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Steve MacDonaldQld Dept.Local govt &
planning
Photo: John Augusteyn
2011 Tracks & Trails Conference
QLD State of the Trails
2011 Tracks & Trails Conference
QLD State of the Trails
Steve MacDonald Qld Dept. Local govt. & Planning
• SEQ Active Trails Strategy
• SEQ Outdoor Recreation strategy
• Qld Cycle strategy
• Qld Greenspace strategy
• Statutory Regional Planning
Department of Environment & Resource ManagementQueensland Parks & Wildlife Service (QPWS)An overview:
1. Severe weather events across Queensland
2. Affected parks – floods
3. Ground Zero – Yasi
4. QPWS disaster response
5. Re-opening our parks
6. Tracks & Trails update
Since December, floods and cyclones have damaged tracks, campgrounds, roads and other infrastructure in Queensland’s parks
Girraween NP
Worst floods in decades affect half the state + Category 5 cyclone sweeps across the northern part of the state
Recipe for disaster
Tully Heads
50% of Queensland’s 279 national parks were closed or partly closed by flooding or Cyclone Yasi * Significant biodiversity values
inundated by flooding (1-20 Jan 2011)
Park entrance, Girraween NP
1.7 million hectares of parks and forests affected by Cyclone Yasi
Flooding across central, southern and western Queensland in December/January closed parks and damaged park roads, tracks and infrastructure
Bill Goebel bridge, Girraween NP
Lawton Road, D’Aguilar NP
Normally
Bald Rock Creek, Girraween NP
Main swimming hole, Girraween NP
Normally
22 February 2011: Tropical Cyclone Yasi hit the Queensland coast near Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell
• Mission Beach• TullyTully• Cardwell Cardwell
Forest foliage was devastated and a tsunami affected park infrastructure
Lacey Creek, Mission Beach
Mackay Highlands Great Walk
Whitsunday Great Walk
Murray Falls camping area, Girramay NP
Tropical Cyclone Yasi, the aftermath
• Endangered southern cassowary
• Cardwell Rainforest and Reef Centre
• Fallen trees, forests stripped of leaves and infrastructure damaged in many parks, especially around Cardwell and Innisfail
• Even Boodjamulla NP!
Cardwell Rainforest and Reef Centre
Cardwell, looking towards Tully
QPWS park assets•Infrastructure valued at more than $1.2B•20,000 kilometres of roads and firebreaks, •134 camping areas, •129 day-use facilities,•2,200 kilometres of walking tracks.
Mission Beach
Murray Falls, Girramay NP
Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walk
• Built in tropical rainforest damaged by Cyclone Larry 2006
• Cyclone Yasi caused less damage
• Walkway re-opened one week later
• Some visitors think the views are even better!
Elevated walkway
Elevated walkway
Forest walk
Cantilever roof, elevated walkway
Cassowary habitat
• Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi wreaked havoc on the endangered southern cassowary’s habitat
• The Cassowary Response Team implemented supplementary feeding to help affected birds
Feed stations have been established
Fruit has been dropped by helicopter and placed at feeding stations
Remote sensor cameras have been installed at feeding stations to monitor how the birds are using the stations and watch for dog and wild pig activity
Feeding stations are moved and alternated to encourage natural foraging
The clean-up
• QPWS focus is fixing the damage so we can welcome back our visitors
• Rangers working hard to re-open our disaster-affected parks
• Visitor safety is a priority
• By Easter most parks were open for business!
When the going gets tough
QPWS staff supported the community clean-up at:
• Brisbane
• Ipswich
• The Lockyer Valley
• Cardwell
• Rockhampton
Community, recovery and evacuation centre, Gatton
Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane
Goodna, Ipswich
Lockyer Creek Rd, Helidon
Council depot, Rockhampton
Grantham, Australia Day
QPWS PrioritiesReinstate infrastructure, access and fire and pest management programs on QPWS managed protected areas
Support and facilitate recovery of disaster-affected nature refuges
An overview:
Current status;
• NDRRA funding
• 24 million over 3 yrs
• 6 million (25%) by Qld
• 40 temporary rangers
• infrastructure replacement
QPWS park update
• 162 national parks were affected by the extreme weather events
• 147 of these have been re-opened (90%), 12 partially open & 3 remain closed.
• Availability of private contractors to undertake repairs remains an issue
• 255 “Restoration of Essential Public Asset” projects
• Training for the new QLDRA NDRRA procedures are being held
• Work slowed by further wet ground conditions.
National Parks impacted by disasters
Milestones – Park Infrastructure Environmental Line of Reconstruction – Activity Report Aug. Timeframe Status
Planning
NDRRA Applications prepared. June 11 40%
Response Phase
Initial clean up for access and assessment July 11 87%
Identify & assess key tourism & recreation sites / facilities May 11 161 sites identified
Engage with tourism & recreation stakeholders July 11 In progress
Recovery Phase
Restoration works completed March 13 6%
Mitigation Phase
Assessment of future damage mitigation options completed June 13 40%
End Recovery Activity
Project variations submittedCompletion reports submittedAsset management records updated
June 13 0%0%4%
QPWS Walking tracks AS 2156.1
Class 1 21
Class 2 55
Class 3 372
Class 4 1427
Class 5 241
Class 6 94
Total Walking Tracks 2210K
Note – excludes multi-use trails & management roads which allow recreational access
2008 T & T report• 1700 km of terrestrial walking track
(Sams data - Strategic Asset Management System +/- 30%) • Doesn’t include numerous multi-
use, 4WD/2WD scenic drives/travel routes and marine and freshwater boat/canoe trail routes.
Photo: John Augusteyn
•majority tracks occur in southern and northern Qld •QPWS adopting new Walking Track classification •majority track in AS Class 3 & Class 4
–due to the historical development of the track system in the parks Near Brisbane,–Concentration of protected area in the wet tropics around Cairns and in south-east Queensland. –Close to urban populations
Other agenciesWyaralong Dam – opened July 2011 – MTB & multi-use – 45k+Rail trail network (multi-use) – new approvals more trails
Track snapshot
Track tenures in QPWS
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Distance (km)
Conservation Park
Council-Road Reserve
Forest Reserve
National Park
NP/SF
State Forest
State Freehold
Water Reserve
Ten
ure
Ty
pe
s
5-10km
10-20km
20+km
1-5km
0-1km
Murray Falls, Girramay NP
• BWQ & 4WD MoU - ‘Adopt-a-track’
• TiMBA MTB private inititive in Atherton with interagency support
• New/revised policies - MTB, Cliff based, Competitive Events, Geocaching
• QPWS multi-use trail signage
• Parks Outdoor Recreation Forums
TVM update
• Floods and cyclones are part of the Australian landscape
• Forest renewal follows tree falls
• Wildlife breed in good seasons
• Tropical rainforest has evolved to survive such impacts; some pioneer saplings have waited 20 years for this chance to reach the sunlight!
• So unsightly damage does not last long
• Last year’s floods out west saw the return of plant species not seen for decades
Photo: Robert Ashdown
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