- Wet Tropics Management
- Legislative framework
- Management partnerships
- Sustainable Tourism Plan
- Threats to the Area
- Research and a Learning Landscape
- How can I help?
A whirlwind start to 2017 has kept us on our toes at Wet Tropics Management Authority.
The dawn of a new year has brought with it some exciting changes, new faces, new ideas and emerging challenges as we launch into a busy period for the Authority.
We’ve celebrated some significant milestones in the early part of the year with the reconvening of our Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and Community Consultative Committee (CCC) in February. The committees are an exciting way to engage with leaders within our community and tap into their knowledge and resources to ensure we protect our World Heritage Area for future generations. I’m confident both committees will provide invaluable advice to the board on key issues and play a critical role in identifying new opportunities into the future.
Along with the SAC and CCC we’ve opened our doors to a host of new team members at the Authority in recent months.
Rachel Burgess, Lorraine Briggs, Sam Davis, Shaneen Cyganpichler and Nicole Wells have all joined us at our Grafton Street offices in recent months. Meanwhile in Portsmith, our Yellow Crazy Eradication Program (YCAEP) team have drafted field officers Sam Carroll, Campbell Simpson, Michael Solinas and Marie Courteville to join the fight against the invasive pest.
The new arrivals mean the YCAEP team now have 20 staff members with an additional nine new employees to be appointed in July.
Our latest arrivals had little time to settle in before our inaugural Science in the Pub event rolled around in March with our very own Chair Iain Gordon and world renowned palaeontologist Mike Archer acting as guest speakers. The evening focused on the long and storied connections between the Wet Tropics and Riversleigh World Heritage Areas and was expertly MC’d by ABC Far North’s Adam Stephen.
Thanks Adam. Your carefully crafted puns and skilful segways will not be forgotten.
I was especially pleased to see almost 200 guests attend the event held at the Cape York Hotel. The questions asked of our speakers were insightful, thoughtful and intelligent. Preliminary planning is underway for another Science in the Pub coming to a speakeasy near you in the not too distance future.
Finally, the recipients of our Student Research Grants Scheme have been announced with a number of outstanding submissions made by post graduate students.
In all the Authority issued 16 grants worth $36,600 in total. The studies explore environmental, social and cultural research aimed at benefiting the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
Congratulations to the successful applicants. We’ll keep you across some of the researchers progress in coming editions of our e-news bulletin.
