13 August 2024
On 4 July 2024, Wildlife Queensland’s President, Peter Ogilvie, and Secretary, Des Boyland, met with the Honourable Leanne Linard, Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef and Minister for Science and Innovation, and Ben Klaassen, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI). The meeting centred around critical environmental concerns, highlighting the importance of continued collaboration between the government and conservation groups.
National parks expansion and conservation
The slow expansion of the Protected Area Estate was a primary concern raised. Minister Linard was actively engaged, raising and responding to questions. The minister provided some assurance, hinting at forthcoming increases in national park areas, although specific details were not disclosed. She emphasised that the focus is on natural heritage conservation, not merely the expansion of hectares. Since the meeting, there have been positive developments in this area, but Wildlife Queensland continues to advocate for the creation of more national parks.
Eco-tourism and national park management
The meeting also covered the issue of commercial eco-tourism developments within national parks. Minister Linard clarified that the current policy encourages such developments to be located adjacent to, rather than within, national parks. When asked about the reinstatement of the Cardinal Principle of Management of National Parks, a commitment made by the Palaszczuk Government in 2015, the Minister indicated that it is not currently government policy.
Marine park zoning and legislative amendments
The discussion further touched on the delays in releasing the new zoning plan for the Great Sandy Marine Park. Wildlife Queensland expressed concerns about the potential for similar delays with the Moreton Bay Marine Park zoning plan. The need for amendments to the Nature Conservation Act was also raised, with hopes for more efficient legislative processes.
Platypus conservation and citizen science
Another topic of discussion was Wildlife Queensland’s proposal for the government to fund a statewide citizen science project to conduct an eDNA survey of the platypus population. Minister Linard listened attentively and delegated the follow-up to Ben Klaassen, who will advise Wildlife Queensland of the outcome.
Des Boyland summarised,
“It was a good meeting with more positives than negatives. If the Labor Government is re-elected and Minister Linard retains this portfolio, Wildlife Queensland is confident that certain positive outcomes in environment conservation will be achieved. However, while we remain hopeful, we will continue to advocate for necessary changes, even though our concerns sometimes fall on deaf ears.”