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Jaime

Could Syntropic Farming work for you?

Jaime · Jun 27, 2018 · 1 Comment

Reef Catchments recently sent Wendy Eiteneuer from Pioneer Catchment & Landcare Group Inc to Cairns to take part in an introductory Syntropic Farming Course. Wendy shares her learnings with us below.

Participation in the course was thanks to funding from the QNRM (Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Management Investment) program.

Syntropic Farming mimics a forest’s interdependent plant relationships – methods can be applied in food production. If planned correctly it is said a Syntropic system can produce an almost continual harvest of vegetable, fruits, herbs, flowers or forestry timber over a 20-40 year span.

– By Wendy Eiteneuer

Syntropic Farming is the brainchild of Swiss farmer and scientist, Ernst Götsch. Ernst moved to Brazil in the 1980’s, and spends his time there refining his Syntropic Farming methods and passing on his knowledge to others. Ernst has rehabilitated thousands of acres of cleared and degraded land back into the lush rainforest it was originally, while also producing abundant food crops.

I recently attended an Introductory Syntropic Farming Course on the Atherton Tableland, presented by Thiago Barbosa. Thiago has been a long-time student of Ernst Götsch, and now practices Syntropic Farming in Australia in the Byron Bay region of NSW as well as passing on the information through courses and workshops like the one I attended. I found the course to be very informative, and I feel that this is an exciting concept that can be used to improve agriculture in our region.

Syntropic Farming is a system that can be replicated anywhere, regardless of the location, land size, or soil type. It results in improved soil quality while also facilitating significant reductions in water and nutrient inputs. The five key principles of this method are:

Ground Cover – no bare dirt ever. If earth is not covered by a living plant it must be covered with mulch.
Maximise Photosynthesis – maximising the amount of photosynthesising foliage sequesters carbon, improves soil quality and produces abundant supplies of food.

Natural Succession – as a rainforest has a natural succession where there is always new life to replace old, so does a Syntropic Farming system.
Stratification – using plants with differing light requirements creates a multi-layered system of great diversity, creating resilience.
Management – managing a Syntropic system involves harvesting, pruning and monitoring to maintain groundcover.

What Syntropic Farming does is reproduce the interdependent relationships within a rainforest. If planned correctly a Syntropic system can produce an almost continual harvest of vegetable, fruits, herbs, flowers or forestry timber over a 20-40 year span. A key characteristic is that a wide variety of plants with all different lifespans and light requirements are planted at a very high density, just as you would see within a rainforest.

View the YouTube video, ‘Life in Syntropy’ below for more information.

 

 

Botanic Gardens works improve life for local fish

Jaime · Aug 28, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Catchment Solutions Matt Moore and Reef Catchments Manager Katrina Dent with Mackay Regional Parks and Environment Councillor Theresa Morgan at the Lagoons Creek rehabilitation site.
Catchment Solutions Matt Moore and Reef Catchments Manager Katrina Dent with Mackay Regional Parks and Environment Councillor Theresa Morgan at the Lagoons Creek rehabilitation site.
Works include construction of a fish rock ramp fishway to improve fish passage through the Mackay Whitsunday region.
Works include construction of a fish rock ramp fishway to improve fish passage through the Mackay Whitsunday region.

Environmental rehabilitation works at Lagoons Creek (Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens) are set to help improve life for local native fish and other wildlife species.

Works will also assist in stabilising the stream bed, reducing erosion and adding to the natural beauty of the park area.

The Lagoons Creek Rehabilitation is a major project being undertaken by Reef Catchments in conjunction with the Mackay Regional Council and Catchment Solutions to increase the extent of native habitat and provide aquatic connectivity between the Pioneer River Estuary and important upstream wetland habitats along Lagoons Creek.

Activities recently completed at the site include the installation of a rock-ramp fishway designed to improve fish movement through the Mackay urban area. Two erosion control structures have also been installed. Works have additionally involved significant revegetation and weed control.

