Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium
The Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium is a network of land managers and stakeholders devoted to providing a coordinated response and best-practice recommendations for fire management, fire ecology and the conservation of biodiversity in Queensland through education, community engagement and applied research. It was established in 1998 as the South East Queensland Fire and Biodiversity Consortium, broadening its scope in 2020.
Aims and Function:
- Education, extension and engagement – assisting land managers and private land holders with evidence based information on fire management and biodiversity conservation issues.
- Research – applied fire ecology research investigating knowledge gaps in biodiversity and fire management; and
- Representation and response – provision of a coordinated response to matters of regional, state and national fire management and fire ecology importance (e.g. legislative amendments and government inquires).
Bushfire 2016: Connecting Science, People and Practice
SEQ Fire and Biodiversity Consortium 20-year anniversary
An index to some relevant publications has been compiled by QSN Newsletter Editor Col Lynam and is available here.
History and constitution
Established with funding from the National Heritage Trust, the SEQFBC has had several hosts, starting with Logan City Council (1998-2002) and moving to Griffith University with a focus on research in late 2002 and from there to the former natural resource management regional body for SEQ, SEQ Catchments, in 2009. Following a merger in 2016 between SEQ Catchments and Healthy Waterways (forming Healthy Land and Water) the SEQFBC was fortunate to receive continued support and is therefore currently embedded with Healthy Land and Water.
QFBC partners with an impressive list of 19 supporting organisations illustrating our active and dedicated partnerships over the past 20 years. Current partners are Brisbane City Council, The City of the Gold Coast, Gympie Regional Council, Ipswich City Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Logan City Council, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Redlands City Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, South Burnett Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Council, Toowoomba Regional Council, Powerlink, Queensland Fire & Emergency Services (including the Rural Fire Service Queensland), Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Transport and Main Roads – Darling Downs District, SEQ Water and Healthy Land and Water (HLW).
Activities
The QFBC offers to partners a range of support, services and training. For example the QFBC Fire Management Planning Workshops aim to educate and engage participants in best practice fire management planning,
The QFBC also runs an Annual Fire Science Forum. At the 2019 20th Anniversary Fire Forum (11th June) more than 200 people gathered at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens to celebrate 20 years of the SEQFBC.
The QFBC publishes an e-News newsletter with 1200 subscribers to date. Our website provides a range of publications and resources for our community and advertises relevant events.