World Environment Day, Friday 5 June, is a reminder of the importance of protecting Wide Bay’s unique and pristine natural environment, Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien said today.

“We are so fortunate to live in an area of outstanding, unspoilt natural beauty, and it is important that we keep up the good work in protecting our precious and unique flora and fauna so that future generations can enjoy it too,” Mr O’Brien said.

“The Morrison Government’s Communities Environment Program is supporting our community and local groups to deliver real environmental benefits here in Wide Bay, and I’m pleased almost $150,000 in CEP grants is helping to ensure our patch of paradise stays pristine into the future.”

Mr O’Brien congratulated the following organisations for their successful applications:

• Gympie & District Landcare Group Incorporated – $15,000 to revegetate the riverbank at Gunabul Homestead, planting native vegetation to improve the habitat for the Mary River Turtle and Queensland Lungfish within the Mary River ecosystem.
   
• Tiaro and District Landcare Group – $15,800 to restore the habitat of Mary River Turtles and minimise damage to nesting sites, increasing survival rates of the egg/hatchling phase.
   
• Riding for the Disabled Maryborough – $2,500 for weed eradication and replanting of native species to improve water quality in two dams that provide water to Little Tinana Creek and wetland swamps.
   
• Noosa and District Landcare Group – $19,266 for the Noosa Trail Network: Shepperson’s Lane Lookout Revegetation Project, revegetating 1.05ha of native bushland by replacing invasive weeds with 1800 native shade tree, ground cover and tube stock species.
   
• Sunshine Butterflies – $20,000 to replenish dams and revegetate the land with native flora which will improve habitat, provide vegetation linkages and available food sources for threatened native species.
   
• Fraser Island Defenders Organization Limited – $20,000  to eradicate a range of invasive weeds over an area at Eurong and Happy Valley. This will prevent the spread of exotic plants into the surrounding World Heritage Listed National Park.
   
• Peregian Beach Community Association – $7,500 for the David Low Way Restoration and Weed Management project, which will restore native plants and support the restoration of an endangered species of butterfly by enhancing its natural habitat.
   
• Noosa Integrated Catchment Association – $13,000 for the Wallum Woodland Wetland and Wildlife Rehabilitation project which will improve habitat by controlling weeds, removing rubbish, and revegetating rainforest and wetland areas.
   
• Cooroy Golf Club – $6,934 to remove invasive trees and promote native vegetation regrowth. This will improve water quality, reduce erosion, and prevent threats to native flora and fauna within the area.
   
• Kilkivan Community Garden and Railway Markets Project – $10,000 to revegetate the area with native species and shrubs to attract native bees, koalas and kangaroos. This will help restore the local environment and provide suitable habitat for flora and fauna within the Kilkivan ecosystem.
   
• Save the Mary River Coordinating Group – $19,564 to improve upon the current vegetation and habitat for the threatened Mary River Turtle by planting native flora in the area.

More than $200 million is being invested in urgent wildlife and habitat recovery projects in the wake of Australia’s devastating bushfires, guided by ecologists and scientists from Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel and the Australian Government is closely studying the impacts of the fires on the populations of iconic animals such as the koala.

Through the National Environmental Science Program, the Government is investing $290 million in evidence-based on-ground strategies that combine the latest environmental science with traditional knowledge and practical land care management.

Australia’s world-leading Reef Management is challenging new scientific barriers through a $150 million reef restoration and adaptation initiative, part of a $1.9 billion Commonwealth investment in supporting the Great Barrier Reef, by working with the communities who depend on it for their livelihoods.

For the first time, a Federal Government is making Waste and Recycling a national priority, declaring an end to the export of waste plastics, glass, paper and tyres; holding the nation’s first plastics summit and bringing industry along with us to identify solutions and mobilise further action.

As Australians look to recycle their waste each week, the Morrison government is ensuring they can have faith in that recycling process, and the positive impact it can have on our environment.