The Mackay-Whitsunday Healthy Rivers to Reef Partnership today welcomes Dr. Stephen Miles, Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef, to Mackay to announce an increased Queensland Government annual membership contribution to the Partnership.
This contribution, alongside renewed membership contributions from 21 other Partners and brand new membership of the Australian Government, demonstrate strong commitment from all parts of our regional community to the health of our waterways and marine environments.
The Partnership’s Deputy Chair, Katrina Dent, said “Strong continued support from our Partners allows us to progress a series of projects to fill data gaps in future report cards as well as a series of response actions in relation to report card results.”
The Partners collaborate to collate and communicate the rigorous science on a regional scale to measure water quality, fauna, coral and other indicators of ecosystem health. By collaborating and leveraging off our collective strengths, the Partnership can achieve more.
We have released two full annual waterway health report cards to date which show the condition of our freshwater river basins, estuaries and marine environments, as well as assessments of the environmental best practice (stewardship) of our region’s industries. The next report card will be released in October 2017.
Mackay-Whitsunday is one of a series of report cards now being produced in regional Queensland to provide a comprehensive picture of waterway health. Report cards are also produced for South East Queensland, Gladstone Harbour, the Fitzroy Basin, and the Wet Tropics.
The Queensland and Australian Governments are supporting report card development as an action in the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan and contribute substantial funding and in-kind support.
Local NRM Group Reef Catchments hosts the Partnership for the Mackay-Whitsunday region.
