39 BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
CLIMATE CHANGE
Queensland Adaptation Partnerships The Queensland Government is currently developing a Queensland Climate Adaptation Strategy with a wide range of stakeholders to address the risks to our economy, environment, infrastructure and communities from current and future climate impacts( Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, 2015b).
The Climate Change( Coastal Hazards) Adaptation Program, a joint initiative between Local Government Association Queensland, Queensland Government, Townsville City Council and Griffith University, is being implemented between 2015-2018 to help coastal communities plan and prepare for storm tide inundation, coastal erosion and rising sea levels from climate change. The aim is to ensure the long-term functionality and protection of homes, businesses, infrastructure and services along the coast( Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, 2016b).
2. Using natural resources for carbon capture
The Australian Government provides incentives to undertake carbon sequestration projects through the Emissions Reduction Fund. Carbon sequestration projects reduce carbon by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it as carbon in growing plants and soils. Carbon sequestration projects relevant to natural resources in our region include:
• planting native vegetation or protecting native regrowth for permanent carbon storage;
• savanna burning – reducing emissions from late dryseason fires;
• sequestering soil carbon in grazing systems;
• fertilizer use efficiency; and
• alternative waste management.
Methodologies for developing carbon sequestration projects must be approved via the Emissions Reduction Fund and involve stringent requirements. One of the obligations to qualify is to hold the carbon produced by sequestration projects for 25 or 100 years. For example the life expectancy of native or forestry trees must meet this time frame. Orchard trees are not covered by the current methodologies for carbon sequestration due to factors such as short life cycle and controlled pruning.
To support landholders and to promote carbon reduction in the region, NQ Dry Tropics has developed an indicative strategic carbon planting map to assist with identifying areas for possible tree plantings for carbon capture. These include potential areas where planting native species would improve biodiversity and habitat connectivity, as well as other locations where mono-species could be planted( see Figure 9, p 40). Planting native species in identified biodiversity areas would generate multiple benefits such as: reducing carbon emissions; earning income from carbon storage; creating native habitat; and increasing wetland buffers and riparian corridors, which also increase filtration of water runoff and overall landscape resilience.
The Queensland Government has developed the interactive Regrowth Benefits Tool, which provides sitespecific regrowth information on carbon abatement potential, threatened species, biodiversity benefits and key Queensland Government regulations( Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, 2016).
There is currently an approved government method allowing people to bid for financial support to change savanna burning practices on areas with more than 1000mm average annual rainfall, and a new method is being approved for burning practices in areas of savanna vegetation with average annual rainfall between 600 and 1,000mm( see Figure 8, p 38)( Australian Government, 2016). The figure depicts areas in the catchment where each of these methods apply and where landholders can use the government’ s Direct Action Plan to enter into a financial contract to increase soil carbon storage.
When considering implementing a carbon sequestration project, such as planting trees or soil carbon sequestration, it is prudent for landholders to weigh up all the attributes and values of the land being used including its current and future use and productivity.
3. Natural resource and community resilience
To ensure our future food sources and livelihoods, it is vital that our natural resources and communities are resilient to the predicted pressures of climate change. It has been recognised that a concerted shift towards best-practice natural resource management and planning will increase the economic sustainability of agricultural and ancillary industries and make our natural resources