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In September 2009 Kerry was presentd with a highly commended award by the Sunshine Coast Environmental Council Biodiversity Category for his project work with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council
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KERRY JONES
Vice President DASSI - SUNSHINE COAST
Descendants of Australian Sea Islanders Association
Kerry Jones [pictured] is the Vice President of DASSI Sunshine Coast.
In September 2009 Kerry was presented with a highly commended award by the Sunshine Coast Environmental Council in the Biodiversity Category for his project work with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council which involved the setting up of a mangrove nursery & fish habitat restoration project on the Maroochy River Estuary at Bli-Bli on the Sunshine Coast.
This project work was carried out on & adjacent to local land called ''Lot 71'' the OLD PLACE where many South Sea Island families lived or camped while moving throughout the state cutting sugar cane from the late 1800's to the early 1970's
The local DASSI Association has a long term lease on this cultural land & presently manages the site.
Kerry's passion for this land where his Grandparents who were the last of the families to live on the site up until the early 1970's is proudly demonstrated by his work on this cultural land & his commitment to his Vice President position with the Descendants of Australian Sea Islanders Association.
Kerry who has Australian South Sea Islander & Indigenous family heritage also won 2nd place in the Queensland Indigenous Land Care Award & the Queensland People's Choice Award presented in Brisbane last year. Kerry is also in the running for the Australian Wide People's Choice Land Care Award.
Below is the the critera that Kerry has meet to receive a nomination for the "Sunshine Coast Environmental Council 2009 Environment Awards"
Nominating Mr Kerry Jones for the
Biodiversity Award
An award for an initiative that contributes to the maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity. The submission should:
For the last six years Kerry Jones has been involved with his family and local community in revegetation work with river frontage on the Maroochy Estuary, Bli Bli. This site sits within a marine ecosystem and is a biodiversity hotspot located in a fish habitat reserve on the western side of the Maroochy Estuary, between the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary and the David Low Way Bridge, Bli Bli.Issues concerning this site include river bank erosion exacerbated by the boat wash from intensive activities such as water skiing and wake-boarding. The effects are the loss of 20 feet (7 meters) of land and river bank over the last 20 years, loss of mangroves by undercutting and bank collapse, severely subdued recruitment of mangrove species, loss of fish, mammal and bird habitat, and greater sedimentation of the local waterway.Revegetation and site maintenance has seen ongoing success for the last six years, while the use of boat-wash barrier fencing parallel to the river bank so as to protect the plantings of mangrove seedlings has seen good results in the last 18 months. In June this year, the establishment of an on-site mangrove seedling nursery was completed with 1500 Grey Mangrove seedlings now reaching greater than 2 foot in height, in readiness for planting in the wider Maroochy Estuary and Fish Habitat Reserves at the end of this year.
The aim of this revegetation project is to enhance the biodiversity and environmental values for this part of the Maroochy Estuary and, as a long-term aim, to stabilise the river and channel banks from further loss to erosion by anthropogenic activities. This area is known as significant habitat to the native Water Mouse (Xeromys myoides) which is listed as Rare and Vulnerable. The Jabiru (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) also visits this section of estuary at Bli Bli and is listed as Rare. Macropods such as the Eastern Grey Kangaroo and the Swamp Wallaby still use this area. This site sits within a Fish Habitat Reserve and Mangrove Reserve. Historically this area of the Maroochy Estuary was noted for its abundance of oysters. The old oyster farm and Aboriginal shell middens alongside the David Low Way Bridge at Bli Bli pay tribute to a former era of pristine water quality and phenomenal biodiversity.The Maroochy River Rehabilitation Plan co-ordinated by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council is now focussed on the Maroochy Estuary. Projects operating within this plan include the purchase of nearby conservation land at the junction of Coolum Creek and Maroochy Estuary (with mangrove seedling nursery and revegetation established through the involvement of Kerry, family and Maroochy Waterwatch in 2008), protective barrier fencing and mangrove seedling nursery on the site managed by Kerry and family, together with revegetation works.
Activities for the near future include Kerry, family and Council planting the mangrove seedlings, sourced from the nurseries, along the more vulnerable banks within the Maroochy Estuary. As seasonal opportunities arise, planning will be undertaken for the propagation and revegetation of a variety of mangrove species for this part of the estuary.
The land for the project area on which Kerry is revegetating with family and the local community, has a long-term lease managed by the Descendants of the Australian South Sea Islanders Inc. (Sunshine Coast), whereby many generations have been residing or camping on the land since the 1800’s. Many of the members of this community group also have local Aboriginal Traditional Owner heritage and are Knowledge Holders for local Traditional Ecological Knowledge and significant sites around the Maroochy River and the wider Sunshine Coast.In the last six years and longer, and together with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Maroochy Waterwatch, Kerry has been collaborating and building partnerships with the following agencies or individuals for this project and for a range of projects within the Sunshine Coast area:
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Descendants of the Australian South Sea Islanders Inc., (Sunshine Coast),
Bunya Bunya Country Aboriginal Corporation,
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Sunshine Coast Regional Council [SCRC], (Councillor Debbie Blumel, Jan Maddin - Environment Branch, Community Grants – RADF and Community Wellbeing, Michael Gilles - Community Partnerships),
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South East Queensland Traditional Owners Alliance,
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Susie Chapman, SEQ Catchments,
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Elders of the Traditional Owner Reference Group – Burnett Mary Regional Group,
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Kabi Kabi Yangga Buwan Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Land Association,
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TreeLine Environmental Awareness Project 2009-2010 - (People, Art, Science, Nature), Caloundra Regional Art Gallery, SCRC
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Bunya Bushcare & Bushfoods,
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Florabunda Bushcare Nursery,
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Petrie Creek Catchment Care Group,
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Coolum Native Community Nursery,
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Dave Calland, Indigenous Engagement Officer, Department of Environment and Resource Management, (DERM), Nambour,
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Roger Davis, Cultural Heritage Unit, Department of Environment and Resource Management Brisbane,
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John Pearson (Business) Consulting,
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Indigenous Education and Employment Strategies Branch (SEQ North), Department of Employment and Industrial Relations, Brisbane,
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Gambling Community Benefit Fund,
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Pioneers Plus Native Nursery,
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BioDiverse Environmental Restoration & Natural Area Management,
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Dr. Jennifer Carter, University of the Sunshine Coast and
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Nambour Museum.
Kerry recently placed 2nd in the 2009 Queensland Indigenous Landcare Award and won the Queensland People’s Choice Award.
Kerry has shown by example, the need to be pro-active so as to protect and enhance biodiversity on the Maroochy Estuary by helping his family and community to engage in training and employment programs offering work in revegetation. These people and their skills have been engaged with this project for the last six years and will do so well into the future. Kerry’s family and the project site were involved in the promotional pictorial book “Our Maroochy”, produced by Maroochy Waterwatch in 2008. This project site is featured as a case study in the Cultural (Natural) Resource Management Plan (pages 12 & 13), produced by the South East Queensland Traditional Owners Alliance. The Sunshine Coast Regional Council is currently featuring the project activities in its waterways reporting to the public, together with its Healthy Waterways project in collaboration with Underwater World for the, “Protect Our Waterways” information panel display, soon to be presented to the general public.
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