Reef And Rivers Podcast

Over 90% of Australia's bananas are grown in the Wet Tropics but with increasing pressure on our agricultural sectors to become more environmentally sustainable, the banana industry is making changes to improve the quality of water flowing off banana farms into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Michelle McKinlay, Industry Manager for the Australian Banana Growers Council, talks about what banana farmers are doing to become more environmentally sustainable.

In July 2019 the fourth Wet Tropics Waterway Health report card was launched, highlighting the condition of the basins, estuaries and marine zones from the Daintree in the north to Hinchinbrook in the south.

Wet Tropics Waterways chair Steve Turton describes the results of the report card program, discussing changes since the 2018 report card and the ongoing development of waterway health indicators.

Climate change forecasts indicate that the Wet Tropics can look forward to more rainfall, more severe cyclones and warmer temperatures, according to Professor Steve Turton.

This will have implications for the reef, mangrove and seagrass ecosystems in the region, as well as the freshwater systems that drain our basins.

But while there are some concerns, there is still plenty of hope and even a few positive outcomes from the climate change story.

Bioreactors show a lot of promise for denitifying and "polishing" groundwater before it is expressed into waterways or direct to the Great Barrier Reef via wonky holes (undersea springs).

Whilst they won't negate the need to better manage our nitrogen loads to surface and ground waters, the ability to intercept and remove nitrogen could play an important role in reducing our overall impacts. In future they may even be a useful money earner for landholders wanting to explore the proposed Reef Credits scheme.

Fiona Barron is the Wet Tropics Coordinator of the Paddock to Reef Integrated Monitoring, Modelling and Reporting program (P2R), a world leading scientific program funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments that links on-ground practice changes by farmers to measureable improvements in water quality flowing to the Great Barrier Reef.

P2R provides information on how well Australia is progressing towards it Reef 2050 targets. It helps us assess how well our water quality projects are working and also helps us plan and prioritise future projects and services.

Agro-Ecologist David Hardwick has been working in the farming and food industry for over 20 years. As an expert on soils, agronomy and organics he has been working with many farmers throughout the Wet Tropics to build knowledge and skills about soil as a farm business asset.

Besides being important for farm productivity, good soil health also has important benefits for waterway health. In this episode, David explains the connection between soil and water and what programs are taking place across the region to improve soil health in the Wet Tropics.

Tangaroa Blue is a not for profit organisation involved in the cleanup and cataloguing of plastic debris from our coastlines, as well as educational campaigns regarding plastic waste management and minimisation.

In this episode Tangaroa Blue Managing Director Heidi Taylor describes the scale of the problem, the impacts on our environment and the activities undertaken by her organisation to address the issues.

Central to the strategy is Heidi's philosophy of recording the waste collected and where possible identifying the sources so that we can better target our management strategies to the sources.

The introduction and spread of noxious aquatic fauna and flora can be particularly damaging to the health of our waterways. Once introduced, these invasive species often can't be eradicated, even controlling their spread and proliferation can be expensive and extremely challenging.

The damage that alien (exotic) species can do to our delicate ecosystems varies depending on the species of concern and on the ecosystems into which they are introduced. Some can colonise in low numbers and coexist with minimal impact. Others can out-compete native species for habitat, food and resources, permanently altering the ecosystem for the worse.

In this Episode we talk to Dr Bonnie Holmes, Senior Biosecurity Officer with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Bonnie is a pest fish expert and explains the level to which alien species currently impact on Wet Tropics Waterways. We also talk about what managers and the public can do to reduce the spread of alien species - and a handful of pest fish that DAF are working to prevent gaining a foothold in our waterways.