Have you seen the “Nature Refuge” signs as you travel through the Gulf and wondered what they are about? Are they private property, or something like a national park, and why would you have one?
As the name suggests, a Nature Refuge is just that—a place where nature is safe, nurtured and protected.
They are created under the Queensland Government’s Private Protected Area Program, and Gulf Savannah NRM has been involved with their development over many years.
A Nature Refuge is a voluntary agreement between a landholder and the Queensland Government which serves to conserve a property’s significant natural and/or cultural values.
The Government, upon declaring an area a Nature Refuge (subject to a few simple criteria) can then offer the landholder financial assistance to protect, maintain and improve it.
Within the Gulf Savannah NRM region there are now 26 declared Nature Refuges which cover some 410,000Ha. Across Queensland there are more than 550 Nature Refuges covering more than a third of the state’s total protected area, making it the largest program of its type in Australia.
But wouldn’t a nature refuge restrict what a landholder can do with their private property? Read the full article below: