2020-02-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                            11 FEBRUARY 2020


     Reducing environmental anxiety through real action on climate change concerns.
     Connecting young people to the many environmental groups in our region.

We believe that young people have far more capacity than what we give them credit for and so we adopt a
student led inquiry model. We allow them to think through the process and evaluate the best path forward.
We support their development and understanding through detailed, year level appropriate, programs
designed to deliver education and grassroots outcomes.

In doing so we allow young people to thrive and take ownership of the outcomes, develop their problem
solving skills and give them a sense of pride for being active participants in their local community. The
benefits of our approach have been proven. The outcomes for our local environs are measurable as we
apply Citizen Science data collection as part of the programs.

Our programs reduce Environmental Anxiety (a growing despair in young people) by allowing them to
become active participants in local environmental projects with rich outcomes. We provide real action
opportunities.

We have negotiated the development of the Noosa NatureMapr service. This easy to use interface allows
students to enter observations they make in the field. This includes the detailed mapping of biodiversity
through transverse studies in the field. Students are then supported to evaluate a way forward for the
revegetation strategies, once implemented the progress of their work is mapped in intervals and entered into
the database, providing a rich, measurable outcome for their assessments and for use by authorities such
as Noosa Council.



6.     Eastern Beaches Bushcare Collaborative (auspiced by Noosa Integrated Catchment
       Association)
Project title -   Coastal Connect 2

Brief project overview

The project aims to restore ecological linkages and connectivity by rehabilitating coastal peat creek mouths,
dunes and ephemeral wetlands along Noosa’s eastern beaches to ensure species resilience in the face of
climate change.

Full project description

This project is an innovative collaboration of Bushcare groups from Peregian to Noosa Heads. It aims to
transition the current local activities into a strategic district level program of rehabilitation which will conserve
coastal values while increasing the resilience of high-risk coastal ecosystems to the forecasted threats of a
changing climate. Clearly targeting outcomes and initiatives envisaged in Council’s Environment Strategy
Implementation Plan, the actions are prioritised based on the priorities emerging from Council's more
detailed studies on Coastal Hazards, Waterways and Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems and will embody
the priorities outlined in the Draft Biosecurity Plan.

We have divided the Eastern Beaches into 3 manageable strategic areas, with each area receiving an equal
amount from the grant. Some areas are larger, harder, or in worse condition but at the end of the day, we
are all about collaborating to rehabilitate the entire Eastern Beaches and.... it will be ongoing for years.

     Group A – Peregian South and Peregian North
     Group B – Peregian Creek, Castaways, Marcus (Marcus Beach Bushcare Association MBBA inc)
     Group C – Sunshine (Noosa Bush Beach and Creek Care, NBBCC




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