Catchment Solutions project officer, Matt Moore, said rehabilitating wetland areas to help aid the movement of native fish and improve habitat for wildlife in the Mackay region was critical.

“In the Mackay region, we have lost quite a lot of important wetland area to urban and agricultural development, so preserving and rebuilding the lowland wetlands that remain are critical. The Lagoons Creek is a tributary of the lower Pioneer River and is one example of a waterway that has been channelised, cleared and undergone significant structural change over time,” he said.

“Important works completed in conjunction with the Mackay Regional Council and co-funded by the Australian Government will now help restore connectivity through the wider Mackay area.”

Mr Moore said works were especially important in maintaining healthy levels of native migratory species, including fish, birds, reptiles and mammals.

“For example barramundi, sea mullet and tarpon migrate from the sea into productive freshwater wetland habitats as juveniles where they feed and grow before migrating back to the sea to spawn and complete their life cycle. By assisting their journey through the region, we help ensure the future survival of these iconic fish, many of which are important recreational, commercial and indigenous fishery species,” Mr Moore said.

Prior to works, large amounts of exotic weed (para grass) were choking the waterways and forming a barrier to fish migration.

“Had the site been left unattended, streambed erosion would have continued, barriers to fish and wildlife would have remained and eventually the result would be an environmental ‘bottleneck’ between land and sea in the urban area of Mackay,” Mr Moore said.

“Thanks to the work being done by Reef Catchments and Mackay Regional Council we are now well placed to continue to remove that bottleneck and improve the environmental and aesthetic value of the area.”

Mackay Regional Council Parks and Environment portfolio councillor, Theresa Morgan, said council was committed to the maintenance and improved condition of the local environment.

“Mackay’s natural environment contains unique species and ecosystems that can’t be found anywhere else in the world so it is important that we protect these,” she said.

“Our beaches, islands, fishing grounds, rainforests and unique wildlife also play an important role in the region’s tourism industry.

“Investing in the natural environment is not only beneficial to the health of local ecosystems but is essential to the prosperity of the local economy.”

This project is a joint initiative of Reef Catchments, Catchment Solutions and Mackay Regional Council, co-funded by Mackay Regional Council, the Department of Transport and Main Roads and the Australian Government Reef Programme.

 

Case Study: Stabilising stream banks along the O’Connell River

Jaime · Apr 27, 2015 · 1 Comment

Management Interventions to improve Ecosystem Health

 Case Study – Alluvium Consulting Report to stabilise stream banks along the O’Connell River.

Work in progress on the O'Connell River site.
Work in progress on the O’Connell River site.

 

McConnell River after works downstream view.
After works downstream view.
McConnell River after works upstream view.
After works upstream view.

Stream bank erosion is a major source of sediment in many watercourses. This has multiple implications including degrading water quality, reducing ecosystem habitat and the loss of agricultural land on productive alluvial floodplains.

One of the focuses for improving water quality and ecosystem health in the Mackay Whitsunday region is to stabilise stream banks.

A study has been undertaken to assess stream bank loss and stability of the O’Connell River. A significant proportion of the sediment supply is understood to be from channel erosion with the report seeking to understand the cause of erosion, identify the locations of significant sediment loss, the extent in which it is happening and also the potential for future channel erosion along the river.

To undertake this study a number of tools were utilised including aerial imagery analysis, terrain modelling, hydraulic modelling and field inspections.

Interpretation of the terrain modelling results have highlighted areas of significant channel erosion by comparing digital elevation models (DEM) from LiDar between 2010 and 2014. When the two DEM’s are overlaid a DEM of difference allows quantification of the loss of sediment during the four-year timeframe. Using this comparison the report heighted 31 sites of major bank loss loosing between 1 000m3   to 65 000m3 in the four years between the DEM’s.

