At least seven northern bettongs have been killed by road strike on far northern roads in the last two months, placing additional pressure on an already stressed population.

The endangered macropod is under threat from habitat degradation, which is why Terrain NRM’s Dr Andrew Dennis says the latest news is so concerning.

“Given the small population size and restricted distribution, every individual counts. Almost 1% of the remaining core population has been killed by vehicles this year, and there are likely to be additional road kills not observed, so this percentage could be even higher.”

The road strikes have occurred on the Kennedy Highway between Clohesy River and Davies Creek, and on the Danbulla Road near Tinaroo Falls Dam.

The Northern Bettong Recovery Team is currently in consultation with the Department of Main Roads and Transport about the road kills and mitigation.

Dr Sandra Abell chairs the Northern Bettong Recovery Team and is urging drivers to exercise caution.

“We know that night driving is unavoidable for many people, but if it’s safe to do so, please slow down if you see an animal crossing the road. We cannot afford to lose more bettongs,” said Dr Abell.

Two out of four northern bettong populations have disappeared in the last 25 years, and the species is now restricted to two locations: Mt Spurgeon in the Carbine Tablelands, and between Koah and Tinaroo in the Lamb Range. Estimates put the total population at around 1000 individuals.

Aside from the road kills, Dr Dennis says the Lamb Range population is generally doing well: “Most habitat is in protected areas, and lots of groups have worked hard over the last 20 years to remove threats like feral animals and weeds”.

Tiny beetles could be the answer to an invasive weed that has been found in the Tablelands, Kuranda and Cairns regions.

Terrain NRM and Biosecurity Queensland recently released leaf-mining jewel beetles near Atherton to see if they can stop the spread of cat’s claw creeper – a weed that smothers rainforest and changes the chemistry of soils.

Cat’s claw was introduced to Australia as an ornamental plant. Its spread began in the 1950s and it has since been found from Sydney to Cooktown.

Terrain NRM’s Regional Agricultural Landcare Facilitator Evizel Seymour said a biological control trial using leaf-mining jewel beetles had begun along Priors Creek near Atherton.

She said 1500 beetles were released at three sites.

“If these beetles establish themselves there, the plan is to use these spots as a nursery and release beetles at other known cat’s claw creeper sites on the Atherton Tablelands,’’ Ms Seymour said.

Leaf-mining beetles and their larvae feed on the creeper’s leaves. The South American beetle was introduced to Australia as a biological control in 2012 and is considered a “proven bio-control agent”. Its effectiveness hasn’t been tested yet in Far North Queensland, where there are smaller infestations of cat’s claw creeper.

Ms Seymour encouraged Far Northerners to keep a look-out for cat’s claw.

The creeper has woody climbing stems that cling to tree trunks and it competes with native plants and trees by forming a dense above-ground mat as well as underground reproductive tubers. Its many seeds are spread by the wind and water. Cat’s claw has a yellow flower.

Climate change is emerging as the hot topic for Tablelands community groups and landholders who are having their say on the Wet Tropics Plan for People and Country.

Terrain NRM’s Bronwyn Robertson said a major review of the plan, five years after it was first launched, was revealing a shift in perspective.

“Community groups are talking about the impact of climate change and saying it is something that they want to see action on – to protect habitat and communities,’’ Mrs Robertson said.

More than 60 people – from community group members to traditional owners and landholders – have given their input over the past two months in the Southern Tablelands and Upper Herbert districts. Mrs Roberston is encouraging others to have their say too.

“The Wet Tropics Plan for People and Country includes priority actions for each area in this region covering Ingham, the Cassowary Coast, Tablelands, Upper Herbert, Cairns and Mossman-Port Douglas,’’ she said.

“It’s the basis for decision-making at all levels – from land managers and community groups to investors and government.”

Terrain NRM is custodian of the natural resource management plan, which is community-driven and supported by scientific and technical information. It is online at www.wettropicsplan.org.au

Mrs Robertson has been speaking with members of Barron Catchment Care, Tolga Bat Rescue, TREAT, Wabubadda, Wadjanbarra and Yungaburra Landcare over the past few months.

This project is supported by Terrain NRM through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Teams of tree-planters are helping to fight hillslope erosion on Tablelands properties in a boon for farmers, the Johnstone River and Great Barrier Reef.

Millaa Millaa graziers Elizabeth, Bruce and Gordon Carcary are among the numbers opening their gates to revegetation crews as part of a $2.3 million project focused on erosion hotspots in the Tablelands-Innisfail region.

Five thousand native trees were planted at the Carcary’s grazing property this week in a landslide area, and 2000 trees, shrubs and grasses went into the ground along an eroded creek system on a Malanda property.

Mrs Carcary welcomed the helping hands of Terrain NRM staff and its service provider NQ Land Management Services.

“This was a timely opportunity for us – we have an 80m long, 50m wide landslip that happened after two to three days of heavy rains a couple of years ago,’’ she said. “It’s on steep land that we fenced but it has been needing stabilisation to the stop more land falling in and topsoil washing away.”

Terrain NRM’s Jen Mackenzie said historical clearing of steep rainforest country for grazing had created landscapes susceptible to erosion. The two tree-planting projects will, each year, prevent an estimated 200 tonnes of sediment from flowing into the Johnstone River catchment and out to the Great Barrier Reef.

“Trees are a very cost-effective way of stabilising soil and the most economical way to deal with these two sites based on their physical characteristics,’’ Mrs Mackenzie said.

“We look at erosion on a site-by-site basis. On one property we installed rock structures known as Zuni bowls to solve gully erosion, and we’ve put in creek crossings on another property to stop erosion caused by cattle and vehicles. We’ll be working with these graziers over three years.”

Endangered cassowary and Mabi rainforests are the winners in four new projects for the Far North.

Terrain NRM has awarded grants to Barron Catchment Care, Kuranda Conservation, C4 and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service for work to extend wildlife corridors and create nature refuges.

Terrain’s Tony O’Malley said the $120,000 investment in rainforest restoration, protection and expansion was focused on land in the Kuranda, Tablelands, Innisfail and Tully regions.

“These projects are all in priority locations identified by the cassowary and Mabi recovery teams for revegetation, weed management and habitat protection,’’ he said. “The work will benefit a whole range of rainforest species because of the strategic locations.”

More than 100ha of private land on four properties in the Kuranda region’s Black Mountain Corridor will become nature refuges as part of the project. On the Tablelands, hundreds of trees will be planted to extend Mabi rainforest in a forestry lease area being transferred to national park, and in the Innisfail-Tully region highland-lowland wildlife corridors will be extended at Smith’s Gap and Eubenangee.

The projects are supported by Terrain NRM through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

Kuranda Conservation’s Jax Bergersen said her group would be working with landholders and Queensland Trust for Nature to create nature refuge agreements over large blocks of land in critical endangered cassowary habitat.

“We are working to link a very narrow part of the Wet Tropics world heritage rainforest area with prime ecological blocks of land to make a wider endangered cassowary corridor,’’ Ms Bergersen said. “We’ll be starting with four properties but there are another 20 in the wings thanks to the interest of landholders in this region.

“With ‘nature refuge’ status on land titles, rainforest can be better protected into the future. We’re aiming for a cassowary corridor stretching 100-200km from Julatten to the Barron Gorge National Park.”

C4 president Peter Rowles said his group would be revegetating another hectare of land on a property in the Smith’s Gap wildlife corridor near Tully, where more than 2000 rainforest trees have been planted since it was bought by C4 and Queensland Trust for Nature last year.