund.
“Eco Fund Qld will then professionally identify and secure an appropriate off-set on their behalf – many of which will make their way into national parks and the protected area estate.
“Secondly, government, industry, and in time, interstate and overseas entities will be able to approach Eco Fund Qld in order to off-set their greenhouse emissions.

“The funds these organisations contribute will be used to secure accredited carbon off-sets within the State. Eco Fund will also manage the Government’s carbon offset plans.”
The Premier said in this term the State Government had already allocated $65 million to buy more protected areas.

“And just yesterday, we gazetted another 24,528 hectares of National Park, significantly increasing the area of Culgoa Floodplain and Bribie Island National Parks.
“Queensland has 282 national parks, covering almost 7.6 million hectares from desert to rainforest to reef and we want more. Future generations will thank us for our foresight and planning.”

Ms Bligh also announced this morning that her Government will freshen up the image of Witches Falls, and all of Queensland’s National Parks, with an extra $643,000 for a three-component campaign to encourage more people to come and enjoy our great parks.
“I’m pleased to announce that my Government will invest an extra $643,000 in promoting our National Parks, over the next seven months to October.

“Combined with the $1.26 million currently being spent, we’re investing almost $2 million to promote our parks to local, interstate and overseas visitors.

The new promotional campaign will be run by Tourism Queensland, which will invest a total of $490,000, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which will contribute $150,000.
The campaign will:

1. highlight the great natural adventures to be enjoyed in our Parks, to New South Wales and Victorian residents.
2. produce a half-hour television documentary to be aired in July to celebrate 100 years of our National Parks.
3. undertake an online campaign, (through September and October), aimed at encouraging Queenslanders to enjoy our National Parks during Spring, including a promotional DVD

Double Qld national parks, says WWF

A key conservation group has called on the Queensland government to double the amount of land declared national parks.

WWF Australia on Friday marked the centenary of the declaration of Queensland's first national park by calling for a doubling in parks to cope with their burgeoning number of visitors.
Dr Martin Taylor, protected areas policy manager with WWF Australia, said the organisation had estimated GST revenue from national park visitors' spending outstripped actual state investment in them by about $185 million a year.

"Parks visitation is growing at over eight per cent a year and trying to pack more visitors into the same parks can only kill the goose that laid the golden egg," Dr Taylor said.
"Doubling our national parks should be top of the list in Queensland's tourism and economic development strategies and would be a fitting way to celebrate this, the centenary year of national parks in Queensland.

"Far from being a money sink, national parks are economic powerhouses hitting well above their weight."

He said the state government should be reinvesting more tourism revenue in building and maintaining the park system, the most important asset of the tourism industry.
The first national park in Queensland was declared at Witches Falls at Mount Tamborine on the Gold Coast hinterland on March 28, 1908.

But a recent WWF report had found the state still had the lowest percentage of land area in national parks and nature reserves of all the states and territories.

WWF estimated around $14.5 billion was spent in Australia on holidays by domestic and international visitors to parks and nature reserves in 2006-07.

This represented about $1.45 billion in GST revenue, 20.5 per cent or about $296 million of which would have gone into the Queensland Treasury's coffers in that year, Dr Taylor said.
"However, in the same year Queensland invested $34.6 million in acquisitions and $76 million on parks management, in total about $185 million less than the GST from spending by visitors to parks," Dr Taylor said.

Revenue from tourism only represented a small part of the total social and economic value of parks, he said.

"The primary value of parks is the protection of Queensland's irreplaceable native wildlife and plants," he said.
Public events to celebrate the centenary will be held at Witches Falls.

The Great Barrier Reef and Beyond

The Great Barrier Reef and Beyond

Great Barrier Marine Park Authority/Reuters

new_york_times :http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/travel/26greatbarrier.html

By JONATHAN GLATER

EVERY morning, starting around 7, small groups of sleepy tourists toting towels and oddly shaped nylon satchels appear on the beachfront main street in the small town of Palm Cove on Australia’s northeast coast. This is the mundane beginning of a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

Buses and minivans drop visitors off at boats of all types: sleek hydrofoils, battered fishing boats and sailboats loaded down with Champagne for the ride over the warm Pacific waves to the reef. The trip, from winding shoreline bus ride to a jump in the water, can take two hours or more.
Once you are in the water, though, the rewards are immediate: multicolored fish, sea turtles, a pair of reef sharks effortlessly patrolling above the coral and a stingray gliding above the sand on invisible currents.

There are plenty of companies that operate boats out to the reef, at all levels of luxury. At upscale hotels like the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Hotel or the Sea Temple Resort & Spa in Palm Cove, the concierge will arrange early-morning pickups. Most tour operators provide some kind of lunch and will rent scuba or snorkel gear, including wetsuits.
On a visit to Australia last June, my wife, Jen, and I went with Poseidon, a Port Douglas-based tour operator recommended by our hotel, the Sebel Reef House & Spa in Palm Cove. After a comfortable 45-minute bus ride up the coast to Port Douglas, we boarded a 58-foot powerboat that would ferry us to the outer edge of the reef, an area known as Agincourt Ribbon Reefs.
On the boat ride, which was only occasionally bumpy, our chipper and irreverent guides (after all, they were Australian) provided a refresher course on scuba diving, then taught us hand signals to identify the sea creatures we might see: two hands linked at the thumbs and fluttering meant a ray, a hand vertical at the forehead was a shark, a hand at the forehead coupled with a thrust of the hips meant a very big shark, and so on.

Those who, like Jen, chose not to dive, even though the scuba leaders offered to take even first-timers underwater, strapped on fins and masks and swam on the surface, following another guide who pointed out sea turtles and various fish.
Although the reef may be the primary attraction for tourists visiting this part of Australia, there are others. After a full day out on the water and the bus ride back to the hotel, sitting with a cocktail overlooking the beach is a pleasant indulgence. In Palm Cove, about 20 nautical miles from the nearest reef, the NuNu offers a tasty vanilla ginger mojito and a Bellagio, made with Pimm’s No. 1, Campari, raspberry liqueur, Aperol and a little passion fruit. The food was pretty good, too, especially the tiger shrimp with spiced lentils.

