2020-02-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                       11 FEBRUARY 2020


9.     Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee
Project title -   Hinterland Rural Extension Program
Brief project overview
This rural landholder program will target high priority sub-catchments of the Mary River catchment for
extension and on-ground incentives to improve downstream water quality. This project links with the MRCCC
Reef Trust program, Noosa & District Landcare and Country Noosa.

Full project description
This rural landholder extension program will occur across the hinterland of Noosa Shire, with multiple
partners (MRCCC, Noosa & District Landcare Group, Country Noosa) assisting to deliver this project in the
Noosa hinterland. This project sits as one of three discrete applications within the wider 'Noosa Hinterland
Rural Extension Program'. The MRCCC component of this project will target rural landholders in the group
of sub-catchments in the Noosa hinterland known as the "Mary River hinterland sub-catchments" which are
the Skyring, Middle, Coles, Happy Jack, Blackfellows and Belli Creek sub-catchments. These sub-
catchments of the Mary River are collectively identified as high sediment sources to the southern Great
Barrier Reef. Currently the MRCCC manages a Reef Trust project in these sub-catchments offering
extension support to rural landholders eg. 1-on-1 on-property consultations, grazing land management
workshops and field-walks. In the Noosa hinterland these activities are jointly organised by MRCCC and
Country Noosa.

However, where previously the MRCCC also offered landholder incentives to implement best land
management practices eg. riparian fencing, presently the MRCCC can only offer extension support and the
development of property action plans. This proposal will enable MRCCC to continue to offer extension
support (from Reef Trust funding) and importantly, landholder incentives to implement on-ground projects
(from Noosa Council funding).

This project plans to assist landholders to transition through a structured extension education program where
participants will enter through a grazing land management workshop that introduces landholders to a suite
of sustainable land management concepts focused on improving land management practices and
subsequently land condition. To consolidate this learning, participants are trained, in a group, on a working
grazing enterprise (during a fieldwalk). During this hands-on learning situation training involves best land
management practice options, land and riparian zone condition monitoring, forage and groundcover
assessments etc. After the workshop and group fieldwalk, 1-on-1 on-property consultations are conducted
to put in practice on-farm the learnings and priority actions from the workshop. During this process a property
action plan is developed, coupled with on-site training of land and riparian zone condition and benchmarking
of current land management practices. The property action plan will also develop indicative budgets for
identified priority on-ground actions.

Goals - empower the rural community of Noosa hinterland to implement best land management practices to
improve downstream water quality for the Mary & Noosa River and the Great Barrier Reef.

Activities
      sustainable land management workshops targeting grazing enterprises
      field-based activities eg. fieldwalks to showcase participating best land management activities
      1-on-1 on-property consultations, benchmarking, training and preparation of property action plans
      on-ground implementation projects at a property level eg.'
      riparian fencing
      off stream stock watering facilities eg. tanks, troughs, polypipe
      remnant vegetation fencing eg. wetlands, rainforest, vinescrub etc

Outcomes
   improved downstream water quality outcomes for the Mary River and the Great Barrier Reef through
     adoption of best land management practices
   improved understanding in the community of best land management practices and its impact on
     downstream water quality
   linking community groups of the Noosa Shire focused on promoting best land management practices
   leveraging existing programs eg. Reef Trust to maximise investment in the Noosa Shire

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