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While this may concern the average reader, it is an essential method of operation for University of Canberra researcher, Professor Arthur Georges.
Arthur Georges’ has been studying turtles for 20 years and is currently researching the Cooper Creek short-necked turtle (Emydura sp.) which is found only in the Lake Eyre Basin. He has been gathering data, marking shells, and collecting stomach contents as part of broader, long-term study of turtles and how indicator species can be used to monitor river health.
According to Arthur, turtles are special because they are long-lived, therefore the impact of an event on a population may show up well after the event itself. For example, the history of many past flood events may be recorded in the shells of individual turtles, and any boost to a turtle population will occur well after a flood event that drives the boom in other aquatic life.
A recent field trip to about 20 major waterholes in the middle reaches of the Cooper system by Arthur and his team of three international students saw them capture and collect data from 790 turtles. Their trapping methods were so successful that in some waterholes where fishing has not occurred for many years, the bounty of their catch overflowed the boat.
Specimens were weighed, measured, marked with an identifying code, and sexed. While age is difficult to determine, some individuals were thought to be in excess of 100 years old. Genetic material was collected for further study, while stomach contents were collected to identify food sources and gauge the health of the waterholes. It was found that in some waterholes the turtles were eating mainly black algae while the same species in another waterhole was consuming a range of foods from snails, mussels and dead fish through to algae.
Laparoscopic examinations were also carried out to determine sexual maturity and reproductive activity. The team is looking at the differences in sexual maturity between undisturbed populations of larger individuals and the populations of smaller individuals in disturbed habitats where, for example, the adult population has been depleted through netting. While turtles can survive short periods in dried waterholes by aestivating (lying dormant) in wet mud below the surface, they usually drown if caught in a net – they can only hold their breath for about three hours.
The life cycle of the Cooper Creek short-necked turtle is geared to a high juvenile mortality and a low adult mortality. Therefore, the removal of adults from a population can have severe ramifications for the survival of that population.
According to Arthur Georges, it is well known that the Cooper Creek short-necked turtle primarily inhabits permanent waterholes, but it is now thought that many stay in the same waterhole all their life, moving out onto the floodplains during flood, then back to their home waterhole when the waters recede.
“We need to identify the attributes of waterholes that are important to turtles and make sure we preserve those attributes,” he said. ȁThis will carry attendant benefits for a wide range of aquatic fauna that have a lesser profile, and whose interests therefore do not often warrant our concern.”
The Lake Eyre Basin Coordinating Group’s recent meeting at Alice Springs began with a very enlightening session of cross-cultural awareness with Institute of Aboriginal Development presenter, John Lochowiack (see story on page 9). John very skilfully used anecdotes to give us an insight into some of the cultural perspectives and issues of Aboriginal people.
The Coordinating Group meeting itself saw the Lake Eyre Basin community reaffirm its vision for a basin-wide approach to natural resource management. The community is adamant that this approach needs to be maintained; our challenge from here is to secure the funding to continue with this role.
We believe the on-ground project work in the Cooper’s Creek and Georgina Diamantina catchments must continue to be supported and it appears this will fit within NHT2 funding guidelines. Current projects given a high priority by our community include:
The two catchment committees are currently discussing a proposal to reduce the size of the Coordinating Group to two representatives per catchment. This proposal will see the Group call in expert advice, such as scientific or industry, when the need arises rather than have expert members sitting permanently.
Under this proposal, the Group seeks to become the Regional Body in Queensland and manage natural resource management investment across the Queensland section of the Basin. Links will be established with regional bodies responsible for the South Australian, New South Wales, and Northern Territory parts of the Basin and provide the mechanism to continue with cross-border projects such as the Parkinsonia Control Program and Heritage Tourism.
The current Longreach office falls within this proposed region and would support the two catchment committees and the Queensland regional body.
I invite your comment and advice, before the Coordinating Group meets again in August.
The central part of the Lake Eyre Basin is set to become the electricity generating precinct for the nation if the plans and expectations of Brisbane-based geothermal energy company, Geodynamics are realised.
