The Authority What’s on?
Newsletter of the Cradle Coast Authority February 2012
14 February Cradle Coast Authority Board meeting. Contact Luke Sayer
Helping Hands on Holidays gains momentum Tourists have been rolling up their sleeves to work alongside our region’s environmental volunteers and enjoy local experiences in the Helping Hands on Holidays program.
Cradle Coast NRM School Small Grants Program opens. Contact Karina Rose
The program connects holiday‐makers with volunteer groups and land managers who are caring for our beautiful landscapes and is a joint initiative of the Cradle Coast Authority tourism team and Cradle Coast NRM.
16 February Cradle Coast NRM Committee meeting. Contact Richard Ingram
In one example of the activities taking place across the region, Australia Day saw a collaborative effort between Gunns, Threatened Plants Tasmania and three tourists in a search for the threatened orchid (Prasophyllum crebriflorum) at Hatfield Plain in Surrey Hills.
24 February Meeting of Council Representatives. Contact Luke Sayer
The program is being trialled until July and aims to provide Robert Onfray of Gunns; holiday‐maker Joan Hammond; richer connections between our region’s visitors and local and Malcolm Wells and Phil communities. Visit www.cradlecoastnrm.com and follow the Collier, both of Threatened Helping Hands links to see a calendar of program events. Plants Tasmania.
25 February Cradle Coast NRM Somerset Beach walk and shell identification talk. Contact Anna Wind
Photo: Belinda Colson
Now open: Cradle Coast NRM School Small Grants
Call us on 6431 6285 to find out more
The Cradle Coast NRM School Small Grants program is underway again, accepting a new round of applications from across the region until 16 March 2012. Open to all schools, educational institutions, youth organisations and early learning centres in North West Tasmania, the program provides funding of up to $1,500 for projects that generate positive environmental outcomes. Up to $80,000 will be administered to the region’s schools by Cradle Coast NRM as part of the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country initiative.
Cradle Coast Authority 30 Marine Terrace (PO Box 338) Burnie 7320 Phone: 03 6431 6285 Fax: 03 6431 7014 E-mail: admin@cradlecoast.com
Through the program, schools are encouraged to establish a bush tucker or biodiversity garden in the school grounds, undertake weed control works , purchase relevant equipment, and lead excursions to significant natural resource management sites. School Small Grants Program application forms and guidelines are available from the Cradle Coast NRM website at www.cradlecoastnrm.com (from 15 February). Enquiries are welcome by calling Cradle Coast NRM Facilitator, Karina Rose, on 6431 6285 or via email to krose@cradlecoast.com
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The Authority
The Healthy Communities Job Services Australia Program After a successful pilot in Circular Head, the Healthy Communities Job Services Australia Program has been extended into Devonport with two sessions scheduled to commence in March.
The holistic lifestyle programs are delivered in partnership with Job Services Australia and provide healthy lifestyle and job readiness training for clients at risk of chronic disease. Topics are presented in an interactive format and include time management, healthy food shopping on a budget, physical exercise, personal presentation and nutritious meal planning.
One of the programs to be delivered in East Devonport is targeting young mothers and has incorporated childcare into the free program to support regular attendance.
Job Services Australia, Devonport City Council, Anglicare and Mersey Leven Child Care Services are coordinating these Healthy Communities programs.
Contact Healthy Communities Coordinator, Bev Hayhurst, on 0408 168 270 for more details on any of the initiatives taking place around the region. Update: The Healthy Communities Local Government Resource Toolkit is on track for publication in April. The toolkit contains useful ideas, case studies, resources and research on the impact of built and social environments on health.