There are several good restaurants up and down the coast, from Cairns where the big jets land from Sydney, Melbourne and other parts of Australia, up to Port Douglas, the harbor our diving trip had departed from. In Palm Cove, the restaurant at the Sebel Reef House offers an excellent sea scallop risotto. and, down the street opposite the beach, Casmar has a slightly more eclectic menu that includes dishes like seared baby octopus and chili salt squid. Sitting on the balcony over the street at Casmar and watching the sunset after a day of adventures was a fine way to wrap things up.

A stroll inland from Palm Cove’s oceanfront main drag, up and along the Captain Cook Highway, took us past the Outback Opal Mine, a self-styled museum and store selling all varieties of opals.
This part of Australia is also known for its high rain forests, both up the coast and inland from Port Douglas. We spent a day visiting parts of the rain forest in the Wooroonooran National Park, including the lovely Josephine Falls, with Sergio Simoncini, our guide from Wooroonooran Safaris.

The rain forest wraps around hills that are often shrouded in low clouds, and the trees grow close and thick. While the coast is warm and breezy, the air inland is thick, more humid, hanging heavy over the lush greenery. Were it not for the trails through the park, the rain forest would be an uninviting place. And we were glad of the insect repellant our guide provided.
Mr. Simoncini also took us to the Johnstone River Crocodile Farm, where we saw dozens of animals destined to become boots, as well as a few larger crocs locked up after they had attacked cattle or, in one case, a person. Fearless kangaroos and their slightly smaller relatives, wallabies, hopped up to us, hoping for handouts, as we wandered around the farm.

Nambung National Park

The Pinnacles is contained within Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes, Western Australia. Contrary to the title of this article the Pinnacles are not called "the Pinnacles desert". The Pinnacles are limestone formations. The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime rich sands which were carried inland to form high mobile dunes. The Pinnacles were formed from lime leaching from the sand and by rain cementing the lower levels of the dune into a soft limestone. Vegetation forms an acidic layer of soil and humus. A hard cap of calcrete develops above the softer limestone. Cracks in the calcrete are exploited by plant roots. The softer limestone continues to dissolve. Quartz sand fills the channels that form. Vegetation dies and winds blow away the sand covering the eroded limestone, thus revealing the Pinnacles.
The base material for the limestone came from sea shells which were broken-down into lime-rich sand. This sand was then blown inland by natural wind pattens, forming high sand dunes.

Rain caused the lime to seep to the bottom of the dunes, where it stuck together and formed limestone. Small plants began growing on top of the dunes, protecting the dunes from being blown away again by the wind. This also helped to create an acidic layer of soil over the top of the dune, which further contributed to the leaching of the lime from the soil. A layer of calcrete formed over the soft limestone under the dunes. Small cracks in this hard layer allowed plants to send down deeper roots, which had the side-effect of allowing water to flow in also, gradually eroding the soft limestone beneath. This was replaced by quartz sand from the dune above. This continued until only columns of limestone that sat protected from the encroaching water remained. These columns were exposed when the vegetation on top of the dune died, allowing the wind to blow away the dune and sand between from between them.

Global Warming Holds New Threats For Australian Wildlife

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2008) — Climate change is likely to transform many of Australia's natural landscapes. A new report, Implications of Climate Change for the National Reserve System, was prepared for the Federal Government in Australia, and released April 1 by the Environment Minister Peter Garrett. Report author Dr Michael Dunlop says climate change is forcing environmental scientists to rethink their approach.

Temperatures over Australia are projected to rise by about 1 ºC by 2030, and 1.8 ºC by 2070, relative to 1990 levels.

“Traditionally, conservation has focused on preventing change or restoring landscapes toward a pre-European state, but we now have to accept that change is inevitable, and it’s happening quite fast,” he says.

“Some animals and plants will be found in places where they’ve never been seen before, and others will disappear from areas where they were once common, and for many regions the look, sound, and smell of the landscapes we are familiar with will gradually change.”

The report confirms that Australia’s 9,000 protected areas are critical for nature conservation in a warming world, but Dr Dunlop says new protected areas will also be needed.

“There’s a lot we don’t yet understand, but we know more species will have a greater chance to adapt and survive if we protect:

as many different types of habitat as possible;
larger areas of habitat; and
locations that have historically provided a refuge for biodiversity during times of climatic stress.
National Park rangers and local conservationists will be on the front line in helping nature adapt to climate change, and Dr Dunlop warns they may be up against some new and worsening threats.

“For example: it will be harder to provide enough water at the right times to maintain wetlands; mangrove systems will be squeezed between urban areas and rising sea levels; and more frequent, intense fires may turn some forests to woodland, and some woodland to grasslands.
“We need to be vigilant against new exotic weeds and pests that will benefit from changing climates.

“One increasing challenge will be deciding how to respond when native species turn up in new areas and threaten local species,” he says.

Lifeline urged for threatened species

VICTORIA'S devastated ecosystems would be patched up and reconnected under a plan to give threatened species a better chance of surviving the worst predictions of climate change.
With the Brumby Government preparing to launch its blueprint for managing the state's ecology for the next 20 to 50 years, an alliance of eight environment groups is urging a tenfold rise in funding to avert a biodiversity crisis.

Victoria is the most cleared state in the country, with only about 30% of pre-development bushland areas left. According to the CSIRO, about a third of animal species and nearly half of plant species are extinct or under threat.

The Victoria Naturally alliance said the state had pockets of bushland where species were isolated, leaving them prone to pest invasion and with little chance to migrate should rising temperatures alter their habitat. Scientists predict temperature rises of between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees this century.

Re-linking tracts of bushland has already begun in the state's west, where Greening Australia is leading a bid to connect 500 kilometres from Murray-Sunset National Park in the north to Portland in the south.

Victoria Naturally project leader Carrie Deutsch called on the Government to set targets to cut the number of threatened species by protecting existing native bushland and planting networks of wildlife corridors.
She urged a funding boost to buy and protect bushland.

"Victorian communities have proved ourselves as leaders in land care for 40 years but now we're in terrible decline — we need leadership with a capital L," she said.
Threatened species include the orange-bellied parrot in coastal forests, Leadbeater's possum in mountain country and the brolga in red gum wetlands.

Deakin University ecologist Associate Professor Andrew Bennett said the biodiversity paper was the Government's opportunity to be visionary, re-connecting habitats but also boosting long-term monitoring of ecosystems, possibly through a new government agency.
The 500-kilometre western Victoria plan, the largest environment restoration project ever attempted in Victoria, recently won $500,000 backing from Supply Energy to buy its first property to re-vegetate.

