Great Barrier Reef wetlands
Protecting Wetlands in Great Barrier Reef Catchments
What do these laws mean for graziers?
How might these laws affect grazing activities?
These laws will only affect you if you are planning to undertake ‘high impact earthworks’ in a wetland protection area.
To find out if your property contains any wetland protection areas, please go to the Department of Environment and Resource Management’s website.
This web page will enable you to search by Lot on Plan and a map will automatically be emailed to you. If your property does not contain any part of a wetland protection area, then these laws do not apply to you.
If you propose to undertake ‘high impact earthworks’ within a wetland protection area on your property you will need to make a development application.
What are ‘high impact earthworks’?
Examples of ‘high impact earthworks’ include:
Examples of earthworks exempt include:
In rural areas, a wetland protection area is a freshwater lake or swamp of high ecological significance and an area of 500m extending from the edge of a wetland. Wetlands do not include rivers under these laws.
What do these laws require?
These laws have introduced a requirement for a permit to be obtained where ‘high impact earthworks’ are proposed to be undertaken in a wetlands protection area.
Permit applications will be assessed by DERM against a temporary state planning policy (SPP). A temporary SPP to protect wetlands in GBR catchments took effect on 2 May 2010 and will continue for 12 months. Prior to the expiry of the temporary SPP the government will be considering whether a permanent SPP is required.
You can obtain a copy of the Temporary SPP here.
Fact sheets
The department’s website contains information sheets and guidelines about specific aspects of these laws, access to wetland mapping resources and links to development application forms.
Find out more from DERM by contacting:
Brisbane: Paul Roff (07) 3330 5776
Cairns: Wetlands Management Team (07) 4222 5462
Rockhampton: Wetlands Management Team (07) 4936 0580 or (07) 4938 4691
Email.
Fax: (07) 3330 5875
Mail: Project Manager, Wetlands Protection Policy
Natural Resource and Environment Business Group
Department of Environment and Resource Management
PO Box 2454
Brisbane QLD 4001
To find out more about Queensland's reef protection legislation, click here.
To find out more about the non-compulsory Reef Rescue initiative, click here.
Need help interpreting the ERMP and your requirements?
DERM employs Reef Protection Officers (RPOs) to assist producers with their queries. RPOs are located in:
ERMPs and EMPs can be lodged with DERM and if approved, will be accredited in either a 1, 3 or 5 year term.
Using fertilisers on improved grazing pastures
Do you apply fertilisers or soil conditioners to improved pastures where cattle graze?
If you are a grazier with more than 2000 hectares in the Burdekin Dry Tropics, Wet Tropics or Mackay Whitsunday catchments you are required to conduct regular soil tests and record nitrogen and phosporus fertiliser use within ten days of application.
This requirement does not apply to hay, lucerne or silage paddocks where cattle do not graze. Pelleted pasture seed and pelleted pasture seeds impregnated with fertiliser are also not required to be recorded.
Click here to access the approved recording form.
Using chemicals - accreditation or record keeping
Do you require Chemical Accreditation to meet Reef Protection regulations?
Herbicide and fertiliser record keeping requirements under the legislation have been a cause of confusion for some graziers. Visit www.reefwisefarming.qld.gov.au for more information. AgForce or RPOs can provide assistance and check for changes to the approved grazing herbicide list here.
On grazing properties greater than 2000 hectares, the use of tebuthiuron requires the applicator to hold chemical accreditation. Other soil residual herbicides used in grazing such as hexazinone, flupropanate, picloram granules, 2-2-DPA, atrazine and bromoxynil require records of use to be kept.
AgForce offers a correspondence course, SmartTrain, which meets all the requirements of Queensland's reef protection regulations to carry out chemical application in Burdekin, Mackay-Whitsunday & Wet Tropics catchments. This course is applicable to all four prescribed agricultural chemicals in cane and one in grazing (tebuthiuron).
Click here to find out more about AgForce chemical accreditation courses.
Want to know more?
Click on the following links for more information:
For more information contact QDAFF Reef Protection Officers (RPOs):
What do these laws mean for graziers?
How might these laws affect grazing activities?
These laws will only affect you if you are planning to undertake ‘high impact earthworks’ in a wetland protection area.
To find out if your property contains any wetland protection areas, please go to the Department of Environment and Resource Management’s website.
This web page will enable you to search by Lot on Plan and a map will automatically be emailed to you. If your property does not contain any part of a wetland protection area, then these laws do not apply to you.
If you propose to undertake ‘high impact earthworks’ within a wetland protection area on your property you will need to make a development application.
What are ‘high impact earthworks’?
Examples of ‘high impact earthworks’ include:
- Filling of land, including raising the level of land.
- Excavating to create a canal, channel or water storage.
- Constructing a levee, bund wall or diversion bank.
- Constructing or raising a dam, weir or other barrier across a waterway.
- Constructing a road, culvert or causeway.
Examples of earthworks exempt include:
- Earthworks involving moving up to 100 m3 of material within 200m of a wetland.
- Earthworks involving moving up to 1000 m3 where the works occur between 200m and 500m of a wetland.
- Any earthworks undertaken more than 500m from a wetland.
- Any activities to restore a wetland, for example weed removal.
- Maintenance of existing infrastructure on your property, such as dams, fencing, roads or stockyards.
- Routine farm activities, such as preparing existing cropped areas for cultivation.
- Minor works for domestic housing activity.
In rural areas, a wetland protection area is a freshwater lake or swamp of high ecological significance and an area of 500m extending from the edge of a wetland. Wetlands do not include rivers under these laws.
Click here to see how wetlands will be protected.