Under their three-stage development plan, they hope to harness ‘Hot Dry Rocks’ to generate hundreds of megawatts of power for the national grid at a cost similar to current coal-generated electricity but with zero gas emissions.
Managing Director of Geodynamics, Dr Bertus De Graaf said stage one, the drilling of an initial trial well, was set to commence near Innamincka, on Cooper’s Creek, in August.
“We’re on the verge of something really big here,” he said. ȁOur 1000 square kilometres of tenements contain almost as much energy as the Kuwaiti oil reserves.
“If we can unleash that energy we can produce emission-free, base-load power to the nation.”
Dr De Graaf said the technology has been proven around the world, it only remains to put it into practice here.
The trial well site is on top of the hottest known rock in the world, at economic drilling depths, outside a volcanic area. Once the hole is drilled, they will create a huge heat-exchanger more than four kilometres below the surface. A second well will allow water to be circulated through the hot granite and back to the surface at temperatures in excess of 200 degrees Celsius.
The second stage is harnessing that heat in a 10 to 15 megawatt geothermal power plant while the third stage is the scaling up to a commercial power plant in the order of hundreds of megawatts. An operating, 300 megawatt plant connected to the national grid from Innamincka is estimated to cost $770 million and will produce electricity at around 4 cents per kilowatt hour. As a comparison, tariff 11 household power is sold to consumers for around 17 cents per kilowatt hour.
Longreach-based group, Outback Revival Organisation Incorporated has been working on the promotion of Hot Dry Rocks as an alternative energy source for several years.
Spokesperson, Vince Moore said they currently have a pre-feasibility report before Government. ȁSeveral Queensland Government departments are currently looking at our report and we’re waiting to hear back from them,” he said.
“There seems to be an issue with how this energy source is classified; it doesn’t fit into any of the current pigeon-holes such as petroleum, natural gas, or minerals because the process doesn’t extract anything from the ground except heat.”
The energies of Outback Revival Organisation Inc. are also directed to fields far beyond geothermal power generation. Their current projects include:
Outback Revival is a community development organisation with the purpose of enhancing life in the outback through commitment to supporting and promoting economic, cultural, ecological and social development.
For more information contact Paul Walmsley, PO Box 519, Longreach Q 4730.
With existing funding only available until December, the LEBCG continues to face a period of uncertainty. We eagerly await information about the new Regional arrangements for the Natural Heritage Trust. What we do know is the 2002/03 year will be an interim year while the regional arrangements are sorted out. The LEBCG will be making application for funds to carry us through that period in order to support the catchment committees and community groups operating in the Lake Eyre Basin.
Under the new arrangements, Regional Bodies will be formed and will be responsible for developing regional plans, setting priorities and devolving government funding for regional projects. We believe the LEBCG is well placed to carry out these activities and we hope to become one of these Regional Bodies. The downside for us is that these bodies are State-based and hence there will be four covering the Lake Eyre Basin; this will make our cross-state-border work and influence a little more difficult.
In other news, there has been plenty of action behind the scenes with the Lake Eyre Basin Intergovernmental Agreement. A number of policy statements relating to water quality, river flows, integrated catchment management, water entitlements, research and monitoring have been drafted. Over the next 3 months there will be a number of public information and consultation sessions held around the Basin to seek community feedback before finalisation of the statements. We will keep you informed.
Planning is well underway for the Lake Eyre Basin Conference to be held in Birdsville in October. The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for the community, scientists and government officials to exchange information on issues relevant to the Agreement. The conference will also include the second meeting of the Ministerial Forum where the community will have the opportunity to put issues directly to Ministers.
The theory of community involvement in planning and decision-making is again being put into practice in the Lake Eyre Basin. The community of the Georgina Diamantina catchment, is heavily involved in the development of the Queensland Government’s Water Resource Plan for the Queensland section of the Georgina Diamantina Catchment.
It is intended that the Water Resource Plan will identify and determine the availability of any further surface and overland flow water within the plan area. The plan will provide a framework for sustainably managing water to provide for both the natural ecosystems and the communities within the catchment, and will identify priorities and mechanisms for dealing with future water requirements.
