The Nature Conservation Trust of NSW and University of Queensland (UQ) student Wes Martin are investigating ways of prioritising areas of private land throughout Northern NSW for nature conservation.
With approximately 90 percent of land in NSW privately owned, the challenge is to determine where to focus conservation efforts in this vast landscape. The Trust and Mr Martin are developing a desktop system which will identify priority areas.
Mr Martin is an Environmental Management Student at UQ’s Gatton Campus and will be working with the Nature Conservation Trust for six months as part of the University’s Industry Placement Program.
“The UQ Environmental Management Industry Placement course gives students the opportunity to work on practical projects, giving them a distinct advantage over traditional university graduates as they can see first-hand how theories learned in the classroom are applied in real situations,” Industry Placement Coordinator Greg Siepen said
“The Placement also allows students to develop skills and knowledge that will help them in winning jobs upon graduation. Several students have successfully secured jobs with the organisations where they completed their placements.”
“Wesley is an excellent example of what our organisation is achieving through our involvement with the Industry Placement Program. His work will produce maps of areas and habitats that might be suitable for the development of perpetual conservation covenants. The covenants are entirely voluntary which means the next phase of the program will seek to engage private landholders to enter into voluntary agreements,” Trust CEO Dr Geoff Lipsett-Moore said.
Wesley is gathering information on native vegetation, key wildlife habitat and corridors, and other environmental data using the ARCview 9 Geographical Information System (GIS). He then uses the data to identify priority areas for protection.
“The Nature Conservation Trust of NSW, established in 2001 to assist with conservation of biodiversity on private lands in NSW, is a non-government organisation based in Lismore.
“The Trust uses two mechanisms to protect private lands. It buys high conservation value parcels of land using a $2 million dollar revolving fund, establishes a covenant over the land, and then sells the property to supportive landholders,” Dr Lipsett-Moore said.
“The Trust also develops voluntary conservation covenants with supportive landholders. The overall aim is to encourage long-term conservation of biodiversity on lands outside the public reserve system.”
“It’s great working in the outdoors with an organisation making a difference and applying all the skills I have learned at UQ Gatton,” student Wesley Martin said.
“In the past four months, I have learned a great deal about working with private landholders, the community and about working with a non-government organisation that will help me in my career path.
“This is one of the best courses that I have done, and I thank Geoff and the Trust for providing me with the opportunity to do this project,” he said.
Media inquiries: Susanne Schick - UQ Gatton Campus (5460 1229, 0409 265 587).
Further information/comment: Industry Placement Coordinator, Mr Greg Siepen (5460 1021 or g.siepen@uq.edu.au) or The Nature Conservation Trust - Dr Geoff Lipsett-Moore (info@naturetrust.org.au or www.naturetrust.org.au)
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