 'Cassowaries' Dinella Cross and Nicki Read with the local constabulary at the Babinda Harvest Festival parade. | Judging by the numbers lining the main street for the Harvest Festival parade there would have been very few sitting at home in Babinda yesterday (Saturday 12th). This year the festival's theme was 'Flora and Fauna' so it was without hesitation Mission Beach Cassowaries responded to the invitation to join in the celebrations. |
|
0 Comments
Highlights of the day are the mime and air guitar competitions. With twelve months planning, the attention to detail is obvious from the list of questions, the design of each year’s T Shirts to the catering. Funds raised on the day through the sale of merchandise, ‘fines’ and fees to compete in activities, are donated to help a local cause. For the past 6 years the funds have been donated to Mission Beach Cassowaries. On announcing the funds would once again go to help the cassowary, the Quizmaster said “They are such beautiful birds, we don’t want to see them go the same way as the Thylacine (Tassmanian Tiger)”. Mission Beach Cassowaries spokesperson Liz Gallie said “We are so grateful for the donations. They have enabled our group to develop the ‘Mission Beach Naturally’ branding, letting people coming to our area know why it is so special and to contribute to awareness raising projects such as the Mission Beach School kids roadside signs and establishing the Mission Beach Community Cassowary Festival which will be in its fourth year in 2020.” The private event has been running for 13 years and has a dedicated band of followers, some of whom travel as far away as Victoria, Northern Territory and South Australia. Local businesses sponsor the event with donations for raffles. Community minded Chappy and Angela encourage their guests to go out while they are in town to support and enjoy locally owned and operated businesses. Next year’s event is already in the planning. The number of tables is limited so if you know your 60’s, 70’s and 80’s music, and would like to be part of the quiz fest being held on August 29th, 2020, call or email Chappy to find out more. 0418 898 940 quizmequick@iinet.net.au Ends. Photos by Liz Gallie For more information; Baden Chapman 0418 898 940 Liz Gallie 0414402315
... Because it has no strategy, its efforts in managing threatened species lack purpose, direction and coordination.
...The department does not systematically plan where to deploy its available resources to achieve the most effective balance of actions to protect habitats, mitigate threats and reduce species decline. It is not clear how much the department spends each year in total on threatened species management as it does not effectively track and account for funding used on specific activities...
...With few exceptions, the department does not currently know how threatened species are faring and whether management actions are having the desired impact.
...The department’s decisions about which species receive its greatest conservation efforts are often determined by iconic value, individual interests, departmental knowledge and advocacy, rather than by objective assessments of appropriate priorities... ...Despite, managing land with over 1 000 threatened species and having a total 2017–18 budget of $111.3 million, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) does not identify specific allocations of funding for the protection and recovery of threatened species on the land it manages." Sadly, the main recommendation is more 'plans'. We don't need another plan. We know that many species are in decline, but we also know - in great detail - what needs to be done. We need the government to actually support and implement actions on the ground, to DO SOMETHING. Now".
CASSOWARIES CAUGHT COOLING OFF IN JUNGLE POND Source Cairns Post 5 Dec 2018 Peter Carruthers A CASSOWARY dad and his brood of three chicks have been caught on camera beating the heat by taking the plunge in the refreshing waters of a Mission Beach pool.  The video was captured by award winning conservationist, Liz Gallie on her iPhone at the junction of two all year round creeks in the Bingil Bay reserve near Mission Beach. The adult male known to Mission Beach Cassowaries as Joov and can be seen in the clip with three chicks, estimated to be about four months old. "They absolutely love water. They make noises like you when taking a dip in cool water on a really hot day," she said. "It's obviously a very pleasurable thing to do, especially on a hot day." Not an uncommon sight, Ms Gallie explained proximity to bodies of water was critical to the survival of the species. "Cassowaries have to be near water and access water to drink about 20 times a day, so they are never far from water and in this hot weather we don't see them moving around at all during the middle of the day," she said. Ms Gallie said Joov has struggled in the past to raise a successful brood. "We are really pleased as it is the best family he has raised so far, he has had a hard time keeping them (alive)," she said.
Ms Gallie said the mother of previous chicks had been very intolerant of the chicks making their survival difficult to ensure.Ms Gallie said the preservation of wildlife corridors in the Mission Beach area was critical to the ongoing preservation of the cassowary. "A lot of the corridors left around Mission Beach are only there because they are waterways and are really important for them to be able to move around the landscape, without them they have nowhere to go," she said . Mapping of the habitat by Terrain NRM was started but never completed in the northern parts of Mission Beach, Ms Gallie said. "So when councils make decisions, they look on their maps and it does not exist and yet the cassowaries are there," she said. Ms Gallie has been the recipient of the Cassowary Award presented by the Wet Tropics Management Authority and Mission Beach Cassowaries won an Australia Day Award in 2 016 . Starting about 10 years ago, successive governments have been making changes to legislation that has systematically reduced environmental protection. The changes are allowing development that will have unacceptable, consequential, combined and cumulative impacts on our natural and cultural values. The Bligh government kicked it off by taking away the detailed coastal management plans, replacing them with the Qld Coastal Plan. Gone are Areas of State Significance (ASS) and its trigger 'no adverse impact' which protected places like Clump Point/Boat Bay from the type of development that has now been approved. 
