43 BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
REGIONAL GOALS
Figure 10- Landuse
SNAPSHOT
Land use planning of the Burdekin Dry Tropics Successful land use planning identifies the needs of the community while safeguarding natural resources. It occurs at multiple scales, from property planning through to local government area planning, regional planning and state-wide planning.
Our region covers an area of approximately 146,000km 2 and includes part or all of 12 local government areas, each with its own local planning scheme.
The major urban centres are located at Townsville, Charters Towers, Ayr, Home Hill and Bowen, however, the majority of our region is rural and supports a productive agricultural industry. Grazing occurs mostly in the rangelands, dryland cropping is widespread in the Belyando-Suttor and Bowen-Broken sub-catchments, and irrigated sugarcane production and horticulture occurs in coastal areas( Department of Agricultural and Fisheries, 2013)( see Figure 10).
LAND
Native forest on state lands also occur in our region and are either managed for forestry, recreation and / or quarry material, including sand, gravel, road base, crushed aggregate and landscaping rock. The landscapes of our region also support a substantial mining industry, which produces coal, gold, silver and copper. There are about 330 granted mining leases in our region. Mining operations over the last 150 years have left a legacy of impacts and risks associated with around 2472 abandoned mine sites in our region( Department of Agricultural and Fisheries, 2013),( Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, 2015).