The Hydraulic modelling is effective at identifying the management intervention necessary to ensure that the bank does not continue to erode after a management intervention by calculating the stream power along the river. With lower stream power the bank can be stabilised with revegetation alone, however with higher stream power more effort is needed to maintain bank stability.

When the terrain and hydraulic modelling results are interpreted together, major sites of potential erosion have been identified. These sites have high stream power together with large areas of alluviul floodplain with the potential to be eroded.

With major sites identified, Reef Catchments has been engaging landholders to implement bank stabilisation projects which will halt the loss of sediment from the banks and allow the alluvial plains to continue to be utilised for agricultural production.

Reef Catchments is working with landholders to implement a range of different measures including rock toes, pile fields and log jams. All initiatives will include bank revegetation, which will maintain bank stability to reduce the sediment loads within the O’Connell and maintain productive alluvial floodplain.

Currently Reef Catchments has undertaken one major project identified from the report to stabilise a bank which has lost 10 000m3 between 2010 and 2014. One dimensional hydraulic modelling identified five potential option ranging from poor to high likelihood of success. Engaging with the landholder and identifying available resources, a two metre rock toe with bank reprofiling was chosen.

Large woody debris will also be embedded to create habitat and the bank will be revegetated to ensure long term bank stabilisation.

A Little Help From Our Friends

Jaime · Apr 27, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Photograph of soil illustrating soil health– Article provided by Rob Eccles, Sustainable Agriculture Manager, Catchment Solutions

Is there no good microbe other than a dead microbe? Certainly most of our experiences and taught behaviours of the last century would lead to that belief. For good reason we do things like wash our hands and are prescribed antibiotics. None of us are alive now that know any different.

However, in agriculture it does not always hold true that all microbes do harm.

It could be said in the big picture sense; that research is now merely refining the discoveries made previously in pesticides, fertiliser and conventional plant breeding. Mankind has already achieved the simple things and made the major break throughs in these fields. Many are now saying the next “green revolution” increments will come from the use of beneficial microbes.

This is not such a big step as microbes are already in our daily lives. We eat bread, cheese and yogurt made with microbes. We drink alcoholic beverages made with microbes. For the last 50 years we have been coating legume seed with species specific strains of rhizobia bacteria to efficiently fix nitrogen into our crops and soil. We swallow probiotics to inoculate our digestive tracts with beneficial microbes to improve our health. Finally, many of our antibiotics actually are made by microbes.

Science, the process of systematic investigation, is the best invention mankind has ever made. I am disappointed how the poor use of science by many pushing microbial products has actually set back wide industry adoption by 10 to 20 years. This has occurred because it is an unregulated market not requiring the registration of products like agrichemicals and fertilisers. There are some poor products and salesman with inadequate knowledge and understanding out there. Merely mentioning the topic commonly leads to snickers and accusation of quackery by most in the industry be they scientists, agronomists, farmers, rural resellers or even the general public. This has lead to the poor investments by research bodies and extension organisations.

I believe we will not feed the growing world population for much longer without them. The cane industry will not recover from its decline in yield without their reintroduction. I say reintroduction because these are microbial organisms that have always lived beside and within wild sugarcane plants and their ancestors over the last 10’s and 100’s of millions of years. Except for modern agricultural practices and the necessity of a highly effective quarantine system on imported breeding lines our sugarcane plants have never lived without them before.

If sugarcane is like the other grasses studied such as ryegrass, tall fescue and cereals its health and productivity can be increased by identifying and inoculating these microbes back. For this reason in 2014: I instigated the meeting and collaboration of our SRA and New Zealand’s AgResearch into working together in finding these beneficial organisms and discovering what they do and how to restore them back into commercial sugarcane.

We have now made this into a funding application. The literature review to support the application has uncovered a significant number of published research papers identifying many beneficiary organisms already known (see graphic below).

