LDC — looking forward, looking back
Grassroots thinking behind the program
Why is the BBB in the spotlight?
NQ Dry Tropics is piloting a suite of landscape interventions and land management efforts at catchment-scale to improve water quality and long-term sustainable land management in the Bowen Broken Bogie (BBB).
This work is funded by the Queensland Government through the Queensland Reef Water Quality Program, and the Australian Government through the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Reef Trust Partnership.
The project was born from recommendations made by the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce. This project was called Landholders Driving Change (LDC), a reflection of the grassroots led Major Integrated Project model.
The underlying premise of LDC was that every grazier had different knowledge, resources, motivations and barriers and, consequently, ‘one size fits all’ solutions did not deliver the necessary landscapelevel changes required.
LDC was designed from the ‘ground up’, with actions and support targeted to landholder needs in a flexible, tailored way. LDC trialled a mix of new and conventional activities to achieve land management outcomes at a landscape scale, providing a foundation for the adoption of improved management practices for increased sustainability, profitability and for management of erosion and sediment loss.
Other investments…
There are additional projects rolling out in the Bowen and Collinsville region that will be leveraged to further guide the delivery of water uality outcomes within the BBB.
As the regional program manager, NQ Dry Tropics will use the data collected from these projects to further target priority locations with high sediment loads and to inform on-ground and extension activities to encourage best land management practices.
GULLIES
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THE CHALLENGE
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WHERE DOES THE SEDIMENT COME FROM?
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WATER QUALITY SAMPLING GROUP
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PRIORITISATION
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SMALL AND LARGE GULLIES TO DATE On-ground remediation works have included five large-scale gullies and 20 small-scale gullies. |
WHAT’S NEXT? The primary objective of the BBB Water Quality Regional Program is an enduring end-of-catchment reduction of 105,100 tonnes of fine sediment entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. |
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Fine sediment and nutrients from agricultural land are a significant threat to the Great Barrier Reef.
The aim of the project is to stop shifting soils and water runoff at the source.
Nine properties make up the LDC Community Water Quality Monitoring Group.
LDC contracted a report to characterise and prioritise the highest sediment-producing gullies.
MANAGEMENT
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GRAZIER SUPPORT
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FOCUS ON GROUND COVER
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STEWARDSHIP
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WHAT’S NEXT? Engagement will be focused on meeting individual landholders’ needs through peer-to-peer training and on-line training opportunities. |
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The Grazier Support program aims to provide the tools to help graziers adopt improved land management practices.
Ground cover is important because it can reduce runoff and erosion.
Stewardship is recognition of a collective responsibility to retain the quality of the land, air, water and biodiversity.ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: