Pumicestone
Member for Pumicestone Ariana Doolan met with Rotarians Colin Scobie and Peter Row on Wednesday, 22 January 2025.
Messrs. Row and Scobie are members of ESRAG Oceania (Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group) and Colin is also its current Chair.
The citizen scientists and environmental advocates briefed the local State member on ESRAG Oceania's initiatives in the Moreton Bay region including Pumicestone.
Ms Doolan is passionate about protecting the environment.
Ariana has almost completed a double degree in Bachelors of Environmental Science / Business. The former focuses on environmental economics and policy, climate change, water resources, biodiversity and species loss, land management and urban environments. The latter emphasizes how business skills can be applied in an environmental context.
She shared her involvement with all things environmental, starting with primary school:
- Hercules Road State School (Kippa-Ring) Koala Crusaders
- Anxiety to Agency Facilitator for Force of Nature (FoN) — providing participants with resources, tools, and information to identify eco-anxiety and how to build resilience around it.
- Youth Program Coordinator Zero Positive — assisting with the running of school programs and providing data and educational resources that teachers could integrate into the students' lessons.
- Reptile Show Facilitator on the Gold Coast — demonstrating, checking animal health, preparing food and feeding, cleaning and maintenance of enclosures
- Solar Schools Internship — teaching students about energy efficiency
- Youth Member Of Queensland Parliament — serving on the environmental committee and writing a bill on Renewable Energy and Impacts on Wildlife, organizing and directing an eco-tourism commercial featuring TV personality, environmental advocate and Global Ambassador for Prince William's Earthshot Prize, Robert Irwin
Ariana is a resident of Beachmere and was interested to see an aerial photograph of the 2022 Caboolture River flood plume, which delivered tons of sediment to Deception Bay and smothered seagrass, a staple food source for Turtles and Dugong. The flood plume also carried excess nutrients, toxicants, Acid Sulphate Soil (ASS) runoff, heavy metals release and plastics, all contributors to water quality degradation and aquatic life decline.
Extreme weather events exacerbating land use management (agriculture, industry and urban development) with inadequate checks and balances is an obvious are of concern.
Peter and Colin recommended that Ariana sit in on a few of Pumicestone Catchment Network meetings. Some of the objectives of the Network, a collaboration between the City of Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast Council, are to improve the health of the Pumicestone Passage and its catchment i.e., improve water quality, enhance habitats and biodiversity, combat litter and marine debris and preserve plant and animal communities and ecosystem services.
Coilin and Peter also shared information on Rotary-ESRAG’s focus regarding Community, Youth and the Environment in the Moreton Bay region, highlighting:
- Adopt-Humpybong Creek Landcare Group — the removal of weeds, exotic pests and renativisation of the waterway
- Redcliffe Beautiful Beaches Coastcare Group — picking up litter along Scarborough Beach, Queens Beach North and Queens Beach as part of a three-month trail with the support of local Councillors
- Redcliffe Sustainable Business Network — Coaching local businesses and institutionalizing sustainable business practices in their companies
- Family Fun Turtle Day — scheduled for May 3 and the second of two-community awareness day at Queens Beach North, the first having taken place in April 2024
- Turtle Symposium — scheduled for May 4 featuring turtle conservation researcher Dr. Colin Limpus and other turtle experts
- Community awareness Eco-Forums at the Deception Bay Environmental Hub, scheduled for the 3rd Thursday of each month, featuring researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast
- Family Fun Fishing Day — recreational fishing for young and old, targeting Tilapia fish in Humpybong Creek, noxious pests under the Biosecurity Act
Both Peter and Colin are members of the Moreton Bay Shellfish Reef Restoration Network Reference Group and are keen to see native shellfish reefs restored throughout the Bay, particularly Pumicestone Passage.
Sydney rock oysters were once abundant in the intertidal and subtidal zones of the Pumicestone Passage.
Since European settlement, 95% of shellfish reefs have been lost. Overharvesting, deforestation, climate change, disease, and extreme weather events have contributed to their decline.
Oysters filter toxins and suspended matter from the water; oysters provide food and shelter for fish; oysters increase biodiversity; and oyster reefs mitigate beach erosion.
Coincidently, Bribie Island resident and aquatic animal health specialist, Dr Ben Diggles met with Ariana after Colin and Peter.
Ben was the original shellfish reef restoration champion, who in 2017 following eight years of research and development and subsequent approvals from the State Government, program-managed the installation of three types of experimental shellfish reef substrates off Kakadu Beach, Bribie Island to increase fish production, enhance marine biodiversity and improve water quality over time.
L-to-R: Colin Scobie, Ariana Doolan and Peter Row
Quotes attributable to Pumicestone MP, Ariana Doolan:
"I knew the environment was very important to me, especially protecting the environment for the future generations and I knew in the future how crucial sustainable business and environmental management would be …”
Ariana Doolan, the new LNP Candidate, brings a young perspective to Pumicestone.
the Local Island and Surrounds News. 30 April 2024.
Quotes attributable to ESRAG Oceania Chair, Colin Scobie:
“ESRAG Oceania is building a network of People of Action — members and volunteers — to build collaborative relationships between Rotary and the local community.
“Rotarians and ESRAG members are committed to leaving a Better World for future generations.
“Rotary and ESRAG are intent on sharing information with the public on biodiversity, the circular economy, climate, food systems, pollution and sustainable living to help them make informed decisions on environmental sustainability matters.”
Quotes attributable to Dr Ben Diggles:
“Oysters and shellfish: they form an important component in the base of the food chain.
"They're essentially the lungs of the estuaries.
"They can filter the water and provide food and shelter for crabs and fish, so they underpin the health of our fisheries.
"They help restore seagrass by cleaning the water."
Could oysters be the answer to declining water quality? Exploring the 'lost' oyster reef off Sunshine Coast. Jennifer Nichols. ABC Rural. 18 March 2016.
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