Natural Resource Management

Resource issues 1 (this page); Weeds and pests.

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Scalding (84^oC), mineral-rich artesian water flows from 795m below ground at the town bore, outskirts of Thargomindah, outback southwest Queensland, Australia. Once cooled and aired, the water is potable and has supported the town since 1893. Thargomindah was the first town to enjoy reticulated borewater, and one of the first three (after London & Paris) to have electric street lighting, from a generator coupled to a water turbine using the bore's pressure in 1893-Australia's first hydro-electric scheme.6x9cm SW23.11e

Freshwater fish, Boney Bream Nematolosa erebi, stranded in the concrete footing of Glebe Weir, a river regulating structure on the Dawson River, one of Queensland’s major inland rivers, during a minor flood. Freshwater fish migrate upstream during such “freshes” to breed in the floodplain wetlands, and obstacles compromise the maintenance of their populations. CQ29.13s

Crowd of holiday makers on a surf beach on the east coast of Australia (Burleigh, Gold Coast, SE Queensland). The coastal zone is ecologically sensitive, supports the tourism industry and recreational and commercial fisheries, and is a resource needing careful management.6x6cm C48.1e

Misty winter dawn on the Condamine River, an important water resource on the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia, with a riparian strip of River Red Gum, Coolibah and River Cooba which provides wildlife with refuge and corridor habitat in the largely agricultural landscape. SW111.22s

Fairbairn Dam and Lake Maraboon, near Emerald, central Queensland, Australia, built on the Nagoa River. It provides irrigation water for fruit and cotton, recreation for Emerald (population of 6 600). CQ65.20s

Dead trees indicate former Blue Gum Flats, a once widespread regional ecosystem in coastal Australia. Blue (Forest Red) Gums Eucalyptus tereticornis grow on fertile creek flats which are targetted for clearing or ring-barking for crops or grazing, making blue gum flats an endangered or of-concern regional ecosystem. CQ72.14s

Pasture management differences shown on boundary fence between lightly and heavily stocked beef producing properties in the Emerald district, central Queensland, Australia. Nutritious and palatable native grasses including Bluegrasses Dicanthium & Bothriochloa spp. on basaltic black soil downs (right) have been replaced through overgrazing with Parthenium weed P. hysterophorus (left), a declared plant from Mexico and the USA which has overrun and degraded thousands of hectares of grazing land in north and central Queensland. CQ30.24s

Old Broad-leaved Bottletree Brachychiton australis stands proud on basaltic black soil downs on Goonderoo station near Springsure, central Queensland, Australia, a Bush Heritage Reserve preserving native grasslands lost to overgrazing & improved pasture elsewhere, and native woodlands lost over large areas to land clearing. CQ28.5s and (6x4.5cm) CQ15.4e

Severe gully erosion on erodable dispersive sandy-clay soils after unwise clearing of tree cover for grazing on a relatively steep slope, Taroom district, Queensland, Australia. Poor land management practices have caused land degradation to become the greatest economic and environmental problem facing Australia, and made necessary a network of Landcare groups across the nation. CQ31.15s

Tide of human resource use and waste in a world of increasing human consumption. Scrap metal piling up at a refuse tip, Australia, can be recycled to contribute a small amount to a sustainable world with room for all to live and prosper into the future. C92.11s

Heavy burden of silt in the Brisbane River, Australia, an example of a river system showing ecological strain from intense human exploitation. The river, once clear, runs brown from accumulated sediment from cleared and ploughed upper catchments, and in dry times its flow is 30% sewage effluent from urban centres along its length. C96.15s

Drought in rangeland grazing country, Barkly Tableland

Drought in the grazing rangelands of the Barkley Tableland, Australia. Though standing pasture is reduced to chaff, the seedbank awaits rain. It is then that pasture degradation can occur as storm runoff erodes the denuded topsoil, and the more palatable pasture species are eaten before they have a chance to set seed and survive the next drought as dormant seed in the topsoil. N82.10s

East Sepik fisherman with catch in dugout canoe, traditional, effective means of transport on the great Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. Rivers provide the basics of life for many indigenous communities and need environmental & catchment protection. I76.8s

Harvesting river produce, River Matan, Kalimantan

Fisherman with cast net in estuarine reach of the Sungai Matan near Teluk-Melano, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Productive estuary & coastal ecosystems provide for local communities worldwide, are precious but vulnerable. I71.21s

Fish drying in Kuala Kambas village in Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra Indonesia. Fishermen were relocated when national park was declared, but returned to resume traditional fishing in the productive natural estuarine wetland. They are now tolerated in a multiple use reserve management system typically needed where indigenous people need to live in conservation areas. I69.15s	Sugar cane fields in the rich agricultural lands of the Burnett River delta, Queensland, Australia. Deltas accumulate high-nutrient sediments from river catchments and are typically productive, but high water demands, agrochemical use and urban expansion threatens the rivers which create the resource. CQ40.22s	Plantation of mangroves (Rhizophora) replacing former natural mangrove wetland removed for commercial prawn/fish farming ponds 'tambak', north coast West Java, Indonesia. Loss of nutrients, productivity made mangrove replanting necessary. I14.16s	Papuan worker starts the morning shift at Ok Tedi mine, Papua New Guinea. Such mines in developing countries can provide employment, skills, foreign exchange for developing economies, but also dislocation, disadvantage to local peoples. I78.9s	Recreational bait netters on an estuary in Queensland, Australia. Estuarine fisheries resources are under strong pressure from both commercial and recreational fishers, and conflicts arise concerning catch-sharing issues and environmental impacts of netting and trawling. CQ46.11s
Bright lights of the crowded city-state of Singapore, SE Asia. Human populations continue to increase, taxing the earth's energy and other natural resources and ecosystems to meet the expectation of ever-increasing standards of living. I19.20s	Bank erosion beside a tributary in the Baffle Creek catchment, Qld, Australia. Intensive land use, perhaps overgrazing, has damaged the protective layer of top-soil, allowing rains and floods to scour subsoil, contributing to siltation and ecosystem degradation downstream. CQ50.20s	Ostrich farm near Condamine, Qld, Australia. Eggs, meat and feathers are bona fide products of the ostrich industry, but as with many alternative stock and crop ideas in the rural sector, desparation spawned highly speculative ventures in an economic climate of slumping returns from traditional commodities. SW112.24s	Paulownia plantation near Rosedale, Qld, Australia. Paulownia trees, native of China, produce light, easily worked timber in short growing periods, but require irrigation and fertilisation to produce millable logs quickly. As with many alternative crop ideas in the rural sector, highly speculative ventures have developed in an economic climate of slumping returns from traditional commodities. CQ50.17s	Recreational fishing guide on an estuary (Baffle Creek) in Queensland, Australia, displays an undersized catch before release to foster future fish stocks. Estuarine fisheries resources are under strong pressure from both commercial and recreational fishers, and conflicts arise concerning catch-sharing issues and environmental impacts of netting and trawling. CQ36.10s

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