Environment Minister Gavin Jennings yesterday said the Government had already committed $14 million towards improving ecosystems on private land through the EcoTender program.

Kangaroos on defence lands - paralysis in the face of crisis

The vexed issue of how to manage our eastern grey kangaroos is a recurrent one, and has come to prominence again now because of the impact of over-grazing of native lowland grasslands on some of our endangered species. Kangaroo culling is a highly emotive issue, and one likely to attract not only national but international interest because of animal welfare and animal rights concerns. At the other end of the spectrum, we have some pressing conservation issues where intervention of some form is necessary if we are to maintain the important values of these grassland remnants. Intervention to achieve conservation objectives requires an evidential approach drawing upon the best available science, in addition to broader perspectives. Both the kangaroos and the endangered grassland communities are caught up in a very unconstructive tussle between those with responsibility to manage our natural environment and vocal elements of the broader community citing animal ethics concerns. Inaction and delay on this important conservation issue may result in local extinctions of some of our most valued conservation icons, including the endangered grassland earless dragon.

The Australian Capital Territory has an enviable record for conservation. Canberra is dissected by Canberra Nature Park, home to all manner of native wildlife with all the wonderful and complex interactions that go into making natural vibrant ecosystems. However, these natural ecosystems are embedded in a highly modified environment, often suburbia. Active management is required if their values are to be retained. Some of these ecosystems are endangered nationally, and Canberrans have a special duty to care for them.

Lowland temperate native grasslands are one such endangered ecosystem. Less than 1 per cent of the original grasslands remain intact nationally. Those species of grass and herb that make up the grassland communities, and those animals that depend exclusively on the grasslands, are all in danger of extinction. The ACT is blessed with some of the finest examples of these grasslands.
They are home to the pink-tailed legless lizard, the grassland earless dragon, the striped legless lizard, the golden sun moth, the Perunga grasshopper, and the button wrinklewort daisy, all endangered, all on the edge. The earless dragon is now extinct in Victoria and lost from most of their former range in NSW. The ACT is the last stronghold for this dragon, indeed for many of these species. Yet these endangered species and ecosystems continue to suffer from the tyranny of a thousand cuts.

That the lowland grasslands and other endangered ecosystems have persisted at all in the ACT is testimony to the commitment of present and past governments, who have forgone substantial revenue in Gungahlin and elsewhere to meet the often conflicting needs of development and conservation. The ACT community has invested heavily in building the scientific capacity to respond to conservation threats and to incorporate scientific understanding into planning. It has invested in expert committees to advise on these matters, and in developing codes of best practice for implementing the decisions. ACT governments have strategically invested many taxpayer dollars in building a credible Wildlife Research and Monitoring Unit capable of assembling and evaluating the necessary scientific evidence and devising the best means of dealing with the Kangaroo problem.

The ACT community has the right to expect a return on these investments, by the use of these available scientific mechanisms to resolve appropriate problems – such as the one we are faced with today. However, the ACT is a complex jurisdiction, and constructive interaction between Territory and Commonwealth governments is often needed to make necessary planning and management decisions. Sadly, these interactions have not always been constructive.
The Department of Defence is one of the largest landholders in Australia, and takes its responsibilities for conservation on its lands seriously. Indeed, we can thank them for the very existence of those special places such as Booderee National Park. Some of our best remnants of lowland native grasslands are on Defence lands, but they have been reduced to dust by over-grazing by kangaroos. These grasslands are now denied the opportunity to recover following our recent rains. Until the construction of a fence at great public expense, the endangered species in these grasslands at Majura faced decimation. At the Belconnen Naval Site, the kangaroo population and its grassland food resource at Belconnen faces imminent collapse, with 500 kangaroos occupying an area more suited to supporting 100, and that population grows each year. The problem of overgrazing of our native grasslands on these Defence lands is now urgent and requires an immediate response.

The decision on whether to cull or not to cull kangaroos is a difficult one, and the proposed cull in the ACT is now attracting national and international attention. However, we should demand that Defence acknowledge the duty of care the ACT community has over its flora and fauna, whether or not they be on public or private lands, and the processes the government and community groups such as the RSPCA have in place for making decisions on what needs to be done. Defence needs to draw upon the best available qualified expertise for advice, to seek the necessary approvals to act in a way that is consistent with established codes of practice, and to take the necessary action. The advice has been sought and provided, the way forward is clear, and the approvals are in place. But there is no action.

What we have seen instead is the commissioning of a proposal from a group of animal welfare advocates who, notwithstanding their role and the very valuable work they do in the care and rehabilitation of animals, are struggling to provide advice on a scope well beyond their expertise. They are advocating translocation of surplus kangaroos from the Belconnen site to NSW, an ongoing commitment to an approach that is unproven for the numbers of kangaroos involved. They formerly advocated that we do nothing at all at the Majura site. And Defence is listening! We have seen a delay of six months beyond the last Spring and early Summer window of opportunity while Defence “explores all options as part of longer term strategy”. This can only be regarded as grossly irresponsible.

Where is that clarity of purpose, that decisiveness, that focus on outcomes that is the hallmark of Defence? The fencing of Majura grassland to exclude kangaroos is a welcome reprieve, but not part of a long term solution for these grasslands which rely upon some measure of kangaroo grazing to maintain diversity. The decision to take action at the Belconnen Naval Site is also welcome, as the issues at this fully-fenced site are more complex. Those with an interest in the conservation of our remnant native grasslands and the endangered species they support hope Defence has the resolve to act.

Govt to pump $180m into nature reserves

The federal government has committed $180 million towards expanding national parks and reserves through partnerships with landholders and conservation groups.
The funding over five years for the Nature Reserve System will be matched by at least $90 million from the private sector and other stakeholders, federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.

He said the move, under the Caring for Our Country program, would help protect native species from the effects of climate change.

The announcement coincided with a CSIRO report calling for new protected areas to conserve ecosystems threatened by global warming.
Mr Garrett said priority areas included northern Australia's sub-tropical savannah from Cape York to the Kimberley, the Mitchell grass country of north-west Queensland and arid central Australia.

"(The funding) means we'll have a much better protection of the biodiversity that's in our parks and reserves which is so necessary in the face of climate change," Mr Garrett told reporters at Namadgi National Park in the ACT.

