Southern Queensland - You are standing in it!

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Have you seen the Big Map of the Landscapes of Southern Queensland? It touched down late last year in Goondiwindi, St George, Roma, Miles and Dalby at our round table events. It has been a focus of community conversation about how people value the landscapes across the region, and how we can work together to ensure they flourish into the future.

While community round tables have already been hosted in Charleville, Quilpie, Thargomindah and Cunnamulla, the Big Map is set to continue its journey when it travels to Mitchell, Stanthorpe, Millmerran and Toowoomba next month.

Round table events have been a vehicle for meaningful and collaborative conversations. A major discussion point has been the need to do things differently in terms of the stewardship of natural assets. Other topics explored include the drought, grazing pressure, pest management, carbon farming and the need to enhance the health of our soils and grasslands.

Conversations to date have highlighted that communities, industry and local governments are doing incredible work and that other outcomes could be achieved by working together as a region. This conversation extends to communities working collaboratively, inspiring each other and future generations. Igniting the passion to feel proud of the region and of the community work invested in looking after our landscapes, has been a rallying call from attendees at our round table events.

The purpose behind the round table events, including those still to be hosted, is to collate the ideas, knowledge and experiences from the community, land managers and First Nations peoples. This information will inform discussions at three regional workshops to be held in March. The regional workshops will use a process called a design charrette to engage community and industry representatives, and local and invited knowledge holders, to help reimagine a future for the region in tune with community aspirations.

This powerful combination of insight and future visioning will help tell the story of the landscapes of Southern Queensland, and be the driving force behind a meaningful and collaborative action plan for the future. The plan will be used to attract investment and interest, to support communities across the region to care for Country, achieve outcomes in the paddock, backyard and beyond, and help land managers find new ways to become more profitable on their place.

Community consultation will continue over the next six months, with the view of the action plan being finished by the end of 2021. To learn more about the action plan, contact Andrew Davidson on andrew.davidson@sqlandscapes.org.au.

Would you like to have your say at an upcoming round table event? To join us in Mitchell, Toowoomba, Stanthorpe or Millmerran, click on the button below for dates, times and to RSVP. For additional queries about the events, contact Jenny Cameron on (07) 4620 0111 or jenny.cameron@sqlandscapes.org.au.

Click here for round table event details

Image Caption: The Big Map with attendees from the Goondiwindi Community Round Table event.

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The Condamine Headwaters, a critical ecosystem in Southern Queensland, has long faced threats from sedimentation, habitat degradation, and thermal regime changes. The Blackfish Project, dedicated to reversing these impacts, unites scientists, landowners, and the community in a shared mission to restore and protect this vital environment. At its core lies the river blackfish, a sensitive indicator of the overall ecosystem health. Central to the project's success is the unwavering commitment of landowners like Paul Graham. Inspired by the project's vision, Paul reached out to SQ Landscapes seeking support for a solar pump and tank to divert his cattle away from waterways on his property. Paul's deep-rooted love for his land, captured in his humorous quip "I love my land more than I love my wife," is a testament to the powerful connection between people and place that drives conservation efforts.

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Learn How Sophie and Adrian Transformed Their Wallet and Soil at “Bellhaven Brook”

by Caleb Back • 5 September 2023

When Sophie and Adrian McInnerney began adopting their “paddock to plate” experiment into their lambing business, they quickly discovered how a new and exciting approach to running their enterprise transformed their resilience and soil health. Multi-species cover cropping was the answer, and now their business has become a diverse enterprise that has embraced variations in livestock feed and crop rotation, building riparian fencing, and investing in healthier soils. This has opened the young couple to new opportunities to create new revenue streams, protect their business against natural disasters, drought, and prepare for economic hardships. Their property, “Bellhaven Brook”, located just an hour east of Goondiwindi, was the site of Macintyre Ag Alliance’s latest Multi-Species Cropping Field Day. With the support of Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes), the event aimed to promote the McInnerney family’s new land practices, offering an opportunity to educate land managers in the region of new ways to strengthen their property and enterprise. SQ Landscapes’ Goondiwindi-based Project Delivery Officer Keith Walker joined land managers for the workshop and highlighted how multi-species cover cropping could pave the way to rebuilding healthy soils and farming enterprises. “What was great about visiting ‘Bellhaven Brook’ is that you don’t have to be a scientist to understand this stuff. The idea is to just try and experiment like the McInnerneys did,” Keith Walker said. “These cover cropping systems are all about building your experience, experimenting and slowly developing a healthier and richer soil profile; which is the basis of all businesses; cropping and grazing alike.” Mr Walker said. “It was interesting to see the range of people, the ages from young and old, and the differences in enterprises. It’s a reminder that this genre of agriculture is starting conversations,” he said. “It’s all about implementation on the ground and getting the results for less money and experimenting with what people are doing.”

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