2020-02-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                      11 FEBRUARY 2020


                                                                                          ATTACHMENT 1
MULTI-YEAR ENVIRONMENT COLLABORATIVE (MEC) GRANT APPLICATIONS – 2019/20
This document includes the full project description provided by applicants for the latest round of
MEC Grants, in no particular order. Significant further information was provided by applicants in
their responses to detailed questions against the evaluation criteria.
1.     Reef Check Australia
Project Title -   Promoting marine stewardship within the NOOSA region through on ground
                  activities, education and increased community capacity

Brief Project Overview

Reef Check Australia aims to actively engage community members in appreciating, understanding and
protecting their local marine environment through reef health monitoring, citizen science initiatives and
hands-on education; promoting and celebrating a healthy marine ecosystem; contributing to a sustainable
environment.

Full project description

Reef Check Australia is seeking further support to assist with the growth of 2 priority project components to
form a cohesive program that actively engages community members in appreciating, understanding and
protecting the wider NOOSA marine environment. This project will empower volunteers and community
members to participate in citizen science initiatives, promote and celebrate a healthy marine ecosystem, and
contribute to a sustainable environment. In 2019, we obtained one year of funding for this program through
Noosa Shire Councils, Community Project Grant, but in order to ensure the project is sustainable into the
future, we hope to acquire more support to ensure an exceptional standard of work can continue to be
delivered.

1)     Reef Check Australia reef health monitoring and mapping along the Noosa coastline conducted by
       trained volunteers to collect locally relevant, globally standardised information on reef health.
       Established in 2007, Reef Check offers some of the only available long-term data for many of these
       sites and this project showcases the value of citizen science initiatives as a powerful tool to empower
       volunteers to contribute useful science information for management and education initiatives. The
       continuation of our long-term data collection compliments and builds on the legacy of our existing
       programs. Reef Check survey data is freely available to all managing bodies. It has previously been
       used as part of the SEQ Catchments Natural Resource Management Plan review process, Noosa
       Biosphere Reserve Reports, and we are continuing to investigate new data applications and
       opportunities to value add where possible.

       RCA has previously monitored two locations at Jew Shoal in 2011, 2012 and 2013, however since this
       time RCA had been unable to continue regular monitoring due to funding constraints. We received
       funding from Noosa Council in 2019 to conduct surveys on Jew Shoal for the first time since 2013, in
       addition to conducting surveys on Little Halls Reef (a key existing RCA location) and three new
       locations in 2019. Surveys conducted in 2020 will provide a vital update on the health of these
       important nearshore reef areas, and allow us to monitor for changes (as seen on Little Halls Reef).

2)     Community training and on-ground activities to nurture marine stewardship by sharing reef health
       findings, building community capacity to engage in reef health topics and fostering action on locally-
       relevant ocean health issues in the Noosa Council area. We believe that empowering volunteers to
       collect reef data for science and management applications is a critical pathway for engagement, but
       just as important is sharing this information with the community to motivate broader engagement and
       action. When community members can truly understand the marine environment on their doorstep,
       they are better prepared to appreciate these unique systems and are better equipped to personally
       and collectively take positive action to care for and protect them. This will be completed through key
       project components including our award winning Reef Ambassador program, in addition to
       collaborative community events.



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