Millions more to keep working Reef plan rolling
Two million dollars over three years will help conservation groups improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
Cape York Natural Resource Management (NRM) and Cape York Sustainable Futures secured the $2 million in federal funding with the approval of their joint project proposition.
The funds have been allocated as part of the Reef Rescue program.
Cape York NRM says much of the project will see authorities work with landholders in particularly bad sediment and nutrient run-off zones, located between Laura and Princess Charlotte Bay.
“Sustainable Futures will be planning with landholders and graziers in those hotspots and would deliver them grant money, around the dollar for dollar, to actually bring about land management practice changes and put in infrastructure that'll reduce the impact,” Cape York NRM’s Bob Frazer told the ABC.
“The other component is working with the farmers, current and intending farmers in the Lakeland area, to implement best management practice to help them to plan their enterprises and soil test and look at water use efficiency and things like that.”
The Reef Rescue program began in 2008, and has proven successful at reducing soil and chemical runoff into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Reef Rescue encourages change through better farming land management practices, which reduce chemical use and improve water quality.
More information on the success of the program is available in the broader Caring for Our Country Report Card.