 You can sign the petition against privatisation of the Throsborne Trail here Along with the destruction of environmental laws came the restructuring of Federal and State development assessment processes. The Federal Government handed over EPBC Act assessment to the states and the state in turn has devolved ultimate decision making powers not just to local government, but to one person, the Mayor. The crippling of environmental protection and the reluctance of the state to intervene in local council decisions is escalating development/conservation conflicts at an alarming rate.
three times in the document and the cassowary is only mentioned once in relation to being the namesake of the shire. Descriptions of some of our iconic wildlife ",..It’s not unusual to sight turtles and dugongs playing freely in the waterways ..." as if they are tourists on holiday, The public and important stakeholders have not been engaged for meaningful consultation. Our serious concerns are highlighted in the presentation (see below) which was shown to the Cassowary Recovery Team in Cairns on Tuesday 13th Nov. It finishes with a question. What are we going to do? A recent tourism promotion released by Rockhampton council was quickly withdrawn after public outrage that it was "...obvious that there has been a real shortage or a dearth of inclusive material, anything that really represents what our community is really made of..." A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald highlights the trend is widespread. Perth council has dealt with years of protests from community groups over town planning scheme amendments. A newly recently drafted strategy caused so much unrest the council went back to the drawing board. Other councils are copping public revolt at "..being consulted at the end of the process, instead of at the outset..." "... in a process nicknamed ‘Design, Advise and Defend..." Public consultation is the cornerstone of democracy. The community can stand up against this erosion of their democratic rights and gain back meaningful consultation to start turning around this runaway train of environmental destruction.
Mission Beach celebrates new nature refuge Terrain NRM Media release October 25, 2018 The Mission Beach community will celebrate next week when a long-running campaign to save a critical patch of cassowary habitat culminates in a new nature refuge.  Community members are gathering on Tuesday (30 October) at Lot 66 – a section of remnant rainforest that grabbed national headlines 10 years ago when former Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett pre-empted state and local government decision-making processes to rule out plans for a sub-division.
Mission Beach Cassowaries’ Liz Gallie, a major player in the campaign to save the land, paid tribute to decades of community commitment and cassowary-focused partnerships. She said other important cassowary corridors at Mission Beach also needed protection.  Terrain NRM’s Tony O’Malley said Lot 66 was a critical link in the longest and widest east-west rainforest corridor in Australia, a stretch of land along Walter Hill Range from Mission Beach to Ravenshoe. Terrain commissioned a report that identified cassowary corridors at Mission Beach and contributed to Mr Garrett protecting Lot 66 from residential subdivision, and helped with the partnership between Queensland Trust for Nature and C4. “These groups have made an amazing contribution to the Cassowary Coast environmental landscape,’’ Mr O’Malley said. “We encourage governments to consider rates discounts for landowners with nature refuge agreements, as Douglas Shire does.” Ms Pritchard called on landholders interested in conserving important habitats on their land to contact the Queensland Trust for Nature. The Lot 66 celebration is on Tuesday 30 October at 4.30pm at the top of Mission Circle, off the Tully-Mission Beach Rd. 
The Cassowary Recovery Team is encouraging people to visit a new website at www.worldcassowaryday.org and is asking social media users to like the World Cassowary Day Facebook page and to use the hashtag #LoveCassowaries with a special frame and filter.
They are also encouraging people to join or host an event. World Cassowary Day 2018 is being supported by CAFNEC, C4, Kuranda Conservation, Mission Beach Cassowaries, Rainforest Reserves, Terrain NRM and the Wet Tropics Management Authority. Terrain NRM’s Tony O’Malley said World Cassowary Day was also a way to celebrate the conservation efforts of those working to protect the southern cassowary, their home and the other unique and threatened animals of the region. “The Wet Tropics cassowary population is estimated at just 4000 and vehicle strikes are the major recorded cause of death,’’ Mr O’Malley said. “Cassowaries use the world heritage area plus surrounding areas including private land, so we are working together to help cassowary populations recover, including through improving and extending habitat and reducing roadkill. “Check out the website to find out how you can help make the cassowary famous and get involved in local events.” --ENDS-- For further information, please contact: Julie Lightfoot, Communications, Terrain NRM: julie.lightfoot@terrain.org.au, Ph.: 0427 039 117 Bess Murphy, Communications, CAFNEC: community@cafnec.org.au Ph.: 0409 696 399 Liz Gallie, President Mission Beach Cassowaries: missionbeachcassowaries@gmail.com Ph 0414 402315
Local environment organisation Mission Beach Cassowaries (MBC) will be joining the celebrations with the launch of their 2019 calendar which presents the special features of Mission Beach in spectacular images promoting the 'Mission Beach - naturally' branding. "Our aim is to present Mission Beach for the points of difference that make it a premier nature based 'slow tourism' destination based on protection of the natural environment and the cassowary". said Mission Beach Cassowaries president Liz Gallie. "Slow tourism is an emerging tourism market for people looking to spend longer in a destination and to experience becoming 'part of a community'. It is also associated with a low carbon footprint so helps achieve a more ecologically sustainable future. It s about ‘doing things in the right speed’, ‘changing the attitude towards speed’ and ‘seeking quality over quantity’".
"We ask that drivers take special care when travelling through cassowary habitat" said Liz. "A cassowary could be on the road just around the next bend or over the next crest"
 Photo Liz Gallie For more information contact;
Liz Gallie missionbeachcassowaries@gmail.com 0414 402315 |
 Follow the lives of individual cassowaries on facebook 
Friends of Ninney Rise
Lot 66
|