The Georgina Diamantina Catchment Committee is playing a significant role in the development of the plan due to its proven ability in natural resource management planning and its broad, community-representative nature.
Of the twenty members on the Community Reference Panel for the Water Management Plan, eight are directly involved in the Georgina Diamantina Catchment Committee while a further two were nominated by the Committee because of their expert knowledge.
The purpose of the Community Reference Panel is to provide a forum for consultation and communication between the Queensland Government and the catchment community.
The first of the Community Reference Panel’s four meetings was held in Winton on the twelfth of June. Members were brought up to speed on the planning process, received an overview of the ecological study being undertaken, and in the afternoon split into small groups for a productive session identifying current and potential issues relating to water resource management.
For more information on the Water Resource Plan for the Georgina Diamantina Catchment, contact the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Longreach, 07 4652 7100 or the Lake Eyre Basin Office, 07 4658 0600.
Is the camel industry a viable alternative to the cattle industry in the more marginal parts of the central Australian rangelands?
‘Yes!’ says Pete Siedel of the Central Australian Camel Industry Association based in Alice Springs.
“We already have producers running camels instead of cattle on their more marginal country and that will only increase,” he says.
“Our trade with one importer in Malaysia went from 20 to 300 animals per shipment in 4 months. This has levelled out at the moment but will kick again as we approach the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.”
Pete Siedel recently organised the shipment of 118 live camels from Darwin to Saudi Arabia in what is the beginning of a 5000 head per year trade with a single client.
The world demand for camel far exceeds supply and there is no chance of that changing in the foreseeable future. In the last three years there has been increased demand for Australian live camels from the Middle East, West Africa, and some Asian countries.
Industry insiders say the biggest limiting factor to the Australian camel industry is the absence of an export abattoir and until someone bites the bullet and invests in this side of the industry, it is not going to be able to reach its potential.
The raw material, in the form of feral camels is certainly abundant. A recent aerial survey by Northern Territory’s Parks and Wildlife Commission shows feral populations have exploded with the run of good seasons in Central Australia.
According to survey coordinator, Dr Glen Edwards, there could be upwards of 200,000 feral camels in the Northern Territory with around 70,000 of these roaming the Simpson Desert.
Estimates of 15,000 to 20,000 animals on the South Australian side of the Desert suggests a population with the potential to significantly impact on the fragile desert environment.
“In high numbers camels can have a severe impact on waterholes and the fragile vegetation around salt lakes,” says Glen Edwards.
“They are selective browsers and can hit individual species such as the Quandong pretty hard, stripping the trees bare.”
As a result of the burgeoning numbers in the NT, a program of mustering where feasible and culling elsewhere is likely to be instituted to minimise adverse impacts on the environment.
Meanwhile, pastoralists are caught between the control of feral animals and the development of a rangelands industry with the potential to be extremely lucrative, particularly in times of drought or low cattle prices, or on the marginal country.
While the economic drivers to turn pastoralists from the traditional cattle to camels are not yet there, work is being done to build the basis of an industry with a lot of opportunity according to its advocates.
And one of its staunchest supporters is William Creek camel man, Phil Gee. Phil conducts camel treks into the isolated country to the west of Lake Eyre and also musters feral camels out of the southern fringes of the Simpson Desert.
In conjunction with Western Mining Corporation’s land management team, Phil is operating a small ‘Camels in Pastoralism’ trial program west of Marree.
While it is currently more profitable to agist cattle, WMC is interested in alternative uses for pastoral land and is supporting this camel trial by providing an area on Stuart Creek Station for the animals to be grazed.
Camel advocates claim that in a controlled grazing situation, their animals are more gentle on the country than cattle. They have soft feet that tend not to break up the soil surface and they browse over a wide variety of trees, shrubs and other plants.
Phil Gee has run 50 camels at Stuart Creek Station for 2 years with no discernible impact and permission has now been obtained from the Pastoral Board to increase the numbers to 200.
Even this is cautious says Phil and is a reflection of the largely negative attitude towards the camel.
