2014-05-26 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                      26 MAY 2014


Transition and Implementation

There are a number of key issues to be addressed in the transition to the new Noosa Biosphere
Reserve Management Model. The main issues are:

   Establishment of the trust and corporate trustee. The critical issue is to establish the terms of
    the trust to ensure that they align with the vision and UNESCO. As previously identified, once
    trust terms have been established they can be very difficult to amend so it is important to
    ensure that the terms of the trust are correctly established. It is estimated that it will take
    approximately 6 to 8 weeks to establish the draft terms of the trust and draft constitution of
    the corporate trustee. The Trust Deed will be developed by the Working Group and legal
    advisors. The proposed Trust Deed and constitution of the corporate trustee will be referred
    to Council for consideration for final adoption;
   Appointment of directors to the corporate trustee. The Council will need to undertake a
    selection process to identify appropriate directors for the corporate trustee;
   Establishment of an incorporated Association. This should be relatively straightforward and
    will occur after the creation of the trust deed. There should be some alignment between the
    objectives of the trust and the objectives in the constitution of the Incorporated Association.
    An Interim Management Committee for the Incorporated Association will need to be set up
    prior to the first General Meeting at which time a motion will need to be passed to incorporate
    by resolution. The Interim Committee will be appointed by Council. Thereafter, the
    Management Committee of the Association will be determined by the Association members
    according to its Constitution;
   Identification of a community hub. A community based presence will need to be established
    and premises leased; and
   Staff to support the Incorporated Association. Suitable staff will need be to be identified that
    can provide coordination and administrative support to the Noosa Biosphere Reserve
    Management Model.

From a timing point of view, it is noted that the current Noosa Biosphere Ltd Board will hold its
Annual General Meeting in November 2014. That would be a suitable point to make the
transition to the new Noosa Biosphere Reserve Management Model. The legal advice received
is that it would be technically easier to establish a new trust and corporate trustee rather than
converting the existing company. Further, the legal advice was that there would be no real
financial saving in endeavouring to convert the existing company structure to the new model.

Other issues

Intellectual Property

One of the key opportunities for the future is the better utilisation of intellectual property
associated with the Noosa Biosphere. The Working Group has sought specialist advice in
relation to intellectual property issues and how to maximise future opportunities.

There are a number of actions that should be undertaken in the future in relation to intellectual
property associated with the Noosa Biosphere Reserve. As an example, the existing Noosa
Biosphere Reserve trademark could be utilised as part of a certification trademark system
(similar to the Australian wool mark) to promote the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Project and
possibly, to provide an ongoing revenue stream. It will also be important for the Noosa
Biosphere Reserve to maintain close control over relevant intellectual property. This will be
managed by the Trust once established but in the meantime, the Council should consolidate and
protect the intellectual property.



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