Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Monitoring the state of the land
Landholders in South West Queensland are being helped to monitor the condition of their land and find out whether they're managing it sustainably.
"One of the biggest issues in managing natural resources across the nation is trying to get a handle on how successful we've been with different initiatives," said Keith Walker, a regional facilitator with South West NRM Ltd (SWNRM). "This needs to be measured objectively through monitoring and evaluation."
With this in mind, South West NRM has supported a project that encourages landholders, community groups and other land managers to monitor natural resources like water, land and biodiversity.
The aim is to give them the skills to gather information that helps them manage land so it can withstand extreme conditions, like drought, in the future.
Funding
The Australian Government contributed more than $23,000 to SWNRM in 2003 to undertake the project.
Activities
"There were two main aspects of the project," said Venessa Moore, South West NRM Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. "They involved setting up water quality monitoring equipment in the Warrego, Paroo, Nebine and Bulloo catchments and developing monitoring kits for loan to land managers and community groups."
Water monitoring equipment was set up at four strategic points in the region's river systems. These allowed different water levels to be monitored for siltation and turbidity (cloudiness in the water). Community groups were trained to sample water and maintain the equipment.
Plans are underway to install four more rising stage samplers (water quality monitoring equipment) at other locations.
Monitoring kits were developed on three different subjects - water, vegetation and biodiversity, and soils and ground cover. The kits include a monitoring guide and instruction and monitoring methods cards showing users how to monitor a particular transect of land. Workbooks and GPS units are also provided so that landholders can record their findings and enter sites on maps for follow up monitoring.
Achievements
While staffing movements at South West NRM have presented some hurdles in maintaining a consistent thrust for the project, the kits have continued to be loaned out to land managers and water monitoring data is still being collected.
Venessa is about to review and update the monitoring guide and promote the availability of the monitoring resources. People are already in line for the new guide.
"It's a fantastic project," she said. "The kits have proved very successful especially in terms of the equipment they contain."
More information
- Venessa Moore, South West NRM Monitoring and Evaluation Officer: (07) 4654 7382
- Keith Walker, South West NRM Regional Facilitator: (07) 4654 7382
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