"It recognises what scientists, conservationists, park managers, farmers and Aboriginal people have been saying to us for some time."
The minister said it will also help protect the tourism industry by safeguarding both landscapes and native species.

The existing reserve system includes more than 9,000 protected areas made up of national parks, indigenous lands and reserves run by conservation groups through to ecosystems protected by farmers on their properties.

More than 89 million hectares are now protected - about 11 per cent of the continent.
New areas would be added through acquisition or a covenant in which the landholder committed to preserving bushland.

Conservation groups said the announcement represented a four- to five-fold increase in federal spending.

"You can do a lot with that kind of money because it's a partnership arrangement," WWF policy manager protected areas Martin Taylor told reporters.
However, Mr Taylor said the cost of managing reserves to state and territory governments dwarfed the price of acquiring them.

Australian Conservation Foundation health ecosystems program manager Paul Sinclair said until now the government had spent comparatively little on preserving the nation's wetlands, woodlands and grasslands.

"These places shape us as a country and we have an obligation to protect them," Dr Sinclair said.
The CSIRO report, Implications of Climate Change for the National Reserve System, says as many different types of habitats as possible across larger areas need to be protected.
In doing so, report author Michael Dunlop said environmental scientists would be forced to rethink their approach.

"Traditionally, conservation has focused on preventing change or restoring landscapes toward a pre-European state, but we now have to accept that change is inevitable, and it's happening quite fast," Dr Dunlop said.

"Some animals and plants will be found in places where they've never been seen before, and others will disappear from areas where they were once common, and for many regions the look, sound, and smell of the landscapes we are familiar with will gradually change."
In response, the government has committed $250,000 to identify climate change refuges for native plants and animals.

The project will be funded out of the $126 million Climate Change Adaptation Program.

Rare animals battling extinction threat

Rare animals battling extinction threat
By Bronwen Kiely
Posted Wed Apr 2, 2008 8:36am AEDT Updated Wed Apr 2, 2008 9:17am AEDT

The brush-tailed rock wallaby is one of many Australian species under threat. Since European settlement two centuries ago, Australia has lost almost a third of its unique mammal species.
Major causes like habitat loss, foxes and feral cats are well known. But now there's a new threat that some experts argue is the most dangerous of all: climate change.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett has pledged to spend almost $200 million creating reserves for endangered species.

Deborah Ashworth, from New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife, says brush-tailed rock wallabies used to be abundant all the way from southern Queensland through to Victoria.
"In the early 1900s they were hunted for their fur and they were declared vermin and agricultural pest and hundreds and thousands of them were killed," she said.
The hunters are long gone but with only a few thousand of these wallabies left, the threat of extinction remains.

Zoologist Tammie Matson, from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), says Australia has the worst rate of mammal extinction in the world.

"We're pretty good at cricket and swimming and sports and a lot of things in Australia but we're also really good at killing our mammals, and that's something not to be so proud of," she said.
Ms Matson is heading a WWF push to educate Australians about this woeful record by compiling a top 10 list of species under threat.

"When you get to the point where you're saying right, we can't save everything, this problem is so bad, I think that really shows just how bad the crisis is," she said.
The list includes the recently discovered snubfin dolphin, the tree kangaroo, and the northern quoll.

Deep in the bush near Eumundi in south-east Queensland Wildlife Queensland's Scott Burnett is on a quest for quolls, possum-like creatures that are highly endangered.
"In southern Queensland I found that quolls are hard to find. They're almost the same sort of status as Tasmanian tigers," he said.

This animal detective is setting camera traps hoping to snare a prized shot of a northern quoll.
"There's numerous rumours and sightings that are made but apart from this one skeleton that came from this property here, there's been no physical evidence of them here for the last 50 or 60 years," he said.

"So we're trying to just verify whether they do persist here because if they do it's a very significant population."

The film comes back with plenty of exotic and not so exotic locals, 149 of them, but sadly not a single quoll.

"Undoubtedly there's many more extinctions waiting to happen," he said.
"We really need to take drastic action soon if we're going to prevent those extinctions."
Under threat

It's not just rhetoric. In the past 200 years Australia has driven 27 of its mammals species to extinction. That's nearly half of all the mammals killed off worldwide in the last 500 years. Ninety-one of our remaining species are under threat; four are on the verge of extinction right now.

If we are complacent, they too will become museum curiosities, frozen in time. A mundane metal cupboard in the bowels of the Australian Museum is a last resting place for lost mammals.
The museum's Sandy Ingleby says the last known mammal extinction was the thylacine in 1936.
"There haven't been any recent waves of extinction but certainly the factors that contributed to the extinctions in the past are still there," she said.

Ms Ingleby is the keeper of the musty remains that make up one of Australia's largest museum mammal collections, 46,000 artefacts dating back to the 1860s.

"It's a constant reminder of how fragile the ecosystems are and the difficulty in bringing them back," she said.
"I think some species are really very close. They are a number that are down to such low numbers that anything could happen."

The country's leading experts agree it is likely more of our species are headed for the cupboard.
A new report by the CSIRO says climate change will bring inevitable and unpalatable choices.
The CSIRO's Mike Dunlop says he does not think it is feasible to protect all species in the wild.
"We may be able to identify some that will go extinct and protect them in zoos or botanic gardens but many species will be threatened and probably a large number will go extinct," he said.

Breeding plan
A group of brush-tailed rock wallabies are at the frontline of the battle to survive a changing world.
They are part of the captive breeding program on the New South Wales central coast which one day will send joeys back into the wild.
Warrigal the wallaby was originally trapped in NSW Kangaroo Valley. Now he is doing his bit to ensure the colonies he came from don't die out.
Meanwhile, tucked away in the rugged escarpments of Warrigal's former home, a love story is unfolding.
This remote corner of bushland was one home to a thriving band of brush-tails.
Last year, National Parks officers were dismayed to discover the colony had been reduced to one lonely female.
They named her Roxy and in the first program of its kind brought in three wild wallabies to save her line. Using radio collars an infra-red cameras National Parks staff are monitoring what appears to be a blossoming romance.
Now the wait is on for the first signs of that tabloid staple, the baby bump.
"Hopefully over time we'll keep adding to this colony and we'll eventually have a healthy colony of 20 or more animals that are doing really well and spreading out into the vacant habitat around here," Ms Ashworth said.
It is one small good news story amid the gloom.
Ms Matson says Australia has animals that aren't found anywhere else in the world.
"If we lose the quokka, we lose the greater bilby they're gone forever from the whole world," she said.
"To me, that would be absolutely devastating and I'm certainly not going to sit by and watch that happen."

