Rainforests are rare in Australia, but they contain some of the
richest ecosystems. The rainforests of South East Queensland (SEQ)
have a high concentration of threatened animals and plants and are
thus a high priority for conservation.
Some of the key threats to rainforest in the Boyne/Calliope area
include:
- Clearing & fragmentation
(due mainly to agricultural, urban or coastal development)
- Invasion by
exotic weeds
(eg cats claw creeper)
- Fire
sensitive rainforest suffers from continued burning around its
margins. Reducing the intensity or frequency of fire can help
rainforest to recover
- Stock, domestic & feral
animal impacts
- Limited capacity & lack of awareness
to manage remnants. ie many landowners would like to look after
their patch of scrub, but just need some technical advice or a
helping hand (including funding) to make it happen.
FBA has obtained funding through the SEQ Rainforest Recovery
Project to help landowners and community groups in the
Boyne/Calliope sub-region to protect or restore their rainforest
(and associated ecosystems).
Several kinds of help are available, including:
- Stewardship payments,
rewarding landholders for maintaining healthy rainforest
ecosystems to benefit future generations.
- Infrastructure and on-ground management
payments.
Examples include:
- fencing and/or off-stream watering points to manage grazing
pressure,
- weeds and pest animal control,
- fire management, construction of fire breaks,
- seed collection, revegetation, creation of rainforest corridors,
- establishing pilot programs and monitoring activity.
To find out more about this Project, please contact: Graham
Lightbody, Regional Coordinator, Biodiversity. E mail:
graham.lightbody@fba.org.au .
Phone 07 4999 2811.
