Welcome to the April issue of Paperbark. Our thoughts and well-wishes are with the communities to our south who felt the full force of Cyclone Debbie.

In this issue: Guarding the Galilee film screening – Special General Meeting – Stop Adani Alliance launched – Adani roadshow returns – Queensland Women’s Week event wrap up – Minister’s Environment Roundtable – upcoming local enviro events

Date savers (more details below)

27 April – “Guarding the Galilee” premiere documentary screening.
2 May – Special General Meeting regarding Port of Townsville expansion project campaign
12 May – ‘The Food We Eat: its impact on environments and bodies’ free public discussion

This post is written by Liz Murphy-Forrester from Queensland Conservation Council. It orginally appears on their website. Queensland Conservation Council and North Queensland Conservation Council collaborated together to put on an event for Queensland Women’s Week.

In a culture where we are often focused on limitations, ‘Empowering NQ women for the Environment’ on Magnetic Island was an event that celebrated the incredible capacity of generations of NQ women standing up boldly for the environment.

This post is written by Liz Murphy-Forrester from Queensland Conservation Council. It orginally appears on their website. Queensland Conservation Council and North Queensland Conservation Council collaborated together to put on an event for Queensland Women's Week.

In a culture where we are often focused on limitations, 'Empowering NQ women for the Environment' on Magnetic Island was an event that celebrated the incredible capacity of generations of NQ women standing up boldly for the environment.

The weekend retreat, held during Queensland Women's Week, saw women from Mackay through to Cairns come together to share stories, skills and strengthen networks. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women shared stories, through dance, about their life journeys and caring for country.

Today in Canberra, veteran environmentalist Bob Brown will join community leaders from around the country to launch the ‘Stop Adani Alliance’ and build the biggest movement in Australia’s history to stop Adani’s dangerous coal mine and end coal for good.

North Queensland Conservation Council (NQCC) is a founding member of the Alliance.

NQCC co-ordinator Maree Dibella said, “It’s great to see people from around the country join our fight to stop the Adani’s mine from going ahead.  I know there is a lot of local support here in Townsville for this campaign, but I also know we can’t win this on our own.”

Welcome to the March edition of Paperbark. This month we are ramping up our #StopAdani campaign – read on to find out how you can be involved. We also have some great trainingopportunities coming up this month.

#StopAdani Roadshow – Monday 27 March

This is big. Our very own city is the FIRST stop for a week-long roadshow across Australia, building an unstoppable movement to stop Adani. Come along and learn about what action we can take to win this campaign. Inspiring speakers include:

LGAQ calls on governments to take control of flying fox issue

This article was written by ABC NQ's Nathalie Fernbach, and originally published here.

The peak body representing local government in Queensland is calling for state and federal governments to take control of flying fox management. The Local Government Association Queensland’s (LGAQ) call follows the release of the results of the federal parliamentary inquiry into management of flying foxes in the eastern states of Australia.

The Standing Committee on Environment and Energy’s Living With Fruit Bats report recommended the establishment of a co-operative body to co-ordinate national management and to identify policy and research priorities. 

Ingrid Marker has lived adjacent to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area near Mission Beach for 25 years. In that time, a family of seven cassowaries became frequent visitors and made themselves at home on her property. Ingrid was lucky to witness the family have chicks and grow into mature birds with their own chicks, as they strutted around her home and garden over the years. Cassowaries are listed as endangered, and there are less than 1,400 in existence.

“While Adani’s Carmichael coal mine is beset with opposition and financing problems, the contrast to the go-ahead of yet another renewable, solar power station couldn’t be clearer” said NQ Conservation’s Maree Dibella, after news of the commencement of the $126 million Kidston Solar Project was announced by the Queensland Government yesterday.

“These are just the sorts of projects that conservationists support. It’s really exciting – an unused mine site being transformed into a renewable energy production and storage powerhouse” said Ms Dibella.

Protecting our ocean

Join us in celebrating the beautiful clear water of the northern tropics and safeguarding it from unnecessary dredging and other activities that muddy our wonderful Cleveland Bay – an ecological hotspot and fundamental to our unique lifestyle.

Clear Water Townsville is a partnership between North Queensland Conservation Council and the Magnetic Island Nature Care Association.

Let’s make one thing clear. We’re not here to close the Port of Townsville – just to make sure that excessive, damaging and unnecessary growth doesn’t destroy the wonderful marine environment and leisure activities we are privileged to enjoy in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Happy new year and welcome to the first edition of Paperbark for 2017.  We hope you had a refreshing break and are well-rested for the year ahead. We have a few good news stories below as well as some exciting events coming up in the months ahead.

We have big plans for 2017, and are happy to announce a new team member has come on board in making our plans a reality! Welcome to Tyler Peirce who has taken on the role of Community Campaigner.

Several campaigns we are involved in will reach critical points, and it is also very likely that this will be an election year.