City Students in the FNQ Field
Written by Michele Dale   

Twenty-nine students from the University of Queensland (Brisbane) visited the region for a field trip focussing on sustainable farming practices.

They are in their third year of a Bachelor of Environmental Management (Sustainable Development). The course consists of the field trip and then a series of assessments, finishing in a research essay that looks at issues of sustainable development in Far North Queensland. It also comprises a discussion around potential solutions and options. The aim of the program is to provide opportunity for them to move from courses that focus on core skills and theory, to investigate the issues in the field, using FNQ as a microcosm for a range of issues that affect the whole of Australian and the world.
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UQ Students visit Ashely Flegler's banana farm in Mareeba.

The students visited 4 farms that have implemented water quality improvement projects funded by the Commonwealth government's Reef Rescue program:

  • Ron Bonadio's crop farm near Yungaburra with 11 ha of creek bank restoration and tree planting. Terrain has supported this farmer for the last 3 years and some Reef Rescue funding was utilised.
  • Ben Poggioli's crop farm near Kairi where an innovative farmer demonstrated his farming system. Some of his minimum tillage machinery was funded by Reef Rescue.
  • Ashley Flegler, Manager of Dole Australia Pty Ltd banana farms showed the students the fertigation system which was funded by Reef Rescue.
  • Mark Savina, a cane farmer near Cairns showed machinery and talked about some of the issues of sustainable farming near a major city.

It seems a lot was gained from the experience.

One student said, "Coming from the city we don't get much of a chance to speak to farmers and understand what they actually do and what they know about their land. I was impressed about the knowledge of all of the farmers and their concern for the environment. They were all very passionate about what they are doing. It is interesting to see the ways that the NRM groups are working with individual farmers to achieve sustainable outcomes for the farmers, catchments and the reef. It was also good to look at the different types of farms from small family-run to larger corporate farms. While there were some differences they were all passionate about balancing economic output without degrading the environment."

A key message the students took home was that the Wet Tropics is a complex region for environmental management. Farmers play a major role in regulating the volume of sediment, nutrients and pesticides impacting on the Great Barrier Reef, and many farmers are very innovative and want to do sustainable farming. Reef Rescue funding has enabled them to upgrade or implement practices that they want to do but often cannot afford.