Media

23 July 2010

Ergon Energy Tidy Towns 2010 South Queensland Outstanding Achievers
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AWARD

Eatons Hill This award recognises the commitment to protecting and managing the environment.
Kumbartcho Sanctuary wins recognition in 2010 Tidy Towns Awards
Kumbartcho Sanctuary is a popular educational facility for local schools and community organizations. Visitors to Kumbartcho can take a leisurely stroll through the grounds using self-guide maps and interpretative signage to direct them. In the 13 years since it opened, the Nursery at Kumbartcho Sanctuary has grown over a million native plants. The Federal Government has awarded the Kumbartcho Deductable Gift Recipient status to assist it in increasing its Environmental and Community based activities. Native plants for sale to the public have been propagated by over 70 volunteers, who also carry out bush regeneration / remediation and educational activities at the Sanctuary.

 

 

12 July 2010

“Watch out Masterchef “ - Community volunteers are cooking up a storm!

The community volunteers from the Bunya Community Environmental Association Inc. will be ‘cooking up a storm’ at “The Conference Centre” Eatons Hill with the support of a Moreton Bay Regional Council - Community Assistance Grant of $1562.00 for cookware.

The Conference Centre is a brand new facility in the recently renovated Greenwood Conference Centre building that was previously owned by the Uniting Church and which closed in the 1990's.

Located at the end of Church Rd, Eatons Hill, The Conference Centre is set in lush bushland on the banks of the South Pine River, and offers replenishing tranquillity which is just perfect for any event.

Bunya Community Environmental Assoc.. President Kim Pantano said “The community volunteers are thrilled that the new centre at Church Rd Eatons Hill will now be fully equipped and able to open for meetings and conferences by August 1st.

The centre will offer the business community a fantastic location to train staff and hold meetings, 30 minutes from the CBD.”

Scrumptious morning teas and lunches will be part of the service provided by the volunteers to allow more members of the community the chance to appreciate this special environmental precinct.

Call now to make a booking for meetings, seminars and conferences.

 

 

12 July 2010

State Support for Community Volunteers - The Gamble that paid off!

The team of Community Volunteers at the Kumbartcho Sanctuary Environment Centre are thrilled with the news that are able to buy a vehicle thanks to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund Grant they have been awarded. It will allow them to continue to expand their community focussed environmental activities. Kumbartcho Sanctuary President Kim Pantano said “this fantastic funding will allow us to purchase a station wagon which will be used for many different activities.”

and

“We will be able to take the volunteers seed collecting to further our efforts in growing local native plants and it will make the delivery of the native plants for community tree planting days so much easier. We also transport interpretive material for community festivals and activities and now we can tow the trailer of canoes for the brand new ‘Wetlands Interpretation Studies’ program which we conduct in partnership with Osprey House Environmental Centre for the year 10, 11 and 12 students”.

Kumbartcho Sanctuary volunteers have created many innovative programs to involve local schools and the wider community in protecting our beautiful local environment.

We have new school and community workshops underway and the Pine Rivers Community Nursery at Kumbartcho has recently celebrated the planting of 1,000,000 trees throughout the community. The new canoe program and South Pine River Interpretive walk are exciting for the volunteers as well as the wider community.

So why not join the community volunteers as a new volunteer and/or be part of these great new environmental activities!

 

 

8 June 2010

New program at Osprey House

Wetland students get a close look at fish habitats New funding is helping volunteers at Osprey House Environmental Centre to educate school students about important local fish habitats and wetlands.

The program offers students the opportunity to see the Declared Fish Habitat areas and Wetlands of Moreton Bay Marine Park by canoe, from the Pine River. Modules include Canoeing, Mangrove Studies, Wading Birds & Raptors and Catchment Issues.

The State Government, through the Department of Employment and Economic Development, Innovation (DEEDI), is providing $7,500 funding that will be used at Osprey House, a Moreton Bay Regional Council-operated environmental centre.

Fisheries Queensland, which is a part of DEEDI, and Osprey House are working closely to develop the program that will run until May 2011 and focus on the Pine River and Hay’s Inlet. Senior Fisheries Scientist, Dawn Couchman said the joint-project will help the students gain a stronger appreciation of declared Fish Habitat Areas, wetland communities, migratory shorebirds and catchment areas.

“It will provide a fantastic opportunity for students to get first hand experiences of the diverse fish habitats and tidal wetlands of Hays Inlet, which is also a declared Fish Habitat Area,” she said.

The education program will also include opportunities for Queensland Canoeing to hold on-water activities and planting of vegetation to help protect the wetlands from stormwater sediment and pollutants.

Moreton Bay Regional Council sustainability spokesperson Councillor Rae Frawley said council was right behind the program and would be carrying out plantings at a newly acquired environmental reserve next to the Hays Inlet declared Fish Habitat Area.

The exciting new program will start in the third school term. Bookings are now being taken so secure a place now. Availability is limited.

 

 

 

22 March 2010

PINE RIVERS SHIRE COMMUNITY NURSERY - ONE MILLION TREES

The Pine Rivers Shire Community Nursery celebrates growing ONE MILLION TREES in the 13years since it started, with a ceremonial planting of the millionth tree, a local native Hoop Pine,or “Kumbartcho” as the Australian Aborigines called it. Moreton Bay Regional Council Volunteer and Environmentalist of the Year 2010, Donna Farrell will plant the one millionth tree at the nursery on 26March 2010.

Donna says “By growing local native plants you preserve the local habitat and control weeds, as well as encouraging biodiversity. Local native fauna relies on these native plants for food, shelterand health. It is important that we eradicate weeds as they cause immense losses in both habitat and economic terms. Australia-wide, the cost of weed control through manpower, agricultural and horticultural losses is estimated to be in excess of $6.5 billion per year.” In the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity one million trees is a huge achievement to honour. Successes like this show that community organizations can bring neighborhoods together to make adifference.

The Pine Rivers Community Nursery at Kumbartcho Sanctuary Environmental Centre, Eatons Hill, Brisbane is run by a great team of community volunteers. Starting in 1997, the Nursery has grown a wide range of plant species native to the local area for use in revegetation projects and for sale to the public. With access to nine acres of flora and fauna reserve on the banks of the South Pine River, the nursery encourages volunteer members of the community to become involved in environmental regeneration, protection and enhancement projects in the local area.

Kim Pantano, President of Kumbartcho said “Using native plants from the nursery we have restored many gardens, which has of course encouraged native creatures to return to those gardens. We run monthly workshops to teach people how to revegetate gardens with plants they have bought from the nursery and we also organize regular tree plantings in the area. We have plenty of educational resources for teachers of young children who regularly visit the nursery and for parents to help them in their projects.”

The propagation and supply of local natives through organizations like Pine Rivers Shire Community Nursery reintroduces not only local flora but encourages species of fauna, which depend on those plants, back into the locale and so mends damage inflicted by human settlement.

Biodiversity supplies us with all the vital necessities which our food, shelter, health and well being needs and depends upon and is the essential sustaining factor of our living networks and systems. The 2010 International Year of Biodiversity highlights the value of biodiversity on our planet. Humans, animals, plants, insects and microbes are all an integral part of nature and it is our responsibility to nurture and cherish all the environments and ecosystems we enter.

Biodiversity embraces the variety of life on earth and in embracing biodiversity we enhance our lives.

 

12 February 2010

CARING FOR OUR COUNTRY COMMUNITY ACTION GRANTS - WILD ABOUT WILDLIFE

Bunya Community Environment Association, which is based at the Kumbartcho Sanctuary Environment Centre, a community based organisation which encourages members of the community to become involved in protection and enhancement of the local natural environment, has been awarded a grant under the Caring for the Country Community Action Grants program.

Caring for our Country assists communities, farmers and other land managers to protect Australia’s natural environment and sustainability. The goal of Caring for our Country is to achieve an environment that is healthier, better protected, well managed and resilient.

Mr Garrett, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts has said projects being funded under the Community Action Grants program would help local communities deal with the impacts of climate change and protect and restore habitats for threatened species around the country.

Kumbartcho Sanctuary is situated on the banks of the South Pine River and is committed to reducing the effects of human impact on the local environment and on the Moreton Bay Marine Park through education programs, husbandry of local fauna and flora and erosion reduction through revegetation. The Kumbartcho Sanctuary project aims to conserve and protect the natural environment, through propagation of more than 10,000 local native plants to be used in the rehabilitation of public and private land. Weeds will be reduced, biodiversity increased, water quality improved and erosion minimised.

Completion date for the project is 31 July 2011.

Over 4,000 members of the community will be involved in education programs and hands on activities which expand knowledge of environmental restoration and catchment management through 10 community workshops, 30 school workshops, 4 community planting events and supporting the Lowlands Festival. Subsequent maintenance of all will be managed by community volunteers.

Community and school education programs at Kumbartcho Sanctuary and Osprey House are provided in partnership with the Moreton Bay Regional Council and community volunteers.

Organizations which will also be involved in this project:
Moreton Bay Regional Council; Koala Action Pine Rivers; Osprey House Environment Centre; Pine Rivers Community Nursery; South Pine River Sub Committee; Queensland Frog Society and the Butterfly and Invertebrates Group.

The Wild About Wildlife Workshops will cover activities and topics such as encouraging wildlife into the garden by the planting specific plants suitable for the critter you’re wanting in your garden.
Frogs – Get your garden croaking
Butterflies - Flutter by.
Waders – Wading in wetlands
Raptors – Rapt in raptors

The workshops will begin in July. Watch this space.

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Osprey House