Support for Aboriginal group land managers Cradle Coast NRM Implementation Manager, Matt Rose, has been working with the Aboriginal community in the region to implement skills training and funding for natural resource management projects. One significant project has been support for the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania (ALCT) in their management of Trefoil Island near Woolnorth off the North West coast. A management plan was devised to guide works, including weed control and revegetation with cuttings and division of existing plant species. This approach reduces the cost of freighting materials to the island. Via a Cradle Coast NRM Small Grant, ALCT was also able to offer chemical mixing, spraying and mapping training for the island’s managers. Other indigenous community projects supported by Cradle Coast NRM include: − Funding for an Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) Indigenous working group field trip to North West Tasmania to promote culture and conservation at Panatana, Tiagarra and Narawntapu National Park; − Skills training for an Indigenous ranger based at Ulverstone and employed via the Parks and Wildlife Service’s Working on Country program; − Printing of Six Rivers Aboriginal Corporation’s booklet, Munginabitta’s Country; − Purchase of equipment for land management works by the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation; and − Cultural heritage training for Aboriginal community members in the Arthur Pieman Conservation Area, delivered in partnership with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. Information on planned projects or more detail on any of the above initiatives can be obtained from Matt Rose on 6431 6285. (Left) ESA members from around Australia hear from Six Rivers Aboriginal Corporation elders during a field trip to the Cradle Coast region. Photo: Matt Rose
February 2012
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Charting a course for regional tourism A study into the state of the Cradle Coast region’s tourism industry and a paper examining alternate structures for Regional Tourism Organisations are being used to guide the future of tourism in the North West. The State of the Region tourism report and Regional Tourism Organisations discussion paper were prepared by consultants, Urban Enterprise, and are now the focus of workshops being held across the region. Tourism operators, associations, Councils and other interested stakeholders are attending the workshops to discuss their response to the study documents. The feedback will help chart the implementation course for a regional tourism structure to replace the North West Coast and Western Wilderness tourism marketing zones. Workshops are being held in Devonport, Wynyard, Smithton, Strahan, Queenstown, Sheffield and on King Island until 15 February. Copies of the report are available from the Noticeboard page of the Cradle Coast Authority website at www.cradlecoast.com To find out more about the restructuring process or the reports, contact Regional Tourism Development Manager, Ian Waller, on 0419 372 400.
In the news... We’ve been promoting the region’s successes, projects and issues in the media in recent times. Here are some examples: “...The idea behind the (Cradle Coast NRM Coastcare Week Poster) competition is to raise awareness and highlight some of the issues the ocean faces ...’ ‐ Karina Rose, Cradle Coast NRM Facilitator. The Advocate, 13 December “...RV travellers team up with resident volunteers as they tend to their local landscapes at community working bees.... Helping Hands on Holidays is a trial program inviting travellers to ‘stay a while and help a mile’...” – Ian Waller, Regional Tourism Development Manager. The Wanderer Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia Magazine, January 2012. Plus there were radio interviews with staff on the joint tourism and NRM Helping Hands on Holidays trial, regional penguin counts, and Coastcare Week events. For details on Cradle Coast Authority communications, please contact Amanda Wilson on 6431 6285.
Visit the Cradle Coast Authority web site for copies of our media releases www.cradlecoast.com
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The Authority
Increasing community engagement in natural resource management Public land managers in the Cradle Coast region have put a new grants program to good use and have helped ensure its progression from pilot to a fully fledged initiative. Known as the Cradle Coast NRM Land Manager’s Grants Program, round two of the initiative was recently offered to public land managers such as Local Councils and the Parks and Wildlife Service. A successful first round saw grants awarded to seven land managers in the region across both coastal and biodiversity project themes. All projects have a focus on community engagement and will help increase community skills and knowledge in natural resource management. Preference was given to projects that featured new sites and/or new groups not previously the focus of environmental management efforts. Round one grant recipients : − First Response Whale Rescue and Seal Minding training in Marrawah and Devonport (Parks and Wildlife Service) ‐ $4,000 − Don College in the Don Reserve (Devonport City Council) ‐ $4,000 − Rebecca Biodiversity Enhancement and Cultural Heritage Protection (Parks and Wildlife Service, Arthur River) ‐ $3,500 − Penguin Habitat project at the Stanley Nut (Parks and Wildlife Service, Ulverstone) ‐ $4,000 − Inglis River Riparian Rehabilitation Stage Two (Waratah‐Wynyard Council) ‐ $3,500 − Fonterra and the Community project (Devonport City Council) ‐ $4,000 − Bicentennial foreshore, dune and vegetation protection (Central Coast Council) ‐ $3,900. Round two grant applications closed on 25 January and a third round is expected to be open in June 2012. Funding for round three and beyond will be determined by the number and value of grants awarded in previous rounds. To submit an expression of interest in future rounds, contact Cradle Coast NRM Facilitator Team Coordinator, Anna Wind, on 6431 6285.
Briefly Expression of Interest: Hooked! Project Coordinator/ Artistic Producer Cradle Coast NRM is seeking a part time consultant experienced in community cultural development and visual arts with a passion for environmental education. Responsibilities include coordinating a regional pilot of Hooked! and completing the creative development work by 31 December 2012. Information on Hooked! and the required skill areas can be downloaded from www.cradlecoastnrm.com Expressions of interest close 8 March 2012.