Biodiversity in Queensland
Queensland is one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. It is home to 85 per cent of Australia's native mammals (239 species), 72 per cent of native birds (562 species), just over half of the nation's native reptiles (473) and native frogs (125), and 12 888 native plant species.
With high levels of biodiversity compared to other areas of Australia and the world, Queensland is in a sound position to take action.
The state has high awareness and participation rates in land and catchment care activities, as well as strong regional natural resource management in communities. Solid legislation, plans and policies also guide Queensland’s biodiversity efforts.
As custodians of some of the world’s most exceptional and irreplaceable natural treasures, Queensland’s responsibility is clear: it is time to act to conserve the state’s natural systems for current and future generations.
Significant budget commitments to biodiversity conservation
By combining efforts across industry, government and the community, significant advances in biodiversity conservation can be made.
The watershed decision by the Queensland Government to end broadscale clearing in Queensland in December 2006 has profoundly advanced protection of biodiversity in Queensland and provided a secure platform for more recent policy and funding initiatives.
The government has continued to build on this foundation for biodiversity protection with a number of significant commitments, including:
- A major commitment to continued expansion of the Queensland national park estate ($55.9 million over five years from 2010–2011, building on the $5.8 million provided in 2009–10) means important areas of high biodiversity continue to be identified and conserved.
- The South East Queensland Koala Conservation State Planning Regulatory Provisions and State Planning Policy (2010): Koala Conservation in South East Queensland were completed and implemented. The final State Planning Regulatory Provisions provide the strongest restrictions on development in areas where koalas are known to be under the most serious threat.
- The Koala Response Strategy ($45.5 million over five years from 2010–2011) contributes to the Q2 target for increased GreenSpace areas and will provide for urgent protection of the declining koala population.
- Funding of the successful Nature Assist Programs ($15 million over five years from 2010–2011) to support landholders in managing and protecting biodiversity in the long term.
- The Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan 2009 continues the protection of vital and globally significant marine ecosystems ($50 million over five years from 2009–2010).
- Regulation that protects high value native regrowth vegetation ($3.2 million over two years from 2009–2010) will continue while recognising the existing sustainable land management practices.
- Completion of 10 Wild River Declarations including Hinchinbrook and Fraser Island, four rivers in the Gulf region and four in western Cape York Peninsula (including Wenlock River which is considered one of the most pristine and highly biodiverse rivers in Australia). The nomination process for the Lake Eyre Basin Wild Rivers declaration is currently in consultation phase.
- The Wild River Rangers program ($7 million over five years from 2010–2011 building on $5.7 million provided for 2007–10) ensures conservation efforts by local Traditional owners in Cape York and other wild river catchments.
- The KULLA (McIllwraith Range) National Park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land) is a recent outcome of the Cape York Tenure Resolution Program and protects one of the largest pristine tracks of rainforest left in Australia. Since 1994 the Queensland Government has purchased 13 properties in Cape York totalling 1.3 million hectares at a total cost of $21.4 million.
- The $20 million investment in the South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Partnership to reduce water pollution loads and restore degraded waterways.
- The Queensland Government has endorsed a vision for North Stradbroke Island involving the phase out of large scale sand mining and the dedication of significant parts of the island as national park. $27.5 million has been allocated over five years from 2009–10 to implement this vision.
- $700 million joint program with local government for sewerage system upgrades to reduce point source pollution impacting rivers and streams.
Ongoing policy commitments to biodiversity conservation
In addition to the above commitments, there are a number of long-term programs with significant biodiversity outcomes that the Queensland Government continues to support.
The South East Queensland Conservation Initiative, incorporating the Springbrook Plateau Restoration Project, involves an investment over 10 years to rehabilitate areas of high conservation value adjacent to the Springbrook World Heritage Area in the Gold Coast hinterland.
The Queensland Government has purchased 45 lots covering around 705 hectares at Springbrook. More than $40 million has been spent to purchase lands containing areas of rainforest under threat from development or where rehabilitation will restore critical landscape links.
Negotiation continues with Aboriginal landholders to enter into joint ownership and management agreements with the Department of Environment and Resource Management's Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) in association with the declaration of national park (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land).
The Cape York Tenure Resolution Program has already delivered major outcomes under its dual purposes of protecting areas of high conservation value and returning homelands to Traditional Owners to support social and economic opportunities.
More than half a million hectares of land have been included in national parks and nature refuges with even more land returned to Cape York Peninsula Traditional Owners.
The Queensland Government has invested more than $27 million in this program since 2004. The process to develop a nomination for parts of Cape York Peninsula for world heritage listing with the consent of Indigenous land owners has also begun, with $3.5 million allocated to ensure a comprehensive consultation process underpins the proposed nomination.
A number of important planning instruments have also been initiated to support biodiversity conservation. These include:
- enhancing the Vegetation Management Act 1999 to extend further protections to certain areas of regrowth vegetation and riparian vegetation in reef catchments
- State Planning Policies (SPPs) for koalas, wetlands and healthy waters
- a revised State Coastal Plan with associated SPP close to being finalised.
The Biosecurity Strategy 2009–14 sets out the strategic directions all stakeholders in biosecurity will work toward over this period. Positive outcomes for managing biosecurity risks and biodiversity protection are largely complementary. Measures in the strategy to prevent biosecurity threats becoming established include increasing the resilience of the natural environment.
The Fisheries Strategy 2009–2014 establishes the concept for ecosystem-based fisheries management for sustainable fisheries and fish habitat management in Queensland. The goal of this strategy is to maintain healthy aquatic ecosystems and protect valued fish species and their habitats.
Queensland’s declared fish habitat network protects and manages more than 1.1 million hectares of coastal fish habitats that sustain recreational, commercial and indigenous fishing activities along the east coast and in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The network protects these habitats from coastal development impacts.
Expert fishway teams have also been established by the Queensland Government to advise a wide range of stakeholders on new fish friendly structure designs and ways to retrofit fishways on dams and weirs or to modify the design of existing instream structures.
Last updated 16 November 2010