A Voluntary Conservation scheme for
Landholders & Wildlife

Land For Wildlife

Townsville City Council has recently adopted a new program called Land for Wildlife.

Land for Wildlife is a voluntary and legally non-binding scheme that allows landholders to register themselves on a network that offers free advice, field days and technical information about managing their property to provide habitats for native plants and animals.

• History
• program
• Partners
• Goals & objectives

History

The Land for Wildlife scheme originated in Victoria in 1981 and due to it's success was introduced to South East Queensland in March 1998. The objectives of the program in Townsville are: · to encourage and facilitate community and landholder participation in nature conservation on private and public land; and · to increase sustainable land management and biodiversity awareness

Program

Land for Wildlife (LFW) is a voluntary program that encourages and facilitates community and landholder participation in nature conservation on freehold and Council managed lands. The program commenced in Victoria in the 1980's and has recently been expanded to an Australia wide program. In Queensland LFW is being managed by Local Government and the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service in association with Greening Australia.

Partners

Townsville City Council (TCC) collaborated with North Queensland Afforestation Association (NQAA) and other North Queensland Local Government's to establish a regional LFW program. The program has been funded since 1999 by the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT). TCC liaised with the Burdekin Shire Council (BSC) in 2001 to incorporate them into the 2001/2002 NHT project application. The application has since been approved with funds committed from the BSC and NHT and time committed from the Townsville LFW Coordinator (in-kind from TCC) and Townsville LFW Project Officer (NHT funded).

LFW in the Burdekin will be implemented via BSC and NHT funds. The Townsville LFW Project Officer will conduct the on-ground property assessments and the Townsville LFW Coordinator will conduct a liaison role and provide the necessary reporting details to NQAA. NQAA will maintain the management responsibility for the NHT funding component of the project.

Project Goals and Objectives

Primary Goal - To develop LFW in the Burdekin and assist BSC to adopt LFW into it's environmental program.

Secondary Goals:

• To further develop and facilitate community and landholder nature conservation.
  
  
• To protect native habitat for local native flora and fauna species.
  
  
• To reduce threatening processes to the environment such as tree clearing, erosion and pest species.
  
  
• To provide continuity of habitats and landscapes through conservation of remnant habitats on privately owned land (objective from LFW Qld Action Plan).

Objectives:

• Administrate the LFW program in the Townsville region for TCC Environmental Planning Services.
• Report to the LFW Project Manager in Cairns and liaise with QNP&WS and Greening Australia.
• Consult and negotiate with landholders, Thuringowa City Council, Indigenous organisations and community conservation groups on property assessment and registration with the program.
• Coordinate an awareness program to develop a public profile for LFW in the Townsville region in cooperation with Cairns based Project Manager and in accordance with TCC values and policies.
• Develop a local LFW network via training and consultation with representatives from other programs including QNP&WS Extension Services, NatureSearch, FutureProfit and the Townsville Thuringowa Community Natural Resources Management & Environmental Conservation Strategy.
• Good communication strategy.

Land for Wildlife Brochure