Steve MacDonaldQld Dept.Local govt &

planning

Photo: John Augusteyn

2011 Tracks & Trails Conference

QLD State of the Trails

2011 Tracks & Trails Conference

QLD State of the Trails

Steve MacDonald Qld Dept. Local govt. & Planning

• SEQ Active Trails Strategy

• SEQ Outdoor Recreation strategy

• Qld Cycle strategy

• Qld Greenspace strategy

• Statutory Regional Planning

Department of Environment & Resource ManagementQueensland Parks & Wildlife Service (QPWS)An overview:

1. Severe weather events across Queensland

2. Affected parks – floods

3. Ground Zero – Yasi

4. QPWS disaster response

5. Re-opening our parks

6. Tracks & Trails update

Since December, floods and cyclones have damaged tracks, campgrounds, roads and other infrastructure in Queensland’s parks

Girraween NP

Worst floods in decades affect half the state + Category 5 cyclone sweeps across the northern part of the state

Recipe for disaster

Tully Heads

50% of Queensland’s 279 national parks were closed or partly closed by flooding or Cyclone Yasi * Significant biodiversity values

inundated by flooding (1-20 Jan 2011)

Park entrance, Girraween NP

1.7 million hectares of parks and forests affected by Cyclone Yasi

Flooding across central, southern and western Queensland in December/January closed parks and damaged park roads, tracks and infrastructure

Bill Goebel bridge, Girraween NP

Lawton Road, D’Aguilar NP

Normally

Bald Rock Creek, Girraween NP

Main swimming hole, Girraween NP

Normally

22 February 2011: Tropical Cyclone Yasi hit the Queensland coast near Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell

• Mission Beach• TullyTully• Cardwell Cardwell

Forest foliage was devastated and a tsunami affected park infrastructure

Lacey Creek, Mission Beach

Mackay Highlands Great Walk

Whitsunday Great Walk

Murray Falls camping area, Girramay NP

Tropical Cyclone Yasi, the aftermath

• Endangered southern cassowary

• Cardwell Rainforest and Reef Centre

• Fallen trees, forests stripped of leaves and infrastructure damaged in many parks, especially around Cardwell and Innisfail

• Even Boodjamulla NP!

Cardwell Rainforest and Reef Centre

Cardwell, looking towards Tully

QPWS park assets•Infrastructure valued at more than $1.2B•20,000 kilometres of roads and firebreaks, •134 camping areas, •129 day-use facilities,•2,200 kilometres of walking tracks.

Mission Beach

Murray Falls, Girramay NP

Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walk

• Built in tropical rainforest damaged by Cyclone Larry 2006

• Cyclone Yasi caused less damage

• Walkway re-opened one week later

• Some visitors think the views are even better!

Elevated walkway

Elevated walkway

Forest walk

Cantilever roof, elevated walkway

Cassowary habitat

• Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi wreaked havoc on the endangered southern cassowary’s habitat

• The Cassowary Response Team implemented supplementary feeding to help affected birds

Feed stations have been established

Fruit has been dropped by helicopter and placed at feeding stations

Remote sensor cameras have been installed at feeding stations to monitor how the birds are using the stations and watch for dog and wild pig activity

Feeding stations are moved and alternated to encourage natural foraging

The clean-up

• QPWS focus is fixing the damage so we can welcome back our visitors

• Rangers working hard to re-open our disaster-affected parks

• Visitor safety is a priority

• By Easter most parks were open for business!

When the going gets tough

QPWS staff supported the community clean-up at:

• Brisbane

• Ipswich

• The Lockyer Valley

• Cardwell

• Rockhampton

Community, recovery and evacuation centre, Gatton

Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane

Goodna, Ipswich

Lockyer Creek Rd, Helidon

Council depot, Rockhampton

Grantham, Australia Day

QPWS PrioritiesReinstate infrastructure, access and fire and pest management programs on QPWS managed protected areas

Support and facilitate recovery of disaster-affected nature refuges

An overview:

Current status;

• NDRRA funding

• 24 million over 3 yrs

• 6 million (25%) by Qld

• 40 temporary rangers

• infrastructure replacement

QPWS park update

• 162 national parks were affected by the extreme weather events

• 147 of these have been re-opened (90%), 12 partially open & 3 remain closed.

• Availability of private contractors to undertake repairs remains an issue

• 255 “Restoration of Essential Public Asset” projects

• Training for the new QLDRA NDRRA procedures are being held

• Work slowed by further wet ground conditions.

National Parks impacted by disasters

Milestones – Park Infrastructure Environmental Line of Reconstruction – Activity Report Aug. Timeframe Status

Planning

NDRRA Applications prepared. June 11 40%

Response Phase

Initial clean up for access and assessment July 11 87%

Identify & assess key tourism & recreation sites / facilities May 11 161 sites identified

Engage with tourism & recreation stakeholders July 11 In progress

Recovery Phase

Restoration works completed March 13 6%

Mitigation Phase

Assessment of future damage mitigation options completed June 13 40%

End Recovery Activity

Project variations submittedCompletion reports submittedAsset management records updated

June 13 0%0%4%

QPWS Walking tracks AS 2156.1

Class 1  21

Class 2 55

Class 3 372

Class 4 1427

Class 5 241

Class 6 94

 Total Walking Tracks 2210K

Note – excludes multi-use trails & management roads which allow recreational access

2008 T & T report• 1700 km of terrestrial walking track

(Sams data - Strategic Asset Management System +/- 30%) • Doesn’t include numerous multi-

use, 4WD/2WD scenic drives/travel routes and marine and freshwater boat/canoe trail routes.

Photo: John Augusteyn

•majority tracks occur in southern and northern Qld •QPWS adopting new Walking Track classification •majority track in AS Class 3 & Class 4

–due to the historical development of the track system in the parks Near Brisbane,–Concentration of protected area in the wet tropics around Cairns and in south-east Queensland. –Close to urban populations

Other agenciesWyaralong Dam – opened July 2011 – MTB & multi-use – 45k+Rail trail network (multi-use) – new approvals more trails

Track snapshot

Track tenures in QPWS

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Distance (km)

Conservation Park

Council-Road Reserve

Forest Reserve

National Park

NP/SF

State Forest

State Freehold

Water Reserve

Ten

ure

Ty

pe

s

5-10km

10-20km

20+km

1-5km

0-1km

Murray Falls, Girramay NP

• BWQ & 4WD MoU - ‘Adopt-a-track’

• TiMBA MTB private inititive in Atherton with interagency support

• New/revised policies - MTB, Cliff based, Competitive Events, Geocaching

• QPWS multi-use trail signage

• Parks Outdoor Recreation Forums

TVM update

• Floods and cyclones are part of the Australian landscape

• Forest renewal follows tree falls

• Wildlife breed in good seasons

• Tropical rainforest has evolved to survive such impacts; some pioneer saplings have waited 20 years for this chance to reach the sunlight!

• So unsightly damage does not last long

• Last year’s floods out west saw the return of plant species not seen for decades

Photo: Robert Ashdown