Queensland Protected area management plan register

Protected area management plan register
Protected area name
Management plan publication name
Governor in Council approval
Auburn River National Park
Auburn River National Park
17/09/1998
Bakers Creek Conservation Park
Bakers Creek Conservation Park
31/08/2000
Barnard Island Group National Park
Barnard Island Group National Park
17/09/1998
Blackwood National Park
Blackwood National Park
17/09/1998
Bowling Green Bay National Park
Bowling Green Bay National Park
19/10/2000
Broadwater Conservation Park
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Brook Islands National Park
Brook Island and Goold Island National Parks
25/11/1999
Buckleys Hole Conservation Park
Buckleys Hole Conservation Park
17/09/1998
Bullock Creek Conservation Park
Bullock Creek Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Burleigh Head National Park
Burleigh Head National Park
24/02/2000
Cape Hillsborough National Park
Cape Hillsborough and Pioneer Peaks National Parks
17/09/1998
Capricorn Coast National Park
Capricorn Coast National Park
31/08/2000
Capricornia Cays National Park
Capricornia Cays National Park and Capricornia Cays National Park (Scientific)
29/03/2001
Capricornia Cays National Park (Scientific)
Capricornia Cays National Park and Capricornia Cays National Park (Scientific)
29/03/2001
Carbook Wetlands Conservation Park
Carbrook Wetlands Conservation Park Serpentine Creek Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Carnarvon National Park
Carnarvon National Park Management Plan
Coalstoun Lakes National Park
Coalston Lakes National Park
31/08/2000
Cressbrook Conservation Park
Cressbrook Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Culgoa Floodplain National Park
Culgoa Floodplain National Park
17/09/1998
Currawinya National Park
Currawinya National Park
29/03/2001
D’Aguilar National Park
D’Aguilar National Park
17/09/1998
Dalrymple National Park
Dalrymple National Park
17/09/1998
Deepwater National Park
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Deepwater Resources Reserve
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Dipperu National Park (Scientific)
Dipperu National Park
17/09/1998
Djilgarin Conservation Park
Djilgarin Conservation Park
19/10/2000
Dwyers Scrub Conservation Park
Dwyers Scrub Conservation Park
17/09/1998
Epping Forest National Park (Scientific)
Epping Forest National Park (Scientific)
17/09/1998
Eurimbula National Park
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Eurimbula Resources Reserve
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Family Islands National Park
Family Islands National Park
19/10/2000
Forest Den National Park
Forest Den National Park
17/09/1998
Forty Mile Scrub National Park
Undara Volcanic and Forty Mile Scrub National Parks
24/02/2000
Frankland Group National Park
Frankland Group National Park
17/09/1998
Glass House Mountains National Park
Glass House Mountains National Park
17/09/1998
Goold Island National Park
Brook Island and Goold Island National Parks
25/11/1999
Great Sandy Conservation Park
Great Sandy Conservation Park
31/08/2000
Green Island Recreation Area and and Green Island National Park
Green Island Recreation Area incorporating Green Island National Park, part of the Cairns Marine Park (State) and part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Commonwealth)and Green Island National Park Management Plans

Hinchinbrook Island National Park
Hinchinbrook Island National Park
25/11/1999
Holbourne Island National Park
Holbourne Island National Park
17/09/1998
Hope Islands National Park
Hope Islands National Park
17/09/1998
Horseshoe Lagoon Conservation Park
Horseshoe Lagoon Conservation Park
19/10/2000
Idalia National Park
Idalia National Park
17/09/1998
Indooroopilly Island Conservation Park
Indooroopilly Island Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Jalum Conservation Park
Jalum Conservation Park

Joseph Banks (Round Hill Head) National Park
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Keppel Bay Islands National Park (Scientific)
Keppel Bay Islands National Park (Scientific)
17/09/1998
King Island Conservation Park
King Island Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Kondalilla National Park
Kondalilla National Park
17/09/1998
Littabella National Park
Littabella National Park
31/08/2000
Lochern National Park
Lochern National Park
17/09/1998
Mariala National Park
Mariala National Park
17/09/1998
Maroochy River Conservation Park
Maroochy River Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Mazeppa National Park
Mazeppa National Park
31/08/2000
Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park
Michaelmas and Upolu Cays National Park
17/09/1998
Minerva Hills National Park
Minerva Hills National Park
17/09/1998
Mooloolah River National Park
Mooloolah River National Park
24/02/2000
Moorrinya National Park
Moorrinya National Park
17/09/1998
Moreton Island National Park
Moreton Island National Park
29/03/2007
Mount Aberdeen National Park
Mount Aberdeen National Park
17/09/1998
Mount Bauple National Park (Scientific)
Mount Bauple National Park (Scientific)
17/09/1998
Mount Blarney Conservation Park
Mount Blarney Conservation Park
31/08/2000
Mount Coolum National Park
Mount Coolum National Park
17/09/1998
Mount Hector Conservation Park
Mount Hector Conservation Park
31/08/2000
Mount Martin National Park
Mount Martin National Park
17/09/1998
Mount Ossa National Park
Mount Ossa National Park
17/09/1998
Mount Scoria Conservation Park
Mount Scoria Conservation Park
31/08/2000
Mouth of Baffle Creek Conservation Park 2
Protected areas in the Agnes Water/1770 area
17/09/1998
Narrien Range National Park
Narrien Range National Park
17/09/1998
Nicoll Scrub National Park
Nicoll Scrub National Park
17/09/1998
Noosa National Park
Noosa National Park
25/11/1999
Nymph Island National Park (now part of Turtle Group National Park)
Nymph Island National Park
17/09/1998
Orpheus Island National Park
Orpheus Island National Park
19/10/2000
Pioneer Peaks National Park
Cape Hillsborough and Pioneer Peaks National Parks
17/09/1998
Pipeclay National Park
Pipeclay National Park
31/08/2000
Poona National Park
Poona National Park
31/08/2000
Porcupine Gorge National Park
Porcupine Gorge National Park
17/09/1998
Reliance Creek National Park
Reliance Creek National Park
17/09/1998
Rocky Islets National Park (now part of Three Islands Group National Park)
Rocky Islets National Park
17/09/1998
Rundle Range National Park
Rundle Range National Park and Rundle Range Resources Reserve
31/08/2000
Rundle Range Resources Reserve
Rundle Range National Park and Rundle Range Resources Reserve
31/08/2000
Serpentine Creek Conservation Park
Carbook Wetlands Conservation Park Serpentine Creek Conservation Park
24/02/2000
Sheep Station Creek Conservation Park
Sheep Station Creek Conservation Park
17/09/1998
Southwood National Park
Southwood National Park
17/09/1998
Tarong National Park
Tarong National Park
17/09/1998
Taunton National Park (Scientific)
Taunton National Park (Scientific)
17/09/1998
Three Islands National Park
Three Islands National Park
17/09/1998
Tregole National Park
Tregole National Park
17/09/1998
Triunia National Park
Triunia National Park
17/09/1998
Turtle Group National Park
Turtle Group National Park
17/09/1998
Two Islands National Park (now part of Three Islands Group National Park)
Two Islands National Park
17/09/1998
Undara Volcanic National Park
Undara Volcanic and Forty Mile Scrub National Parks
24/02/2000
Venman Bushland National Park
Venman Bushland National Park
17/09/1998
Welford National Park
Welford National Park
17/09/1998
White Blow Conservation Park
White Blow Conservation Park
19/10/2000
Wondul Range National Park
Wondul Range National Park

