Austinville Landcare
The Gold Coast and Hinterland, has historically been considered relatively safe from severe bushfires. In 2019, for the first time in recorded history, fire penetrated deep into rainforest areas of Lamington National Park. With climate change it is forecast that catastrophic fire conditions will become more common.
To prepare for this increased risk, better protect our cities and our biodiversity, and with over $230,000 support from the Landcare Led Bushfire Recovery Program, this project aims to create a quality fire trail network over the Upper Austinville Catchment by renewing existing fire trails and creating new ones over land owned and managed by City of Gold Coast, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and private owners.
There has been a major increase in interest in indigenous and ecological burning which serves the dual purposes of protecting our landscape and enhancing biodiversity. However, landscape scale use of these techniques requires maintained and accessible fire trails which can be used by fire management vehicles.
To date the project has: Created relationships and communication channels between Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, City of Gold Coast, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, the Fire and Biodiversity Consortium and the community which will facilitate better landscape fire management outcomes in the future; Created a quality multi-tenure fire trail network across the Upper Austinville catchment that will provide access to fire fighting vehicles to facilitate the lighting of landscape level ecological burns and fight wildfires; Provided a catalyst for carrying out ecological burns by Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the Private owners in the 2022 season which will improve the fire dependant ecosystems and protect fire sensitive ecosystems; and Engaged the community and educated them on the risks of wildfires and the benefits of fire management and controlled burns in enhancing and protecting biodiversity and protecting assets. https://www.facebook.com/AustinvilleLandcare
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