Protect the Bush Alliance

 Paul Donatu, Chair PTBA

[Wildlife Tourism Australia is one of the member organisations]

In early 2012, several conservation organisations conducted flora and fauna surveys on Bimblebox Nature Refuge, an 8,000 hectare property 50km NW of Alpha in Central Queensland. Bimblebox was and still is threatened by a massive coal mine, but at the time its conservation values were largely unknown. During those surveys, almost 300 plant species and populations of the endangered Black-throated finch were found.

This experience spurred the creation of the Protect the Bush Alliance (PTBA), a multi-organisation Alliance established in July 2012 that use their survey skills to protect the flora and fauna of Queensland from increasing threats to their survival. The initial meeting included representatives from Birds Queensland, BirdLife Southern Queensland, National Parks Association of Queensland and Wildlife Queensland. Since then, a number of other organisations have joined the Alliance, which now can boost a collective membership of over 10,000 individuals.

The aims of the Alliance are:

• To advocate the protection of areas of high conservation value.

• To identify and encourage activities that improve understanding of their biodiversity and other environmental values.

Current actions that the Alliance is engaged in:

• Examination of proposed changes to the Nature Conservation Act and other conservation legislation, and appropriate responses to the same.

• Surveys of biodiversity in areas under exploration for coal mining or CSG in Central Queensland, including additional surveys of Bimblebox Nature Refuge.

• Responding to mining and development activities in inappropriate places.

• Collection of conservation data on priority State Forests.

For more information, see the Alliance website at: http://ptba.org.au/.