World Heritage Areas

People still talk about the seven wonders of the world. Today, world heritage areas are considered the most outstanding heritage places on earth.

World Heritage areas are outstanding examples of the world’s natural or cultural heritage. The World Heritage Committee oversees world heritage listing on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Australia has 16 world heritage properties. Five are in Queensland, one of the most naturally diverse places on earth.

The wet tropical rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef protect two of the world’s most diverse ecosystems.

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area straddles the border between New South Wales and Queensland, protecting subtropical and temperate rainforests.

Riversleigh fossil site in north-west Queensland tells the story of how our native animals evolved to be so different from wildlife elsewhere.

At Fraser Island, you can actually see the very processes of change which made this island worthy of world heritage listing.

The Australian Government has to ensure that Australia’s world heritage properties are managed to protect their natural and cultural values.

Read more about World Heritage areas in Australia.

In 2006, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service commissioned a report into compiling a case for World Heritage on Cape York Peninsula. This report is now available online.

Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park

Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park
P O Box 400, Rosebud VIC 3939

Dramatic underwater gorges, colourful sponge gardens, tall kelp forests, emerald seagrass beds, expanses of glittering yellow sand, surging currents and tranquil backwaters – the southern end of Port Phillip Bay has it all. Port Philip Heads Marine National Park comprises six separate areas – Swan Bay, Mud Islands, Pope’s Eye, Point Lonsdale, Point Nepean and Portsea Hole.
The diversity of marine habitats within the park create opportunities for a wide range of recreational pursuits from snorkelling, diving, surfing, swimming and boating to bird watching, nature study and beach activities.

The Marine Discovery Centre in Queenscliff conducts school excursions to sites within Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park. Contact the Marine Discovery Centre directly on 5258 3344 for bookings and further information.

Licensed Tour Operators conduct snorkelling safaris into the Marine National Park. Please call Parks Victoria on 131963 for further information.

Dredging of bay opening kicks off

Dredging of bay opening kicks off

David Rood April 4, 2008

THE deepening of Port Phillip Bay's shipping channels has moved into its most controversial phase with the dredging of the heads starting today.

Day 57 of the $1 billion project will see the dredger Queen of the Netherlands start work on the treacherous opening to the bay.

Removal of the 550,000 cubic metres of mainly rock material will take until October, with work continuing 24 hours a day, every day.

Coastal geologists, environmentalists and opponents of the project have said that allowing more water to rush into and out of the bay would harm beaches and marine life, damaging more than 100 species of sea sponges and coral.

Concerns have also been raised about the erosion caused by removing top layers of rock. The recovery period is estimated to be up to 30 years.

The Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Conservation Foundation said 115 species of underwater sponges would be damaged by rock falls that are expected to continue for 30 years.

"This particular sponge community has been noted by scientists to be highly significant to Victoria's biodiversity," Parks Association officer Megan Clinton said.

Anti-channel deepening group Blue Wedges said the 2005 trial dredge caused significant damage, with rocks spilling into the main shipping channel and the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park. Spokeswoman Jenny Warfe expressed concern about potential environmental damage at the heads and from the rises in sea levels.

The works have removed 2.9 million cubic metres of material from Port of Melbourne shipping channels — more than 10% of the project.

The Queen of the Netherlands will give way to all commercial vessels when working in the heads. Channels will be scoured with a suction hopper dredge. Previous works, the last of which were completed in 1986, used explosives.
Project manager Nick Easy said that a small amount of material would be spilled into the national park with a short-term impact on the area.

Mr Easy said the environmental management plan had several measures in place to minimise the impact of dredging, including clearing the material left behind every week and strict requirements on the direction of dredging to minimise rockfalls and their impact.

The Victorian Greens said the project was an act of vandalism as rock scour damage was still occurring at the site of the 2005 trial dredging. "Unfortunately, once the damage has been done, it can't be undone and the people of Victoria will have forever to regret that this was ever allowed to happen," Greens MP Sue Pennicuik said.

International Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emissions and have the smallest ecological footprints on Earth. Yet they suffer the worst impacts not only of climate change, but also from some of the international mitigation measures being taken, according to organizers of a United Nations University co-hosted meeting today, April 3 in Darwin, Australia.
Impacts of climate change on indigenous people worldwide include:

* In tropical and sub-tropical areas, an increase in diseases associated with higher temperatures and vector-borne and water-borne diseases like cholera, malaria and dengue fever;
* Worsening drought conditions and desertification, leading to more forest fires that disrupt subsistence agriculture, hunting and gathering livelihoods, as well as serious biodiversity loss;
* Distinct changes in the seasonal appearance of birds, the blooming of flowers, etc. These now occur earlier or are decoupled from the customary season or weather patterns;
* In arid and semi-arid lands: excessive rainfall and prolonged droughts, resulting in dust storms that damage grasslands, seedlings, other crops and livestock;
* In the Arctic, stronger waves, thawing permafrost and melting mountain glaciers and sea-ice, bringing coastal and riverbank erosion;
* Smaller animal populations and the introduction of new marine species due to changing animal travel and migration routes;
* In Boreal Forests, new types of insects and longer-living endemic insects (e.g. spruce beetles) that destroy trees and other vegetation;
* In coastal regions and small-island states, erosion, stronger hurricanes and typhoons, leading to the loss of freshwater supplies, land, mangrove forests and dislocation (environmental refugees);
* Increasing food insecurity due to declining fish populations and coral bleaching;
* Crop damaging pest infestations (e.g. locusts, rats, spruce beetles, etc.), and increasing food costs due to competition with the demand for biofuels;

* Extreme and unprecedented cold spells resulting in health problems (e.g. hypothermia, bronchitis, and pneumonia, especially for the old and young).
As well, indigenous people point to an increase in human rights violations, displacements and conflicts due to expropriation of ancestral lands and forests for biofuel plantations (soya, sugar-cane, jatropha, oil-palm, corn, etc.), as well as for carbon sink and renewable energy projects (hydropower dams, geothermal plants), without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous people.

Specific instances of indigenous people being harmed by climate change mitigation measures include the case of a Dutch company whose operations include planting trees and selling sequestered carbon credit to people wanting to offset their emissions caused by air travel. In March 2002, its project was certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) and from 1999 to 2002 over 7,000 hectares of land were planted in Uganda.

The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA), responsible for managing all national parks, forced indigenous people to leave the area. Forced evictions continued to 2002, leading indigenous people to move to neighboring villages, caves and mosques. Over 50 people were killed in 2004.
Meanwhile, indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia have been uprooted by the aggressive expansion of oil palm plantations for biofuel production. Likewise, nuclear waste sites and hydroelectric dam-building displace indigenous peoples from their ancestral territories.
Participants in Darwin, Australia will hear first hand the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples and how they are adapting to a warming world. They will also explore factors that facilitate or obstruct the participation of indigenous peoples in international processes and deliberations related to reducing emissions and emissions trading.

Entitled the International Expert Meeting on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples, the event was organized by UNU’s Japan-based Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in conjunction with the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNFII) and the North Australia Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA).
(Papers / documentation are available online at http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/EGM_CS08.html)
Specific objectives of the meeting:
* Exchange information on the effects of climate change;
* Draw attention to the impact of climate change on indigenous peoples, their livelihoods, cultural practices and lands and natural resources;
* Identify options and advance plans to address migration and many other issues faced by indigenous peoples due to climate change;
* Identify international institutions interested in partnership with indigenous peoples;
* Highlight good practice models; and
* Identify information gaps and prescribe a way forward.

The meeting’s final report will be to be submitted to the seventh session of the UNPFII.
“Indigenous peoples regard themselves as the mercury in the world’s climate change barometer,” says UNU-IAS Director A.H. Zakri. “They have not benefited, in any significant manner, from climate change-related funding, whether for adaptation and mitigation, nor from emissions trading schemes. The mitigation measures for climate change are very much market-driven and the non-market measures have not been given much attention. We hope this meeting will help address that imbalance.”
Adds Dr. Zakri: “Most indigenous peoples practice sustainable carbon neutral lives or even carbon negative life ways which has sustained them over thousands of years.

“There are at least 370 million indigenous people throughout the world living relatively neutral or even carbon negative life styles. While not a large number when compared to the world population of 6 billion, it does have a substantial impact in lowering emissions. Compare this to the impact of the United States, with a population of 300 million — only 4% of the world’s population - but responsible for about 25 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions.”
The meeting will also hear how indigenous people are adapting to changing climate conditions.
In Bangladesh, for example, villagers are creating floating vegetable gardens to protect their livelihoods from flooding. In Vietnam, communities are helping to plant dense mangroves along the coast to diffuse tropical-storm waves.

A brief overview of climate change effects on indigenous people:

Africa
There are 2.5 million kilometers of dunes in southern Africa covered in vegetation and used for grazing. However the rise in temperatures and the expected dune expansion, along with increased wind speeds, will result in the region losing most of its vegetation cover and become less viable for indigenous peoples living in the region.

As their traditional resource base diminishes, traditional practices of cattle and goat farming will disappear. There are already areas where indigenous peoples are forced to live around government-drilled bores for water and depend on government support for their survival. Deteriorating food security is a major issue for indigenous peoples residing in these drylands.
Asia

In Asia’s tropical rainforests, a haven for biodiversity, as well as indigenous peoples’ cultural diversity, temperatures are expected to rise 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, rainfall may decrease, prompting crop failures and forest fires.

People in low-lying areas of Bangladesh could be displaced by a one-meter rise in sea levels. Such a rise could also threaten the coastal zones of Japan and China. The impact will mean that salt water could intrude on inland rivers, threatening some fresh water supplies.

In the Himalayas high altitude regions, glacial melts affect hundreds of millions of rural dwellers who depend on the seasonal flow of water. There might be more water short term but less long term as glaciers and snow cover shrink.

The poor, many of whom are indigenous peoples, are highly vulnerable to climate change in urban areas because of their limited access to profitable livelihood opportunities and will be exposed to more flood and other climate-related risks in areas where they are forced to live.
Central and South America and the Caribbean

This very diverse region ranges from the Chilean deserts to the tropical rainforests of Brazil and Ecuador, to the high altitudes of the Peruvian Andes.

As elsewhere, indigenous peoples’ use of biodiversity is central to environmental management and livelihoods. In the Andes, alpine warming and deforestation threaten access to plants and crops for food, medicine, grazing animals and hunting.
Earth’s warming surface is forcing indigenous peoples in this region to farm at higher altitudes to grow their staple crops, which adds to deforestation. Not only does this affect water sources and leads to soil erosion, it also has a cultural impact. The uprooting of Andean indigenous people to higher lands puts their cultural survival at risk.

In Ecuador, unexpected frosts and long droughts affect all farming activities. The older generation says they no longer know when to sow because rain does not come as expected. Migration offers one way out but represents a cultural threat.

