Healthy Habitat for Schools has been developed by NQ Dry Tropics to increase biodiversity in school grounds. Biodiversity refers to the biological diversity of an area, or how many different living organisms (like plants and animals) are found there.

As a Healthy Habitat School you will receive school visits from our Healthy Habitat team. They will:

How can the Healthy Habitat project help me?

If you live in the Black River area north of Townsville, you may be eligible for funding or assistance through NQ Dry Tropics’ Healthy Habitat Project.

What is it?

The Healthy Habitat project is helping semi-rural land owners in the Townsville suburbs of Alligator Creek, Nome and Black River to improve the health of native habitat on their properties. The project provides assistance to manage weeds, protect existing native habitat and plant native vegetation. By participating, you can:

NQ Dry Tropics understands that it's not easy to find the time and money to control weeds and
pests. Many of our projects are designed to work with small and large landholders to reduce weeds and pest animals. The following initiatives have funding and other support available.

Healthy Habitat

NQ Dry Tropics

Looking after land and water within the Townsville Coastal Plains

Semi-rural landholders

Creating Healthy Habitats through property management support:

The Delbessie Agreement is a new arrangement of leasing land in Queensland.

Most grazing properties throughout the state are leased and the leases used to be renewed automatically every 30 years. The Queensland Government wants to reward good landholders by offering longer term leases to those who met environmental and social benchmarks.

In 2007, it signed an agreement with rural lobby group Agforce and the Australian Rainforest Conservation Society on a Hughenden property called Delbessie, cementing a new leasehold strategy.

Most graziers, farmers or landholder would say they have a problem with weeds and pests. Managing them underpins many of the programs at NQ Dry Tropics.

Weeds and animal pests can outcompete native species and they lead to losses in production on agricultural land.

Over the past number of years, the Lower Burdekin has become a focus for wetland and riparian area protection. NQ Dry Tropics worked in conjunction with WetlandcareAustralia and the Burdekin Shire Council to carry out works in this area – primarily at Sheepstation and Barratta creeks.

Other areas where work was carried out include Plantation, Kalamia and Saltwater Creeks.

The types of work carried out included: weed control, fencing to allow controlled grazing, revegetation, controlled burns and the removal or modification of fish passage barriers.