“We have to get away from viewing the camel as a pest and see it as a resource,” he says. ȁIf we can do that, we’ll get a far more balanced approach to the issue.
Ruth Anderson, Greening Australia's Nature Conservation Extension Officer for the Mitchell Grass Downs bioregion, has commenced working out of the Longreach offices of the Lake Eyre Basin Coordinating Group. She is responsible for overseeing on-ground nature conservation projects within the Mitchell grass downs bioregion.
Ruth is a third generation Longreach district resident with a comprehensive understanding of the issues facing the primary producers with whom she is working. She was born in Longreach and grew up on properties in the Stonehenge, Jundah, and Winton districts and was educated through distance education, boarding school and the Longreach Pastoral College.Prior to taking the position with Greening Australia, Ruth worked in a variety of jobs from governess, to print media sales representative, to wildlife ranger with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
Ruth lives in Longreach with her husband, Rob, 2 dogs, 2 cats, a heap of chooks, 1 goose and 5 horses. She enjoys being involved in the community, and is an activate member of several organisations including Queensland Rural Women’s Network, Longreach Landcare and Five Star Rodeo Series. Between work and social commitments, she also enjoys sewing, traveling, horse riding, exercising and gardening.
The protection of riparian areas from degradation, equity in regards to future clearing activities, permit periods, salinity risks, landscape connectivity and codes of practice. These are some of the issues being considered by the Regional Vegetation Management Committees for the Lake Eyre Basin portion of Queensland.
The Regional Vegetation Management Committees for the Channel Country, North-west Mitchell Grass Downs, South-east Mitchell Grass Downs and the Southern Desert Uplands have been holding a series of meetings to develop their draft Regional Vegetation Management Plans. Of significant importance has been the development of guidelines to address the thickening in some vegetation communities and the invasion of Gidgee into the Mitchell Grass Downs.
The committees for the Southern Desert Uplands and South-east Mitchell Grass Downs sent questionnaires to landholders. Vegetation Management Coordinator for the Central West Region, Rod Hewitt, said the questionnaires were used to raise awareness of some of the issues being considered, and to seek input from local landholders.
“We have had a tremendous response to the questionnaires,” Rod said. “ 10% response is considered normal for these sorts of things, but we received in excess of 20% returns for the Southern Desert Uplands and more than 25% for the South-east Mitchell Grass Downs.”
Questions asked included the percentage of the property with development potential, what size should buffer zones along creeks be, and should it be ‘first in, best dressed’ or equitable when it came to setting vegetation retention levels on individual properties. The answer to the latter was an overwhelming indication from landholders that it should be equitable.
The draft Regional Vegetation Management Plans should be finalised by August when they will be forwarded to the Minister for Natural Resources and Mines. They will then enter the public consultation phase designed to give all interested parties an opportunity to make comment. These comments will then be considered by the Minister before the final Plans are completed.
Prior to the recent Coordinating Group meeting in Alice Springs, members and staff participated in an afternoon of cross-cultural awareness at the Institute for Aboriginal Studies. The program passes on information about Aborigines, how people live traditionally, contemporary issues, and is basically designed to bring the community together by learning about each other.
The presenter, John Lochowiack is excellently credentialled to deliver cross-cultural training – his father is a polish opal-miner while his mother is an Aboriginal woman from the Coober Pedy area. While John was still a pre-teen, his grandfather took him into the bush to learn the laws and customs, the Tjukulpa (Dreaming) of his mother’s people.
John now imparts aspects of that knowledge to non-indigenous people to give them an insight to Aboriginal culture and a greater understanding of Aboriginal people. He says he finds it gratifying that a lot more people today want to learn about Aboriginal culture.
“The most satisfying part of my work,” says John, “is that people walk away happy that they’ve attended the program and learnt a lot more about Aboriginal people – stuff that hasn’t been taught in schools.”
“And the beauty of it is, they’ll go out into the community and talk to their friends and family and pass on some of the knowledge and hopefully it helps to break down some of the barriers that we have in the community.