What do these laws require?
These laws have introduced a requirement for a permit to be obtained where ‘high impact earthworks’ are proposed to be undertaken in a wetlands protection area.
Permit applications will be assessed by DERM against a temporary state planning policy (SPP). A temporary SPP to protect wetlands in GBR catchments took effect on 2 May 2010 and will continue for 12 months. Prior to the expiry of the temporary SPP the government will be considering whether a permanent SPP is required.
You can obtain a copy of the Temporary SPP here.
Fact sheets
- Queensland Wetland Buffer Guideline: A wetland buffer is the transition zone between the wetland and the surrounding land use. Its purpose is to support the values and processes of the wetland and protect it from external threats.
Some policies and codes set fixed distances for buffers. This guideline describes a process to identify the wetland’s environmental values and then determine the buffer required to support and protect those values. - Development Assessment Triggers: Amendments to the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 (SPR) have established assessable development triggers and a concurrence role for the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) in relation to development involving high impact earthworks in Great Barrier Reef wetland protection areas (GBR WPA).
- What makes a wetland significant: The wetlands in Great Barrier Reef (GBR) wetland protection areas are predominantly freshwater wetland types called lacustrine and palustrine. Lacustrine wetlands are large, open, water-dominated systems (such as lakes) larger than eight hectares. Palustrine wetlands are generally non-tidal wetlands that have a cover of trees, shrubs or emergent plants. These wetlands are typically shallower than lacustrine wetlands and include marshes, fens and seasonally inundated Melaleuca forests.
- How will stakeholders be affected: In May 2010, the Queensland Government introduced planning and development laws under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 to protect freshwater wetlands of high ecological significance in Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments.
The laws were made to prevent the further loss and degradation of wetlands resulting from development that affects wetland water regimes. For this reason, the new laws focus on high impact earthworks that may alter surface water flows and groundwater levels. - Queensland Wetland Definition Guide – Part A: Part A is a guide to existing wetland definitions and how to apply the Queensland Wetlands Program wetland definition.
- Queensland Wetland Definition Guide – Part B: Part B is the delineation and mapping guideline
The department’s website contains information sheets and guidelines about specific aspects of these laws, access to wetland mapping resources and links to development application forms.
Find out more from DERM by contacting:
Brisbane: Paul Roff (07) 3330 5776
Cairns: Wetlands Management Team (07) 4222 5462
Rockhampton: Wetlands Management Team (07) 4936 0580 or (07) 4938 4691
Email.
Fax: (07) 3330 5875
Mail: Project Manager, Wetlands Protection Policy
Natural Resource and Environment Business Group
Department of Environment and Resource Management
PO Box 2454
Brisbane QLD 4001
To find out more about Queensland's reef protection legislation, click here.
To find out more about the non-compulsory Reef Rescue initiative, click here.
Need help interpreting the ERMP and your requirements?
DERM employs Reef Protection Officers (RPOs) to assist producers with their queries. RPOs are located in:
- Mackay Whitsunday, phone (07) 4999 6865 or email;
- Burdekin Dry Tropics, for Grazing phone (07) 4760 7478 or email; for Sugarcane phone (07) 4799 7434 or email; and
- Wet Tropics phone (07) 4222 5454 or email.
ERMPs and EMPs can be lodged with DERM and if approved, will be accredited in either a 1, 3 or 5 year term.
Using fertilisers on improved grazing pastures
Do you apply fertilisers or soil conditioners to improved pastures where cattle graze?
If you are a grazier with more than 2000 hectares in the Burdekin Dry Tropics, Wet Tropics or Mackay Whitsunday catchments you are required to conduct regular soil tests and record nitrogen and phosporus fertiliser use within ten days of application.
This requirement does not apply to hay, lucerne or silage paddocks where cattle do not graze. Pelleted pasture seed and pelleted pasture seeds impregnated with fertiliser are also not required to be recorded.
Click here to access the approved recording form.
Using chemicals - accreditation or record keeping
Do you require Chemical Accreditation to meet Reef Protection regulations?
Herbicide and fertiliser record keeping requirements under the legislation have been a cause of confusion for some graziers. Visit www.reefwisefarming.qld.gov.au for more information. AgForce or RPOs can provide assistance and check for changes to the approved grazing herbicide list here.
On grazing properties greater than 2000 hectares, the use of tebuthiuron requires the applicator to hold chemical accreditation. Other soil residual herbicides used in grazing such as hexazinone, flupropanate, picloram granules, 2-2-DPA, atrazine and bromoxynil require records of use to be kept.
AgForce offers a correspondence course, SmartTrain, which meets all the requirements of Queensland's reef protection regulations to carry out chemical application in Burdekin, Mackay-Whitsunday & Wet Tropics catchments. This course is applicable to all four prescribed agricultural chemicals in cane and one in grazing (tebuthiuron).
Click here to find out more about AgForce chemical accreditation courses.
Want to know more?
Click on the following links for more information:
- Herbicide and fertiliser record keeping requirements
- Chemical accreditation correspondence program
- Chemicals requiring record keeping under reef regulations
- Approved record keeping form
- Queensland government 'ReefWise' farming website
- Request a 'ReefWise' farming property map
- Frequently asked questions
- Non-compulsory Reef Rescue initiative
For more information contact QDAFF Reef Protection Officers (RPOs):
- Mackay Whitsunday, phone (07) 4999 6865 or email;
- Burdekin Dry Tropics, for Grazing phone (07) 4760 7478 or email; for Sugarcane phone (07) 4799 7434 or email; and
- Wet Tropics phone (07) 4222 5454 or email.