Biology

Noting all these organisms need scientific validation of their suspected benefits, here is a quick description of what they do:

Diazotrophic (bacteria): These live on and in leaves, in roots and in the rhizosphere around roots. They fix nitrogen and offer some disease protection. A non-host species specific commercial line was released in 2009.

Azospirillium (bacteria): Live in the rhizosphere around roots. They fix nitrogen and often need a third organism to be present for them to function. Strains are now ready for commercialisation.

Burkholderia australis (bacteria): A nitrogen fixer.

Free living rhizobia (bacteria): A nitrogen fixer. Already present in our sugarcane fields. Research is needed to improve their effectiveness.

VAM (Fungus): Short for vesicular arbuscular mycorrihiza, this fungi lives inside and outside of roots. It networks cane plants between themselves and other plants. Assists the plant by improving nutrient uptake, offers some pest and disease protection and encourages other beneficial microbes. It is being commercialised now.

Epichloe Endophyte (fungi): This is very species specific. Fungal species that were compatible to ryegrass and tall fescue were reintroduced commercially during the 1990’s and now over $30 billion dollars of agricultural production worldwide use them annually. Cereals types are near release. These fungi are only suspected to be present in wild sugarcane species. These can live only inside their host. In other species they assist the plant in repelling pests, disease, improve plant’s tolerance to drought and heat stress plus improve tillering and biomass.

There are likely to be thousands of yet to be discovered organisms available in the wild cane species in their native environments. Restoring them into or beside our sugarcane plants could offer many benefits.

5000 seedlings in the ground at Racecourse Mill

Jaime · Mar 31, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Racecourse Mill wetland restoration Racecourse Mill wetland restoration Racecourse Mill wetland restoration Racecourse Mill wetland restoration

Phase two of a major wetland restoration project near Racecourse Mill is underway, with more than 5000 seedlings set to be in the ground by the end of April.

Peter Muller, Reef Catchments project coordinator, said 3000 seedlings had been planted on the 4 hectare site over February and March, with another 2000 set to planted by the end of April.

“This is a major step in the wetland restoration project, which is a joint project between Mackay Sugar and Reef Catchments to restore a heavily degraded area of land directly behind Racecourse Mill,” Mr Muller said.

He said revegetation of native plants was a critical stage of the wetland restoration process.

“Over time, as these trees mature, they will help recreate the original rainforest ecosystem and environment that was once typical to the Pioneer Valley Catchment.

“The eventual aim of the restored wetland is to provide a corridor, becoming a point of connection in the landscape that allows for the delivery of water quality and ecosystem benefits to a wider area.”

More than 30 native species have been selected for the site, including Leichhardt and Damson Trees and Alexandra Palms. The seedlings have been provided by Mackay Tree Factory and the Pioneer Catchment Landcare Nursery.

The team from Whitsunday Catchment Landcare has been contracted to do the planting on-ground, making significant progress in a short period, with thousands of trees now in the ground.

Mr Muller said planting of endemic species (trees native to the area) also helped guard against invasive and environmentally damaging weeds.

“Tree species selected have been based on the regional ecosystem of the site. Before we started works, the site was mostly overgrown with weeds. By stocking the area heavily with endemic species, we hope to ‘shade out’ the weed species, some of which have become quite dominant over time – for example, water lettuce, water hyacinth, para grass and hymenachne,” he said.

Revegetation could also help improve water quality by enhancing natural filtration.

“Improved water quality and the restoration of land, ecosystem and habitat health are the major focus of the works and we hope the community will notice benefits in these areas moving forward,” Mr Muller said.

The project is a joint initiative of Reef Catchments and Mackay Sugar, through co-funding from the Australian Government Reef Programme. Works on the site will continue to June 2016.

Reef Catchments is currently seeking to partner with private landholders and farmers on similar wetland restoration works across the region. For more information contact Reef Catchments on (07) 4968 4234 or email peter.muller@reefcatchments.com

Community ‘Tilapia Watch’ best way to slow the spread

Jaime · Sep 28, 2014 · 2 Comments

They are an exotic fish that are considered to be one of the worst pest species in Australia and they are on the move.

