Protect the Bush Alliance
At a meeting in Brisbane on Monday 16 July it was agreed to form an Alliance of people and organisations to Protect the Bush. The meeting included representatives of Birds Queensland, BirdLife Southern Queensland, National Parks Association of Queensland and Wildlife Queensland.
Aims To advocate the protection of areas of High Conservation Value To identify and encourage activities that improve understanding of their biodiversity and environmental values.
Membership Membership is open to any organisation, business or individual that accepts this aim. Where possible, logos are requested for letterheads and publicity. It is expected that members will have a wide range of views on other issues, but will work together to achieve the aims of the Alliance.
There is no membership fee.
Members are welcome to attend any meetings of the Alliance. The next meeting is 11 September 2012. Email will be used between meetings to exchange information and discuss policy.
Members will be asked to consider carrying out any identified activities as part of their program.
Priorities Some items need immediate action. (Members are asked to submit other items.)
Proposed coal mining of Bimblebox Nature Refuge in Queensland: http://bimblebox.org/. More surveys into the biodiversity of areas under exploration for coal permits in the Galilee Basin are required urgently.
Mining activities in inappropriate places
Collection of data on Priority State Forests.
Input into the development of Regional Plans for Central Queensland and the Darling Downs: dlgp.qld.gov.au/regional-planning/
Information A PowerPoint presentation about why the Alliance believe it is important to protect Queensland’s Biodiversity is available from Lee Curtis lee@ataglance.com.au
Contacts Paul Donatiu (Chairman) – pdonatiu@npaq.org.au; Rae Clark – rae.clark@bigpond.com; Grahame Rogers – gwrogers@bigpond.com; Sheena Gillman sheena@naturesound.com.au.
High Conservation Value Areas From Wikipedia (accessed 17 July 2012)
An area of High Conservation Value is identified as such to cover a range of conservation priorities and in order to allocate these principles each will be categorised as one of the following;
HCVA 1 – Areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g. endemism, endangered species, refugia). Landscapes
HCVA 2 – Globally, regionally or nationally significant large landscape-level areas. Ecosystems
HCVA 3 – Areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems. Ecosystem Services
HCVA 4 – e.g. watershed protection, erosion control.
(Two more types of HCV are less relevant to the aim Alliance: Livelihoods, HCVA 5 – Areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities (e.g. subsistence, health): and Cultural identity, HCVA 6 – Areas critical to local communities’ traditional cultural identity (areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance identified in cooperation with such local communities).
HCV areas include Important Bird Areas and properties in the National Reserve System. The National Reserve System
The National Reserve System is Australia’s network of protected areas, conserving examples of our natural landscapes and native plants and animals for future generations. Based on a scientific framework, it is the nation’s natural safety net against our biggest environmental challenges.
The reserve system includes more than 9,400 protected areas covering nearly 14 per cent of the country – almost 106 million hectares. It is made up of Commonwealth, state and territory reserves, Indigenous lands and protected areas run by non-profit conservation organisations, through to ecosystems protected by farmers on their private working properties. ….
(from http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/nrs/index.html Accessed 17 June 2012)
The National Reserve System includes Queensland’s Nature Refuges, where mining is currently permitted.
You and your friends are invited to join. Just send an email to gwrogers@bigpond.com to say that you accept the Aims, and if you wish, attach your logo to put in our publicity material.
On behalf of the Protect the Bush Alliance
Grahame Rogers | Convenor
BirdLife Southern Queensland 44 Emu Creek Road, Crows Nest, QLD 4355 gwrogers@bigpond.com | birdlife.org.au ABN 75 149 124 744