INTERNATIONAL
YEAR OF TH
This year is the
International Year
of the Reef, a
worldwide campaign
to raise awareness
about the value and
importance of coral
reefs.
t’s also an opportunity
I industries
for coastal agricultural
to demonstrate
This spread will be
published in the 2018-2019
Whitsundays Tourist Guide.
they are meeting their
responsibility to farm in a
way that protects the Great
Barrier Reef.
The Bowen and Collinsville grazing
community is a hub of innovation for
graziers looking at reducing impact on
the Reef.
NQ Dry Tropics is leading the
Landholders Driving Change project, a
three-year program to pilot cost-effective
solutions to keep soil on the land, reduce
run-off to the Reef, and help achieve
enduring, sustainable and productive
land management.
Unlike many past programs, graziers
were fully involved from the beginning
in the process of designing projects to
improve their land and reduce sediment
run-off. It means they have clear
ownership of its outcomes.
What’s also new is that rather than
targeting individual properties, efforts
are focused at a catchment scale - in this
P42 | ISSUE 1, April, 2018
instance the Bowen, Broken, Bogie (BBB)
catchment near Collinsville.
This means working with whole
communities for better results.
The project is trialling a range of
innovative landscape repair options,
some tried and tested, some new.
Designed by landholders and tailored
to their needs with the latest scientific
research, solutions are being developed
to remove the social, financial and
technical barriers to change some farm
practices.
The goal is to help deliver enduring,
sustainable land management
improvements, which will mean cleaner
water going out to the Reef.
And because sediment run-off isn’t just
an issue for graziers, Landholders Driving
Change will involve all land managers in
the BBB including managers of mines,
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