To protect thriving agriculture in Far North Queensland, the Queensland Government provided grants to boost the capability of local government and regional communities to manage invasive plants and invasive animals. The grant is for the development of regional collaboration of invasive plant and animal biosecurity planning.

NWQROC was successful in its grant application entitled: Jump start the Northwest Queensland Regional Biosecurity Plan coordination and implementation. This project, delivered in collaboration with Southern Gulf NRM (SGNRM) will continue the regional coordination, planning and capacity building work that has been making significant progress over the last 3-4 years in the region with a focus on the four eligible Councils of Doomadgee, Burke, Carpentaria and Etheridge councils.

Background

The NWQROC Regional Biosecurity Plan was published in December 2022, and assists in the implementation of the plan across the then ten of NWQROC’s member councils.

The development of this plan has further cemented the partnership between the NWQROC and SGNRM to deliver collaboratively on biosecurity activities within the region.

Working collaboratively, the NWQROC and SGNRM have developed a strong governance structure for Biosecurity matters within the region. This work has been completed over several years, further demonstrating the two groups’ commitment to biosecurity matters.

Jump start the North West Queensland Regional Biosecurity Plan coordination and implementation

This project aims to provide regional governance support and capacity building assistance to the four eligible NWQROC member councils.

Resourcing for this project will go towards not only supporting the governance system, but also to establish weed and pest data collection, collation and data collection, collation and data sharing, resourcing capacity building with the ongoing functioning of the four Councils and coordinate the whole Gulf Catchments Pest Taskforce (GCPTF) and the Regional Technical Advisory Group (RTAG). The project will also provide a training and development component; improving alignment and communication of biosecurity operations across the four Councils and coordinate with the entire NWQROC region.

This project will build capacity of councils through improved coordination, collaboration, increased communication, and mapping capacity. Engagement across the region will be strengthened, both within councils and with a range of key organisations e.g. SGNRM, Traditional Owner organisations, other state agencies such as Transport and Main Roads, and Queensland Rail, and industry sectors including the resources sector.

Overall, the project aims to continue to position the four Councils (and coordinate with the whole region in a strategic direction to tackle biosecurity issues, by increasing landholder and community member education regarding weed and pest identification and management actions, improved communication between councils and their stakeholders; and capacity building activities for improved on ground action.

As part of the project, a series of information sheets has been developed:

Click to download the PDF versions below