Since January this year, the pest fish Tilapia have been recorded in the Mackay Gooseponds as well as further south at locations in lower Fitzroy near Rockhampton and to the west around Moranbah. Tilapia are a cichlid species native to eastern Africa.

Catchment Solutions aquatic ecologists recently headed south to conduct electrofishing and assist with eDNA surveys to determine just how far and fast Tilapia are spreading.

Ecologist Trent Power reinstated the most effective way to slow the spread of tilapia was to get the public on board.

“The more eyes out there, the better – what we need is a community ‘Tilapia Watch’,” Mr Power said.

“If we can get the public to be aware of how to identify tilapia, to keep an eye out for them and to report sightings, then we have a much better chance of controlling the spread.”

Tilapia have been declared harmful to the environment, posing a particular threat to our native fish species.

“Tilapia highly competitive fish and have the potential to displace native fish species, which is why it is important we have an accurate gauge of their movement,” Mr Power said.

“Unfortunately, people moving tilapia from one waterway to another has been  a major component in their spread. Unknowingly, people often take tilapia to use as bait or as a pet fish to put in aquariums at home.

“If more people understand the threat and know how to recognise the tilapia, they will be less likely to spread the fish. Keeping tilapia out of unaffected waterways is the best way to protect our native fish species in the face of this pest, which has been likened to the cane toad of the water.”

Tilapia have two reliable identifying features: they have a single complete dorsal fin with no dent or gap; and they have pointed dorsal and pectoral fins, whereas most native fish have rounded fins.

“If you sight or catch a Tilapia, we are asking people to ring Queensland Fisheries as a first port of call to report the find,” Mr Power said.

“If caught, Tilapia should be humanely killed and disposed of away from the waters edge – for example by placing the fish in an ice slurry then burying on site. It is illegal to take tilapia for consumption.”

Mr Power said most people were also not aware substantial fines may also apply for anyone found with Tilapia.

“This fish is declared noxious in Queensland and penalties of up to $200,000 apply. It is illegal to place or release fish alive or dead in Queensland waterways,” he said.

Beach staircases set to help stabilise Mackay dunes

Jaime · Jul 29, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Kite-boarders, walkers and beach-goers can now enjoy eco friendly access to Town Beach, thanks to improved beach planning.

Beach Plans developed in partnership with the community, Reef Catchments and Mackay Regional Council for Town and Far Beaches are being put into action, with the construction of a new staircase at Town Beach.

The staircase was made from recycled materials and is located off Binnington Esplanade, opposite Mulherin Street.

The Town and Far Beach Plans have been developed to ensure the long term sustainability of this 4.5 kilometre stretch of coastline, which is a highly popular destination for Mackay beach-goers.

Controlled burn reduces wildfire risk and helps restore natural balance

Jaime · Jul 29, 2014 · Leave a Comment

The success of a major controlled burn in North Queensland has helped demonstrate the value of fire as an important tool for both conservation and hazard-reduction.

On Wednesday 9 July, a controlled burn was undertaken on part of the Burdekin Shire Council reserve on the corner of Brown and Barratta Roads.

Consultation with a number of landowners, fire wardens and volunteer rural fire brigade officers had identified the Council Reserve had not been burnt for many years and had a high fuel load.

The preventative management strategy was a collaboration between local fire brigades and landowners, WetlandCare Australia, Reef Catchments Solutions and the local Burdekin Shire Council, who provided machinery and staff support.

The burn was organised by Merv Pyott, Wetland Care Australia’s senior project manager, with expert advice from Reef Catchments Solutions’ Andrew Houley who has worked in controlled fire management for more than 25 years.

The fire was a high priority element of the Building Biodiversity Dividends for the Barratta Creek Catchment project, funded by the Australian Government.

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