Burdekin Dry Tropics Region
The 146,000km2 Burdekin Dry Tropics region connects the Great Dividing Range to the Great Barrier Reef . It includes land and sea Country of the Warrungnu , Nywaigi , Wulgurukaba , Manbarra , Bindal , Gugu Badhun , Gudjala , Juru , Birriah , Gia , Widi , Jangga , Wangan and Jagalingou , Bidjara , Yirendali , and Iningai Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country . They have an enduring deep connection with the region ’ s natural resources and play an important role in protecting them for future generations .
The Dry Tropics region includes the Burdekin River catchment , the second biggest in Queensland , and the smaller coastal catchments of the Black , Ross , Haughton and Don rivers .
Natural resources include the Bowling Green Bay Ramsar wetland and 34 nationally important wetlands ; 500 km of coastline and inshore marine habitat of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area ; and the southern extent of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area . The region ’ s ecosystems span three bioregions , are highly productive , and contain many organisms found nowhere else .
The population of around 250,000 has grown by an estimated 30 per cent since 2005 , with the majority living in Townsville , Charters Towers , Bowen , Ayr , Home Hill , and the offshore islands of Magnetic Island and the Greater Palm Island Group . The region is rich in resources , which provide the community with substantial environmental , economic and social benefits .
Agriculture dominates the landscape , with beef cattle grazing covering over 90 per cent of the land area ; a sugar cane industry producing over one quarter of Australia ’ s annual cane supply ; horticulture in the Bowen Gumlu Agricultural District ; and dryland cropping in large areas of the Belyando- Suttor sub-catchment .
10 NQ DRY TROPICS - Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan - 2023