In the Amazon, the effects of climate change will include deforestation and forest fragmentation and, as a result, more carbon released into the atmosphere, exacerbating climate change. The droughts of 2007 resulted in western Amazon fires, which are likely to recur as rainforest is replaced by savannas, severely affecting the livelihoods of the region’s indigenous peoples.
Coastal Caribbean communities are often the center of government activities, ports and international airports. Rapid and unplanned movements of rural and outer island indigenous residents to the major centers is underway, putting pressure on urban resources, creating social and economic stresses, and increasing vulnerability to hazardous weather conditions such as cyclones and diseases.

The relationship between climate change and water security will be a major issue in the Caribbean, where many countries are dependant on rainfall and groundwater.

Arctic

The polar regions are now experiencing some of Earth’s most rapid and severe climate change. Indigenous peoples, their culture and the whole ecosystem that they interact with is very much dependent on the cold and the extreme physical conditions of the Arctic region.
Indigenous peoples depend on polar bears, walrus, seals and caribou, herding reindeer, fishing and gathering not only for food and to support the local economy, but also as the basis for their cultural and social identity. Among concerns facing indigenous peoples: availability of traditional food sources, growing difficulty with weather prediction and travel safety in changing ice and weather conditions.

According to indigenous peoples, sea ice is less stable, unusual weather patterns are occurring, vegetation cover is changing, and particular animals are no longer found in traditional hunting areas. Local landscapes, seascapes and icescapes are becoming unfamiliar.

Peoples across the Arctic region report changes in the timing, length and character of the seasons, including more rain in autumn and winter and more extreme heat in summer. In several Alaskan villages, entire indigenous communities may have to relocate due to thawing permafrost and large waves slamming against the west and northern shores. Coastal indigenous communities are severely threatened by storm-related erosion due to melting sea ice. Up to 80% of Alaskan communities, comprised mainly of indigenous peoples, are vulnerable to either coastal or river erosion.

In Nunavut, elders can longer predict the weather using their traditional knowledge. Many important summer hunting grounds cannot be reached. Drying and smoking foods is more difficult due to summer heat undermining the storage of traditional foods for the winter.
In Finland, Norway and Sweden, rain and mild winter weather often prevents reindeer from accessing lichen, a vital food source, forcing many herders to feed their reindeer with fodder, which is expensive and not economically viable long term. For Saami communities, reindeers are vital to their culture, subsistence and economy.

Central and Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Trans-Caucasia
Survival of indigenous peoples, who depend on fishing, hunting and agriculture, also depends on the success of their fragile environment and its resources. As bears and other wild game disappear, people in local villages will suffer particular hardships. Worse, unique indigenous cultures, traditions and languages will face major challenges maintaining their diversity.
Indigenous peoples have noticed the arrival of new plant species that thrive in rivers and lakes, including the small flowered duckweed which has made survival difficult for fish. New bird species have also arrived and birds now stay longer than before.

Changes in reindeer migration and foraging patterns, sparked by fluctuating weather patterns, cause problems also in this region, whose indigenous people have witnessed unpredictable and unstable weather and shorter winters.

North America
About 1.2 million North American tribal members live on or near reservations, and many pursue lifestyles with a mix of traditional subsistence activities and wage labour. Many reservation economies and budgets of indigenous governments depend heavily on agriculture, forest products and tourism.

Global warming is predicted to cause less snowfall and more droughts in many parts of North America, which will have a significant impact on indigenous peoples. Water resources and water quality may decrease while extended heat waves will increase evaporation and deplete underground water resources. There may be impacts on health, plant cover, wildlife populations, tribal water rights and individual agricultural operations, and a reduction of tribal services due to decrease in income from land leases.

Natural disasters such as blizzards, ice storms, floods, electric power outages, transportation problems, fuel depletion and food supply shortages will isolate indigenous communities.
Higher temperatures will result in the loss of native grass and medicinal plants, as well as erosion that allows the invasion of non-native plants. The zones of semi-arid and desert shrubs, cactus, and sagebrush will move northward. Finally, fire frequency could also increase with more fuel and lightning strikes, degrading the land and reducing regional bio-diversity.

Pacific
Most of the Pacific region comprises small island states affected by rising sea levels. Environmental changes are prominent on islands where volcanoes build and erode; coral atolls submerge and reappear and the islands’ biodiversity is in flux. The region has suffered extensively from human disasters such as nuclear testing, pollution, hazardous chemicals and wastes like Persistent Organic Pollutants, and solid waste management and disposal.

High tides flood causeways linking villages. This has been particularly noticeable in Kiribati and a number of other small Pacific island nations that could be submerged in this century.
Migration will become a major issue. For example, the people of Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville atoll island of Cartaret have asked to be moved to higher ground on the mainland. The people of Sikaiana Atoll in the Solomon Islands have been migrating primarily to Honiara, the capital. There has been internal migration from the outer islands of Tuvalu to the capital Funafuti. Almost half of Tuvalu’s population now resides on the Funafuti atoll, with negative environmental consequences, including increased demand on local resources.

Warmer temperatures have led to the bleaching of the Pacific Island ’s main source of survival - the coral reefs. The algae that help feed coral is loosened and, because the algae give them colour, the starved corals look pale. Continued bleaching ultimately kills corals. Coral reefs are an important shelter for organisms and the reduction of reef-building corals is likely to have a major impact on biodiversity. Tropical fishery yields are on the decline worldwide and it is now clear that the conditions may become critical for the local fish population.

Agriculture in the Pacific region, especially in small island states, is becoming increasingly vulnerable due to heat stress on plants and saltwater incursions. Hence, food security is of great concern to the region.
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UNU Institute of Advanced Studies
The Institute of Advanced Studies is part of the United Nations University’s global network of research and training centres. IAS undertakes research and postgraduate education on leading sustainable development issues, convening expertise from disciplines such as economics, law, biology, political science, physics and chemistry to better understand and contribute creative solutions to pressing global concerns. UNU-IAS works to identify and address strategic issues of concern for all humankind, for governments and decision makers and, particularly, for developing countries.

United Nations University
Established by the U.N. General Assembly, UNU is an international community of scholars engaged in research, advanced training and the dissemination of knowledge related to pressing global problems. Activities focus mainly on peace and conflict resolution, sustainable development and the use of science and technology to advance human welfare. The University operates a worldwide network of research and post-graduate training centres, with headquarters in Tokyo.
Source: Terry CollinsUnited Nations University