Caring for Country, Caring for Sea, Caring for Future Generations Exploring Northern Australia Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Throughout our region

Caring for Country, Caring for Sea, Caring for Future Generations

Exploring Northern Australia

Northern Gulf Resource Management Group

Throughout our region we share a sense of opportunity – that the time of the North has arrived, a new era and outlook for our future.

We have no doubt that our landscapes will be valuable to future rural economies – anyone who lives in the north easily recognises that latent potential.


•The views of locals are pretty consistent with the views and final recommendations of the North Australian Taskforce.•The majority want sustainable development to improve economic opportunity and lifestyle whilst also preserving or maintaining environmental health.

BUT

In reality we can’t keep our cake, and eat it too. We have to make trade-offs – there are winners and losers.

•At this point in time neither the data consolidated by the CSIRO or our local data is sufficient alone to make major development decisions. •This is not the end of the story, but rather the beginning of our journey. We are about to create a legacy – and given that family and the future of our grandchildren is the fundamental principal underlying the passion, love and purpose of all residents of our region; we will be active in authoring this legacy.


Our landscapes are remote but the relevant science is even remoterNo more desktop studies please.

Within our region we have ground water resources feeding large spring systems that run rivers all year round – with no ‘science’, or rivers that locals feel run several months post the end of the wet in bed sands – with no ‘science’, overland flow and river discharges are poorly recorded and rainfall even worse. In my region cyclones are lost, one of Australia’s largest floods just went unrecorded, our soils are described by research conducted some 60 years ago and not updated since (a scale not suitable for development decisions). We have biodiversity new to science but observed by locals for a lifetime, biodiversity that is common but recorded by ‘science’ as rare, and biodiversity that is increasing in numbers but recorded by ‘science’ as in decline.



•We need scientists to live and work in the region rather than a centre 2-4,000 km’s away. •We recommend that a partnership between the Bureau of Meteorology and landholders be developed to improve rainfall collection and a subsidy be provided for remote weather stations (current cost $600 each).Upper Catchment rainfalls

Gilbert River Median Historic Rainfall

Northhead 802.6mm Since 1970

Robinhood 802.6mm Since 1967

Abingdon Downs 748.7mm Since 1945

Gilberton 643.9mm Since 1931

Rosella Plains 658.9mm Since 1964

Bagstowe 666.6mm Since 1909

Strathmore 803.9mm Since 1873

Norman River

Esmeralda 820.7mm Since 1917

Coastal – near mouth of Gilbert and Norman rivers

Karumba 843.8mm Since 1938


•the information systems, particularly for water and biodiversity, used by government for northern and remote Australia need reviewing and data error (paucity in rainfall, discharge, species diversity etc) factored in to allow flexibility in policy.•the strategic positioning of doppler radar would begin to significantly enhance this data capture as well as service emergency management



•Some of our natural ecosystems are quoted as the ‘best in the world’. •We need economic valuation of natural ecosystems trade-off decision making •Bioregional planning could be a strategic approach.•Local people (indigenous and non indigenous) have ‘connection’ and need to be involved in any future planning and land use changes.

Good planning and the Ecosystem Service currency is a good basis for development decisions

Involve the local residents properly please.

Aesthetic value

Recreational value

Educational value

Distant use value

Consumptive use value

Indirect use value

Option value

Existence value

Bequest value

Philanthropic value

NON-USE value

Total economic value

Non-consumptive use value

USE value

Direct use value


•Success hinges on practical and credible approaches, and ‘bottom up’ directions. •Such Northern Gulf’s mapping, monitoring, soil health/compost, and biodiversity refuge projects.

•We are enabling the landholder/ farmer/ fishermen by using common sense to drive innovation, technology, and collaboration that improves performance.

•We believe that we will be a strong contributor authoring the legacy being created in northern Australia.

We’ve started work on the job for your and our children’s future

There’s huge value in landholders and farmers generating the information – but data has to be useful at the paddock level and bottom up rather than policy or academic down

ASRIS data verses landholder data for same property soil/landtype

Documents

Caring for Country, Caring for Sea, Caring for Future Generations Exploring Northern Australia Northern Gulf Resource Management Group Throughout our region