Education in the rangelands
RANGELANDS Australia (RA), a national body for the exchange of
rangeland knowledge and learning, is developing an educational
program relevant to rangelands after extensive consultation with
more than 400 people in the rangelands to determine their education
and skills needs. Short courses and postgraduate coursework
programs are under development, targeting rangeland managers,
community groups (such as Landcare) government advisers, private
consultants, R&D professionals, and training and service
providers.
The first of the short courses was piloted late in 2003 at the
University of Queensland’s Gatton Campus, with postgraduate
coursework programs in rangeland management getting under way in
early 2004. Topics in the short courses in 2004 include
‘Being heard in the rangelands’, ‘Rangeland
monitoring’, ‘Success in diversification in the
rangelands’, ‘Being in the rangelands for the long
run’, and ‘No surprises in the rangelands’.
Postgraduate courses in Rangeland Management available by distance
education include Graduate Certificate, Diploma and a Masters
program.
For more details, go to Rangelands Australia links below.
Brolga awards
RICK Murray, of Odyssey Tours and Safaris and president of the
Tourism Council NT, and Paul Styles, of the NT Chamber of Commerce
and branch manager of the Tourism Council NT, received Awards for
Tourism Excellence at the NT Brolga Awards. Rick, a TS–CRC
Board Member, received the
Outstanding Contribution by an Individual
award. Paul, a TS–CRC Savanna Advisory Committee member,
received the
Ministers Special Recognition Certificate for Contribution to
Tourism
. The Brolgas are the NT’s most prestigious tourism awards
and are designed to encourage excellence in tourism.
Brolga Awards website link below.
Surveillance on Torres
TWO land use agreements were signed in February with Torres Strait
Islanders to improve border protection for northern Australia. The
agreements will permit the Australian Government to set up a trial
of high-frequency surface wave radar, via transmitter and receiver
sites on two Torres Strait islands. A two-to-three year trial of
the radar begins in August, where it will provide 24-hour,
wide-area surveillance of aircraft, ships and boats. The 440-metre
long receiver array will be situated on Dauan Island, in the
northern Torres Strait, while the transmitter will be sited on the
uninhabited Koey Ngurtai (“Pumpkin”) island, which is
administered by nearby Badu Island, in the middle of Torres Strait.
The $19 million initiative is funded by Customs and Defence.
Online sustainability
AN Internet conference on sustainability, held over nine
months, has posted a 6000-word conference communiqué with 34
recommendations for local, state and national action.
There are 85 papers on nine separate themes including water, health
and well-being, land use and sustainable ecosystems, energy,
economic systems, equity and peace, climate, labour force and work,
and transport and urban design.
Links to the Sustainability Conference below.
