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The Sunshine Coast Rivers Initiative is a program of management actions and incentives that protect and improve the region's six river catchments to ensure:
- waterways are valued
- pollution is reduced
- degraded habitats are restored
- sustainable land use practices are adopted
- on-river activities are well managed
Sunshine Coast waterways - valued, ecologically healthy, enjoyed.
For more visit Rivers Initiative
Recreational & General Information for Lake Baroon
For information regarding recreational activities and current status of Lake Baroon, please visit the Seqwater website here www.seqwater.com.au
2011 LBCCG Memberships Due
If you would like to become a member of the Lake Baroon Catchment Care Group, you can apply or renew here Membership 2011. Members have access to LBCCG services and support and can vote at meetings. Most importantly members can access generous funding opportunities. LBCCG values our members knowledge and experience which assists us to improve our service to the Lake Baroon catchment community.
Completed Membership Forms can be returned to: LBCCG, PO Box 567, Maleny, 4552
Reporting Environmental Damage
If you witness, or suspect wilful environmental damage (including water quality issues) please contact the Sunshine Coast Council on 1300 007 272 or 07 5475 7272 for further information or to register an official complaint.
Lake Baroon Catchment Care Group
LBCCG is a small community group
formed in 1992 that seeks to improve water quality
throughout the Lake Baroon catchment by implementing on-ground
works, education and awareness. The group originally
worked with a small budget which has now grown to enable
the employment of a dedicated full-time Catchment
Coordinator.
In 2007 LBCCG signed a funding agreement with AquaGen (now Seqwater) and the Queensland State Government to provide 10 years project funding and administrative support including a dedicated office building with excellent facilities. This funding agreement has been years in development and allows LBCCG to take a more proactive approach to catchment management and expand our activities.
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"Our excellent staff and committee members do a great job and have made LBCCG one of the leading catchment groups in our area".
Peter Stevens (President)
News
2010-11 Annual Report
Our AGM was held on the 13th of October click below to find out more:
2011 Newsletter
To find out what the LBCCG got up to in 2010-11 please follow this link:
LBCCG takes next step to delivering real outcomes
LBCCG
has recently been thinking about where we are heading into the
future. Re-engaging old friends - Sunshine Coast Council,
Burnett Mary Regional Group and others, as well as working even
harder to improve our service to the community.
The purchase of a Ford Ranger will assist us to improve our service to the Lake Baroon community and beyond.
A big thank you to Q Ford for a great deal and impeccable service.
LBCCG Coordinator wins 2011 Burnett Mary Regional Group Facilitator Award
LBCCG Coordinator Mark Amos has won the 2011 Burnett Mary Regional Group’s Natural Resource Management Coordinator Award.
The award recognises demonstrated outstanding achievement in establishing, linking, supporting and developing environmental projects in sustainable farming practices and on-farm natural resource management.
LBCCG received the award for the implementation of water quality improvement activities in the Lake Baroon catchment. The group has been active for almost twenty years providing a wide range of incentives to large landholders with on-going sustainability a key focus.
“LBCCG is committed to supporting farmers to not only improve water quality in the catchment, but also improve productivity so that they can continue to do what they do best – feed the nation” Mark said.
The Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG) is the peak coordinating body for natural resource management in the Burnett Mary region including water quality, agricultural sustainability and development.
“I would like to thank the LBCCG Management Committee for providing a supportive work environment, participating landholders for implementing our projects and Seqwater for their continuing support of LBCCG programs,” Mark said.
Australian Agriculture - The Greatest Story Never Told
2012 is the "Australian Year Of The Farmer". A short video celebrating their achievements and recognising their hard work can be seen here Australian Agriculture - The Greatest Story Never Told
Caring for the Catchment
- an article in Sunshine Coast Environment Council's October November 'Eco' magazine
"Water water everywhere..." - not in Australia unfortunately, this is a dry continent, water worries are predicted to worsen with climate change and managing this most precious resource is a must..." read the full article here
Lake Baroon Catchment Bulletin
Seqwater in partnership with LBCCG have produced a 'Lake Baroon Catchment Bulletin'. The Bulletin is intended to provide a broad 'snapshot' of Lake Baroon and its catchment.
Click on the image to see the full brochure.
Yet another....Update on the Mistflower Biological Control Project
The Mistflower Biological Control Project - a partnership between CSIRO, Sunshine Coast Council and LBCCG has taken another twist...
CSIRO in late 2010 were granted funding through the NSW Environmental Trust to test host specificity of the smut fungus to ensure it did not adversely affect native flora species or horticulture species.