“A lot of people find it difficult to understand how Aboriginal people lived traditionally; to understand their spiritual beliefs and connection to land; and how they have particular dreaming stories connected to land. Sometimes people may see behaviours that aren’t connected to our culture, like some of the social problems we have today.”
John says you don’t have to be an Aborigine to have problems. ȁIf individuals have had some sort of trauma or abuse in their lives, they will usually act that out and that’s where you can get many of these problems we have today.
“It’s fairly typical for non-indigenous people to make sweeping judgements on all indigenous people based on the behaviours of a few. For instance, visitors to Alice Spring see a few Aboriginal people sitting in the creek drinking and they think all Aboriginal people drink; they think Aboriginal people don’t work; they only see what’s happening on the streets and not the good things that are going on in the community.”
As well as Cross-Cultural Training, the Institute runs a variety of different courses for Aboriginal people ranging from basic English (for many Aboriginal people, English is a second, third or even fourth language), reading and writing, right through to tertiary level. They also run interpreting courses, language courses, and Landcare programs.
“In the past we’ve looked at western culture and Aboriginal culture and we’ve looked at the differences – we still address some of the differences but there are some similarities in culture. If we can look at the similarities then that gives a better understanding and brings people together.”
The extensive community network of the Lake Eyre Basin process is again assisting researchers with knowledge of suitable sites and access to them. The latest beneficiary is a Griffith University project that needed to access suitable waterholes for researching genetic diversity in floodplain invertebrates.
Jo Carini, with the assistance of Kate Durrant and Ben Cook, is collecting specimens of a freshwater snail (Notopala sublinata) from both permanent waterholes and their adjacent floodplains in the Cooper, Diamantina and Georgina systems.
The genetic material gathered will then be analysed to determine the levels of gene flow and the genetic differentiation of aquatic organisms among and within the populations of permanent waterbodies and floodplains. Analysis will also be made of the pattern and level of gene flow and the genetic distance of species both within a drainage and between drainages.
Jo also hopes to determine if the boom and bust cycle of these river systems has a different impact on the genetics of the populations that utilise the permanent waterholes as opposed those that utilise the floodplains.
Part of this project has been the similar collection and analysis of genetic material from the Freshwater long-arm prawn (Macrobrachium australiense). This was carried out by Ben Cook and has revealed some interesting findings.
Ben collected specimens from the Murray Darling, Bulloo, Cooper and Diamantina. His genetic analysis showed a 2.5% genetic divergence between the Murray Darling and the Bulloo and indicates no connectivity during the last million years. However, the Bulloo, Cooper and Diamantina appear to have had numerous periods of connectivity over the same period and may have had an interchange of genetics as recently as 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
When these studies have been completed, the results will be written up and published. The Lake Eyre Basin News will provide further details when they are available.
Alun Hoggett, Project Officer for the Lake Eyre Basin Integrated Information System (LEBIIS) writes:
Our Lake Eyre Basin Map is travelling to the United States to a huge mapping conference with more than 9,000 attendees from 90 countries. It will be competing with thousands of other maps for prizes in some of the 10 categories which include Best Cartographic Design, Most Unique, and Best Data Integration. Also up for grabs is a place in the internationally published Map Book.
The annual Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Conference in late June is the largest annual GIS event in the world.
Our map was built with ESRI software and will be at the conference because the Australian office of ESRI was enthusiastic about its quality and expressed an interest in taking it as part of a display of Australian GIS achievements.
Meanwhile I am cheered that so many tourists and locals are captivated by the map and have bought a copy. Our initial print run of 1000 is almost gone which has far exceeded my predictions. The generosity of data and image providers for the map has enabled us to order a subsequent print run and to make the map more widely available through a range of distributors. This will further our aim of improving public awareness of the unique aspects of the region.
The next major project for LEBIIS is to produce an internet-based mapping component within the Lake Eyre Basin Coordinating Group website. LEBIIS has begun planning and discussions with the key players in this field. This will ensure that we take advantage of the best technology and play a leading role in the provision of information to the Basin community and the general public.
Our web-based mapping is intended to be a window of up-to-date mapping views on the Basin to assist the community to plan and monitor the management of natural resources.