Wetlands and Land Management

Wetlands provide a range of benefits to agriculture through the provision of water and forage for stock, flood management and biodiversity such as beneficial insects.

Queensland’s agricultural sector plays an important role in the protection, conservation and ongoing management of wetland systems in Queensland.

In fact most wetlands in Queensland exist on private property and in order to assist Queensland’s industry groups and land managers to better manage wetlands a range of information, decision support tools and fact sheets have been prepared.

It is recognised that managing wetlands in intensive agriculture can be different to managing wetlands in extensive grazing systems and different products have been developed to support the sustainable use and management of wetlands in different agricultural sectors.

One of the products is the recently developed MLA Edgenetwork Grazing Land Management (GLM) package for the Mackay Whitsunday region that integrates management of wetlands into a sustainable management of grazing in a whole of catchment context. As one producer commented on after attending the workshop:

"The information shared will result in improved land, grass and weed management which will mean fewer nutrients / sediment runoff and fewer weeds. All this means much better environmental outcomes for the reef, waterways and our land" Tony Eastwick

Farm Management Systems - Department of Primary Industries
Grazing land management workshops - strategies to increase profit and sustainability
Media Article: Workshop targets wetlands design guidelines - Department of Primary Industries
Media Article - GLM reinforces drought land management - Department of Primary Industries

Other information and links

Sustainable Grazing Systems - Land and Water Australia
North Queensland Grazing Systems project - Research to Reality
Department of Natural Resources and Water Fact Sheets
Natural Resource Publications - Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Growers working together to improve water quality in the Herbert Sugar Industry Project
Defeating The Weed Menace R&D Project Summaries
Wetlands in a dry land: Understanding for management
Rivers and Water Quality - Land Water and Wool
Agricultural Menu - Dryland Agriculture - Murray Darling Basin Commission
Wetlands and Agriculture Drainage: Delivering Clean Water

Last updated: 4 July 2008