Noosa Council has endorsed its Threatened Fauna Recovery Road Map and maintained its position raised last week on the immediate implementation of it these Easter holidays with a focus on protecting turtle hatchlings on Noosa North Shore’s coastal dunes.
But with few resources and no authority to issue infringement notices to North Shore drivers, council officers will be able only to adopt a support role to Queensland Parks and Wildlife and Queensland Police Service in carrying out council’s proposed enforcement measures.
Councillors voted at its ordinary meeting last week to implement the road map by adopting a zero tolerance approach to driving on coastal dunes targeting compliance and enforcement action on peak times during the turtle nesting and hatching season.
To achieve this council called on officers to begin immediate negotiations with QPWS, QPS and the Teewah Cooloola Working Group to develop a joint education, compliance and enforcement regime involving fixed and drone mounted surveillance cameras, closure of the North Shore beach either side of high tide and appropriate signage and presence of authorised officers.
It also intends to advise the Noosa MP and Environment Minister of the council’s position on this matter and seek their support for any regulatory reform and budgetary allocation required to achieve their desired outcomes.
The road map is aimed at following on from the endorsement by council in 2019 of its Noosa Environment Strategy (NES) which committed to “significant implementation actions“ relating to the long-term survival of threatened and protected fauna.
Officers working on the road map shortlisted 29 significant native wildlife species and en- listed an expert panel of 10 people to nominate nine species, regarded as the Noosa Nine, for priority management with the focus of action to begin in the first year with one species, loggerhead turtles.
The nine priority species selected were the giant barred frog, glossy black cockatoo, Great- er glider, koala, tusked frog, Mary River turtle, acid frogs (Wallum froglet, rocket frog and sedge frog), water mouse and loggerhead turtle.
This week council added the Mary River Cod to the list and altered its catch phrase to Noosa Nine & Co.
Cr Brian Stockwell said with wildlife extinctions occurring at a rate never before seen the challenge to protect threatened species was as big and complex as climate change.
He said Noosa needed to change it’s description from Noosa being different by nature to Noosa being nature positive and adopting a goal of improving biodiversity in the shire.