As recently reported the smut fungus that controls Mistflower has been identified in initially the Lamington NP area and later in the Maleny area.
Thus CSIRO had to renegotiate the NSW Environmental Trust funding and fortunately were successful in gaining a project variation. As the funding was granted in NSW CSIRO will use the monies held by LBCCG to conduct sampling and monitoring in Queensland - specifically the Blackall Range.
Here's hoping that the smut fungus does not adversely affect native vegetation and horticulture and has a huge impact on this environmental pest.
An ID Guide for the smut fungus can be found here Mistflower Smut ID guide
Green Jobs Corps Graduation
Mid-February saw the official end of the LBCCG Green Jobs Corps Program with a Graduation Ceremony held in Nambour on the banks of Petrie Creek.
Through the program participants planted in excess of 2,000 trees, erected 200 metres of fencing, cleared innumerable square metres of lantana and other weeds and hopefully learned a multitude of invaluable skills that they can put to good use in the workforce.
The turnover of participants in the program was very high as the 'kids' found employment or moved out of the region - although some found that environmental-base activities just wasn't for them. Several of the participants have also been forwarded to local contracting teams.
Pictured above is Conservation Volunteers Australia Regional Manager Mark Dwyer presenting GJC participant Sam with her Certificate with GJC Team Leader Jono Bateman looking on
Name That Stream
Gillian Pechey, LBCCG Secretary recently gave a presentation to the Mary Cairncross Park members on the Name That Stream project that she completed in 2010.
We felt this was a good opportunity to 'freshen' up the NTS brochure with an updated map showing all the recently officially named waterways in the Lake Baroon catchment.
Click on the image to see the full brochure.
Name That Stream 2?
We have had quite a few inquiries from local residents about the possibility of naming further streams in the catchment. This is not a simple process however if there is enough interest from community members we would certainly entertain the project.
Click on the image to see the current names for our local waterways and also a few creeks that have been suggested that deserve a name.
If you are interested in assisting in naming your local creek contact Gillian Pechey here at the LBCCG secretary@lbccg.org.au
LBCCG hosts PICSE Work Placement student
During December LBCCG hosted a student through the Primary Industries Centre for Science Education Program. Jono Hooper, a Year 12 student from Burnside State High School spent a week with us assisting with photo-point monitoring of projects, macro-invertebrate sampling on the the Walkers Creek Restoration project and several other science-based tasks. Jono's assistance was invaluable to our organisation and we congratulate him on his academic success (studying a double degree in Environmental Science at USC in 2011) and wish him all the best for the future.
You can read a Report on Jono's week at LBCCG here
Myrtle rust found in South East Queensland
A DERM Alert
In late December 2010, Myrtle rust was found in a small number of production and retail nurseries in South East Queensland. Myrtle rust is a serious fungal disease caused by Uredo rangelii that affects plants in the Myrtaceae family. This family includes many Australian native species including eucalypts, bloodwoods, paperparks, tea trees, lilly pillies and water gums. The disease can cause deformation of leaves, heavy defoliation of branches, dieback, stunted growth and plant death. Read more here
Government Assistance for 2010/11 floods
Primary producers who have suffered flood damage to infrastructure can receive $5,000 initially and a further $20,000 (if required) to repair damage to dams, roads, waterway crossings and fencing. For more information click here Government Assistance Summary.
Bridge Creek Rehabilitation update
Recently the Green Jobs
Corps participants planted a land slip on Wells Road.
Sunshine Coast Council funding paid for the 1,200 plants.
The landholders had previously installed sub-surface
drainage and profiled the site.
Left: The land slip site revegetated using local native species. Note the white milk carton guards which are proving very cost effective and useful in protecting the seedlings from wallaby predation and chemical overspray.
2010 LBCCG Annual General Meeting
On October 14 LBCCG held their AGM with all Committee members retaining their positions for 2010-11. Although change can be a good thing, maintaining continuity in community groups is extremely important. Many thanks to the Committee members for volunteering their time and efforts. A copy of the AGM Minutes can be found here.
Weed Alert - New Weed heading North
Tropical Soda Apple
(Solanum viarum) has been recently identified on the NSW
North Coast. The weed had been thought to only be
established in the Kempsey area however these new findings
show it may well be on the move northwards. As it was found
in saleyards it is likely the main method of dispersal is
through stock movement. Tropical Soda Apple (TSA)
is similar to the common local weed Devils Fig (Solanum
hispida) however TSA has incredibly large spines -
particularly on the leaves.
A Fact Sheet can be found here.
For more news....click here News Archive
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455 North Maleny Road : PO Box 567 Maleny, Qld 4552 : Ph: 07 5494 3775
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