Addendum to the Burdekin Dry Tropics
Natural Resource Management Plan (2016-2026)

Background

The current Natural Resource Management (NRM) Plan for the Burdekin Dry Tropics region was published in 2016 by NQ Dry Tropics. It was funded by the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, Phase 1 (NLP1) that ran from the 2014/15 financial year through to the end of the 2017/18 financial year.
Phase Two of the National Landcare Program (NLP2) began in the 2018/19 financial year and will run through to the end of the 2022/23 financial year. In Phase Two, NQ Dry Tropics, as custodians of the Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM Plan, were engaged through a Regional Land Partnership to review the NRM Plan and ensure alignment with the outcomes and priorities for Phase Two.

As the current plan is due for renewal in 2026 and significant effort was put into its development, including comprehensive community consultation, it was decided that revisions to the plan to ensure alignment with the Five-year Outcomes and Investment Priorities would be presented as an addendum to the current plan.

Concurrently, with funding through the Regional Land Partnership, NQ Dry Tropics is undertaking Conservation Action Planning for the region. The summary of this Plan is provided as part of this addendum.

The addendum and the Conservation Action Plan will be updated as further work is undertaken and information becomes available. However, hard copies of the up-to-date addendums can be provided if requested (info@nqdrytropics.com.au).

Five-year Outcomes

The Regional Land Partnership has six Five-year Outcomes that it is seeking to achieve through funded works. The Five-year Outcomes (to match the duration of Phase Two) in turn seek to contribute to longer term outcomes for the assets being focused on. The six Five-year Outcomes are:

1. By 2023, there is restoration of, and reduction in threats to, the ecological character of Ramsar sites, through the implementation of priority actions.
2. By 2023, the trajectory of species targeted under the Threatened Species Strategy, and other EPBC Act priority species, is stabilised or improved.
3. By 2023, invasive species management has reduced threats to the natural heritage Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage properties through the implementation of priority actions.
4. By 2023, the implementation of priority actions is leading to an improvement in the condition of EPBC Act listed Threatened Ecological Communities.
5. By 2023, there is an increase in the awareness and adoption of land
   management practices that improve and protect the condition of soil, biodiversity and vegetation.
6. By 2023, there is an increase in the capacity of agriculture systems to adapt to significant changes in climate and market demands for information on provenance and sustainable production.

Investment Priorities

These outcomes provide the framework for on-ground work and investment in the regions. Within each region there are also specified Investment Priorities that further focus the work and investment.

In the Burdekin Dry Tropics, the Investment Priorities for the Five Year Outcomes are:

1. Ramsar sites:
   1. Bowling Green Bay wetlands
2. Threatened Species Strategy and EPBC Act priority species:
   1. Ant Plant (Myrmecodia beccarii)
   2. Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)
   3. Greater Bilby (Macrotis lagotis)
   4. Mahogany Glider (Petaurus gracilis)
   5. Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii)
3. World Heritage properties:
   1. Great Barrier Reef
   2. Wet Tropics of Queensland
4. EPBC Act list Threatened Ecological Communities
   1. Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla dominant and codominant) – Endangered Community known to occur within area
   2. Broad leaf tea-tree (Melaleuca viridiflora) woodlands in high rainfall coastal north Queensland – Endangered Community likely to occur within area
   3. Coolibah – Black Box Woodlands of the Darling Riverine Plains and the Brigalow Belt South Bioregions – Endangered Community may occur within area
   4. Littoral Rainforest and Coastal Vine Thickets of Eastern Australia – Critically Endangered Community likely to occur within area
   5. Natural Grasslands of the Queensland Central Highlands and northern Fitzroy Basin – Endangered Community likely to occur within area
   6. Poplar Box Grassy Woodland on Alluvial Plains – Endangered Community likely to occur within area
   7. Semi-evergreen vine thickets of the Brigalow Belt (North and South) and Nandewar Bioregions – Endangered Community likely to occur within area
   8. The community of native species dependent on natural discharge of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin – Endangered Community likely to occur within area
   9. Weeping Myall Woodlands – Endangered Community likely to occur within area
5. Land management practices that improve and protect the condition of soil, biodiversity and vegetation:
   1. Hillslope erosion
   2. Soil acidification
   3. Soil carbon
   4. Vegetation and biodiversity on-farms
6. Capacity of agriculture system to adapt:
   1. No specific Investment Priorities