This is the text of a media release distributed by NQCC on Monday 14 March:

North Queensland Conservation Council is extremely concerned that coral bleaching in the Far North of the Great Barrier Reef is now so bad that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has upped its response to level 2.

In the light of this, NQCC calls on government to prevent further Reef degradation by taking strong action on climate change and better financing water quality improvement programs.

Fresh back from Paris, on Monday this week, Greg Hunt (again) gave his approval for the expansion of the Abbot Point port. The expansion would be necessary for what would be Australia’s largest coal mine, Adani’s Carmichael mine, to go ahead.  (Prize to anyone who can explain how those two fit together!)

To refresh memories in this complicated process, Minister Hunt’s first approval for the port expansion allowed the dredge spoil to be dumped in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park – that was stymied by legal action by NQCC and ended up with a law banning spoil being dumped anywhere in the Marine Park.

Paperbark is a monthly communique of current NQCC activities, campaigns, news and events.

In this October 2015 edition of Paperbark, welcome to our new-look e-newsletter & website. To subscribe to receive NQCC's newsletter and optionally other communications from NQCC click here. 

Community Engagement

NQCC is updating its ‘outreach capability’, with the adoption of the Nationbuilder software system. This is involving changes to our website. Thank you again to Malcolm Tattersall for his ongoing support with our website especially during the website restructuring phase. 

Nationbuilder will help us engage with our members and supporters and, importantly, help members and supporters participate in our campaigns and activities. New functionalities include the ability for you to change and update your email preferences, nominate to volunteer in a particular way (a quick thank you at this point to our volunteers, your help really expands our effectiveness), become a member (coming soon), make a donation, buy merchandise, RSVP and buy tickets online to our events - all within our own secure site.

We encourage you to have a look around the NQCC website and in particular sign-up to receive e-updates from NQCC.

Events

Wednesday 21 October: Microplastics, the invisible threat – AIMS Seminar, 2pm. Speaker is Professor Paula Sobral from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. Full information and registration available here.