Peter Odekerken has always admired wildlife and he worked with CSIRO Wildlife Research in Canberra when he left school in 1969. However, he worked on rabbits and decided at the ripe old age of 18 to go to Africa to hopefully be involved in working with African animals. This didn’t eventuate, but he ended up...
Former Noosa mayor Noel Playford will talk about Noosa’s newest community website Noosa Matters at Friday Environment Forum on April 22 and share his motivation for developing this site. Editor Ric Jay said: “Noosa Matters is a place for the community of Noosa to question and discuss where we are, where we want to go...
ALFRED RUSSELL WALLACE - Who was he and what is Wallace’s Line? It was 10 years ago whilst on a snorkelling trip to the Raja Ampat that John Lauritz was enlightened by a guest lecturer on board his sailing ship, who gave a series of talks about Alfred Russell Wallace – hitherto unknown to John....
The European red fox is one of 24 mammal species introduced to Australia since European settlement and despite being the subject of widespread lethal control, it maintains an estimated population of around 7.2 million across Australia. While its presence is well known in the Sunshine Coast region, where it is also the subject of lethal...
The Eastern Ground Parrot once inhabited heath communities over a broad geographical range. It has been in decline for many decades and remaining mainland populations are fragmented. South-eastern Queensland is now regarded as one of the remaining strongholds for the mainland subspecies. On June 10th, at the Friday Environment Forum, Kieran Aland will provide a...
Government dignitaries and conservationists gathered at Noosa Council Chambers on Tuesday May 17 to celebrate a landmark partnership. Announcing that the project was now reaching its final phase, Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the Palaszczuk Government would now turn the 2400 hectares of the old Yurol Ringtail State Forest into national park, with major revegetation...
Australian Wildlife Conservancy is the largest private owner and manager of land for conservation in Australia, protecting endangered wildlife across more than 12.9 million hectares in iconic regions such as the Kimberley, Cape York, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and the Top End. Five important properties in Queensland, including Curramore (located near Maleny), are safeguarding some incredible...
Natural or Human-Induced Change: Chronology of the Bribie Island Breakthrough On January 2nd, 2022, waves carved a channel through a fragile Bribie Island and surged into Pumicestone Passage near Golden Beach. The break has grown from a couple of metres wide to an estimated 550 metres wide, in the past six months. This northern tip...
The international decline in the populations of many species of birds has generated concern and alarm over the last half century. Loss of habitat is certainly a serious and universal cause of population loss. This is far from the only hazard faced by those species that have annual migration as part of their life cycle....
Next Friday Environment Forum on August 26th- Teewah Beach Issues with Sandy Bolton, Member for Noosa and QPWS and QPS Traffic and camping on Teewah Beach has been an ongoing advocacy for Sandy Bolton, Member for Noosa, and the community for the last 5 years. At the end of 2021, a targeted Noosa Electorate Survey on...
Isolated from the other continents for millions of years, Australia’s wildlife has developed in isolation to be unique. The same is true for the country’s marine life, with the seas around Australia home to a wonderful variety of endemic species. Divers encounter aggregations of giant cuttlefish, highly camouflaged leafy seadragons, bizarre pineapplefish, creepy frogfish, carpet-like...
Pumped Hydro? Urban Water?… The Mary River is no Magic Pudding. Ian Mackay is the Chairman of MRCCC, the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee. A retired Science teacher, he’s been involved in water education and water issues since the early 90s. Back then, a number of sites on the Mary were investigated for a dam...
Enter the Flyosphere: Noosa’s Threatened Shorebirds with Richard Howard Despite its modest size and intensive visitation, the Noosa River estuary has consistently attracted over half the known species of migratory shorebirds to its shores each year, plus numerous more resident species. However, habitat loss along the flyways and increased disturbance locally is putting this hotspot...
Peter Odekerken, a photographer and avid birdwatcher, has been fortunate to have visited Colombia and Brazil, two countries which have the most species of avifauna in the world. Colombia has the largest number of bird species, with Brazil coming in a close second. Peter also visited Argentina to see the largest breeding colony of parrots...
In many ways, the Kimberley is different to any other region in Australia, going back to its geological separation from the main continent in pre-human times and its subsequent dramatic reconnection. In terms of its human history, the dates go way back and there are still many unanswered questions. Was the Kimberley region the gateway...
Fire in the landscape has been perceived as a threat to us but this is a relatively new perspective with broader implications than just bushfires. Is fire a remedy for our increasingly sick country? Di Collier has a private nature refuge, Dungi Yandi, in the headwaters of the Mary River, near Conondale in the Sunshine...
The build-up of sediment in lakes and coastal estuaries is a growing problem globally, particularly where it brings additional nutrients, pollutants and other toxic substances. Excess fine sediment in the Noosa estuary has been implicated in a reduction of diversity in benthic invertebrates (food for fish) and changes in the extent of important estuarine habitats...
Featured photo: A young koala joey in Noosa National Park Credit: Bernard Jean Threatened fauna management plans for Noosa Shire Queensland is the custodian of a globally and nationally significant proportion of Australia’s biodiversity. It is home to 50 per cent of the nation’s threatened species despite only representing 24 per cent of the...
Food Waste and OzHarvest Sunshine Coast & Gympie Food waste is an enormous worldwide environmental issue, from emitted greenhouse gases to the resources wasted in creating that food. This is the focus of our next Friday Forum on March 24th with Michele Lipner, the coordinator and founder of OzHarvest Sunshine Coast and Gympie. Since its...
We live in a beautiful area with great diversity of flora and fauna but are experiencing huge pressure on our environment by urban development. Backyards for Biodiversity promote both the importance and potential of urban areas for native biodiversity in south-east Queensland with the aim being to educate residents as to the beauty and environmental...
