Photo – includes senior representatives of Leading Queensland tourism and conservation organisations: Queensland First Nations Tourism Council, Ecotourism Australia, Queensland Conservation Council, Pew Charitable Trusts , Queensland Tourism Industry Council, National Parks Association Queensland.
Queensland’s peak tourism bodies and conservation organisations have released an Alliance statement calling for a significant increase in management funding and the acceleration of growth in Queensland’s protected areas.
The Queensland Tourism Industry Council, Ecotourism Australia, Queensland First Nations Tourism Council, Queensland Conservation Council, Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Parks Association Queensland (NPAQ) have formed an Alliance to advocate for the expansion and better management of Queensland’s protected areas to protect nature and boost ecotourism.
The NPAQ was founded in 1930 by many associated with the 1933 start of Binna Burra – in particular by Romeo Lahey and Arthur Groom. Nowadays Binna Burra Lodge Chairperson, Steve Noakes, serves as the Vice President of the NPAQ and represented Queensland’s oldest conservation agency at the launch of the new Alliance.
Noakes said: ‘The Queensland Government has an opportunity to increase government investment to expand and better manage Queensland’s protected area network by the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Much of Queensland’s nature is at risk with only 8.2 percent of the state protected as national park or private protected area. All of us should be aiming to double this by 2032.”
The Alliance calls on the Queensland Government to fulfill the promise of the Protected Areas Strategy by committing substantial additional funding in the 2022 budget to support:
- establishment of new national parks and private protected areas;
- new opportunities for Indigenous-led conservation and cultural tourism;
- effective management of the natural and cultural values within protected areas; and 4. exceptional visitor experiences, including nature-based and cultural tourism activities.
NPAQ representatives who attended the launch were Steve Noakes, Vice President NPAQ and Dr Simone Maynard, NPAQ Conservation Manager
The Guardian:
