Queensland’s National Parks grew by two today, with eighteen parks throughout Queensland also receiving a boost in size. The new additions are: The Lakes National Park (Flinders Shire), new estate – 43,260 ha Malbon Thompson Range National Park (Cairns), new estate – about 620 ha Former grazing property The Lakes was acquired by the government […]
Two additions to Queensland’s Protected Area Estate have been announced, increasing protected areas to 8.6% of the State’s area. The Albanese Government is providing $3 million to the Queensland Miles Labor Government through the Protecting Important Biodiversity Areas Program to support two nature refuges and future additions to Queensland’s private protected areas. The project […]
We all know that money doesn’t grow on trees, but it can certainly help grow and protect some. NPAQ’s CEO Chris Thomas has scoured the State Government’s newly released budget to reveal the wins for nature and national parks. Typically, conservation spending risks getting short shrift in national and state budgets, but recently we have […]
The recently released Queensland Government’s Towards Tourism 2032 plan aims to double the state’s tourism overnight expenditure to more than $44 billion annually by the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. “So where are all these extra tourists going to go” asks NPAQ CEO Chris Thomas. The answer, of course, lies in careful consideration of new […]
This year’s theme for World Environment Day, 5 June 2024, is Land restoration, desertification and drought resilience, with the slogan “Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration.” Outside of icy Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent on earth – 70% of Australia’s land mass is either arid or semi-arid land. Such parched aridity makes Australia […]
On Saturday 1 June, the Miles Government announced that Bush Heritage Australia’s 8000-ha Edgbaston Reserve, in the Lake Eyre Basin near Longreach, will soon be declared the state’s second special wildlife reserve, after the safeguarding of Pullen Pullen Reserve as a special wildlife reserve in 2020. Like national parks, special wildlife reserves receive legal protection […]
For decades, NPAQ has been a staunch advocate for increased funding for environmental interpretation and ranger recruitment and retention to better manage Queensland’s protected areas. Yesterday, those efforts paid off when the Miles Government announced an additional $14.65 million investment over the next three years to reopen the Eurong Information Centre on World-Heritage-listed K’gari, formerly […]
Do you have photos from a visit to a national park or protected area? Send them to admin@npaq.org.auor connect with us on Instagram @nationalparksassocqld for your chance to feature in the next edition of NPAQ’s PROTECTED Magazine! The best photos will also be featured on NPAQ social media channels and go in the draw to […]
The following was written based on an article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Tourism as a Tool in Nature-Based Mental Health: Progress and Prospects Post-Pandemic), published in 2022 and written by Buckley, Ralf C, Cooper and Mary-Ann. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/421534 The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the global need for mental health care. Amidst […]
In 1999, the South East Queensland Forest Agreement was signed by the Beattie Government, various conservation groups and the then Queensland Timber Board. Under this historic agreement, it was agreed that remaining areas of native state forests between Gladstone in the north to the New South Wales border in the south would only be logged […]
