Healthy Habitats and Better Catchments for the Burnett Mary Region

Under the Caring for our Country program, the Burnett Mary Regional Group has developed two new programs; these are Healthy Habitats and Better Catchments.

 
 
Healthy Habitats

Healthy Habitats is an initiative that is focused on protecting and enhancing the region’s biodiversity assets. It hopes to achieve this objective through the 3 main project areas of the Healthy Habitats program these are;
  • Conservation Partnerships - On-ground investment in terrestrial and coastal biodiversity projects with protective tenure or reserve management plans in place (multispecies and high value biodiversity areas on freehold land and reserve land including foreshores and wetlands, similar process to the previous Conservation Partnerships program)
  • Regional Biodiversity Education and Awareness Program -Terrestrial, Marine and Freshwater
  • Priority Species Monitoring and Research Activities

 

With support from many partners and with funding supplied through the state and federal government, it is hoped that through the Healthy Habitats projects that a wide range of high priority activities will be supported, and long term security of the regions high value assets will be secured.
 
 
 
Better Catchments

Better Catchments is an initiative that aims to improve catchment health through improving resource conditions within priority sub-catchments and areas of high conservation value. 

With the assistance of partners the program focuses on protection and rehabilitation projects, improving on-farm sustainability, reducing and managing salinity, implementing strategic sub-catchment based pest plant and animal control programs, as well as coastal and estuarine remediation and water quality monitoring activities. 

The ranges of activities which may be funded include:
  • Pest plant and animal control and the installation of small on-property washdown facilities
  • Protection, rehabilitation or enhancement of areas of high conservation value
  • Improving wetland health through connectivity, rehabilitation or planting of native vegetation
  • Enhancing and/or rehabilitating riparian and terrestrial vegetation
  • Improving connectivity between high priority riparian and terrestrial areas through replanting local species
  • Planting and other works to reduce fragmentation of riparian vegetation
  • Reducing erosion, promoting groundcover/pasture species and preventing seed spread through stock exclusion (fencing)
  • Establishing in-stream habitat in priority stream reaches
  • Training sessions for development of integrated property management plans.
 
 
For more information on the Healthy Habitats or the Better Catchments program, or any of the programs being run by the Burnett Mary Regional Group, please phone 07 4181 2999 or go to www.bmrg.org.au
 
 

© 2005 Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Inc