June 2017 – National Parks Association of Queensland

Monthly Archives: June 2017

Potential for watered-down Coral Sea protection threatens the cradle to the Great Barrier Reef

Adele Pedder of the Australian Marine Conservation Society delves into the importance of marine protected areas and the risk associated with exposing the proposed Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve to intensive fishing practices.

Creation of Special Wildlife Reserves adds new dimension to private protected areas

Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles has introduced a Bill to Queensland Parliament to create a new category of protected area: Special Wildlife Reserves. NPAQ President Michelle Prior looks at the increasingly important role played by private protected areas and cautions that there is potential for public protected areas to become more focused on nature-based recreation and tourism.

Tourism-centric national parks allocation as a Budget for jobs forgets about conservation

The State Budget has allocated an extra $40 million over two years for national parks, however only $5 million of that will potentially go towards operational funding and conservation planning. The rest is essentially a tourism spend disguised as environmental dollars. Learn why the Queensland Government’s boast of a record environmental spend isn’t all it’s made out to be.

Swift action of QPWS helps to mitigate Cyclone Debbie’s widespread impact on parks

Many Queensland national parks were heavily impacted as Cyclone Debbie cut a path of destruction centred on the Whitsunday and Mackay regions, before tracking south and creating widespread flooding. NPAQ Conservation Officer Laura Hahn assesses the damage and turns the spotlight on the mammoth clean-up effort.

The benefits of citizen science

Citizen science initiatives provide an opportunity for nature lovers to get involved directly with conservation and through doing so gain a greater understanding and respect for it. NPAQ industry placement student Lucy Hollingsworth, from the University of Queensland, looks at some of the benefits – for scientists and the individuals volunteering to support their research.
 

State of the Park 2017: developments of note for Queensland’s protected area estate

State of the Park 2017, authored by NPAQ member Wade Lewis, highlights positive developments over the past year including advances made by the State Government in its approach to national park acquisition, planning and management.

Five minutes to view and traffic jams: is this what the future holds?

After being confronted by hordes of tourists jostling for position and blaring music at Uluru, NPAQ President Michelle Prior ponders whether the futureof Australia’s national parks may be heading the same way as America where there has been a loss of the spirit of wilderness preservation.

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