​The first community workshop for the Mission Beach Planning & Mapping Project was held on Saturday 8 November at Ninney Rise, bringing together landholders, conservation groups, farmers, business owners and residents to discuss the future of habitat protection and sustainable development across the Mission Beach region.

​The all-day workshop attracted strong attendance and covered three key themes central to the project: mapping, planning and incentives. 

The Ninney Rise Community Open Day was a huge success! Over 400 people joined us to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act.

• 24 community groups 
  
• Art workshops with Marion Gaemers
  
• Great food with a sausage sizzle from the Scouts and delicious vegetarian curries from the Rainforest School
  
• Relaxing at the Ninney Rise Café
  
• ​Entertainment by the choir and the Johnstone River Ukes

​The ‘Cacophonous Curlews’ choir opened the event singing Mission Beach Naturally – A Magic Place, a song written and recorded by Mission Beach State School kids in 2017, the perfect tone for the celebration. 

​11:30am – Welcome to Country
11:35am – Introduction: Terry Carmichael, President, Friends of Ninney Rise (FoNR)
11:45am - Choir Performance: "Mission Beach Naturally – A Magic Place"
12:10am - Dr Ian Poiner, Chairperson, GBRMPA
12:20am - Scott Buchanan, Executive Director, WTMA
12:30pm - Girringun TUMRA: Celebrating 20 Years
12:40pm - Iain McCalman and Kirsten Wehner in Conversation:
                         "The John Busst Story"
1:05pm –Cameron Sharpe  QPWS
1:15pm – Closing Remarks: Terry Carmichael
1:25pm – Johnstone River Ukes
2:30pm – Live Music Concludes

"Known to his enemies as ‘The Bastard of Bingil Bay’, John Büsst, a Bendigo-born Melbourne bohemian artist, moved to tropical Bedarra Island in North Queensland and underwent an extraordinary transformation to become one of Australia’s most successful conservationists. In the 1960s and early 70s Büsst led campaigns to protect two of Australia’s most important and endangered environments – saving lowland rainforests from destruction and the Great Barrier Reef from reckless resource mining for oil, gas, cement and fertiliser. A plan Büsst likened to ‘bulldozing the Taj Mahal to make road gravel’. Along the way Büsst obtained the active support of five current or future Prime Ministers – Holt, Whitlam, Gorton, Hawke and Fraser.
​
This inspiring biography, from award-winning historian Iain McCalman, is a timely reminder that the passionate commitment of ordinary citizens is crucial to achieving truly transformative environmental change".

John Büsst the Bingil Bay Bastard of Ninney Rise - OG of Save the Barrier ReefSaturday, 10 December 2022
by Toni Pankaluic

​Did you know that the Great Barrier reef was almost mined for its coral as lime fertiliser for cane farmers?

Are you aware of an unsung hero John Büsst who was the architect in the activism campaigns to ‘Save the Reef” and proved the reef was alive…   counter to prevailing beliefs that the reef was just dead coral.

For a deep dive…
Ninney Rise is the base from which John Büsst organised the 'Save the Reef' and rainforest campaigns decades ago. Set in rainforest by the Coral Sea, it was a meeting place for the campaigners and scientists including Prime Minister Harold Holt, poet Judith Wright, and scientists Len Webb & Geoff Tracey.

Two notable books on the Great Barrier Reef one may find interesting - 'Coral Battleground' by Judith Wright and 'The Reef - A Passionate History' by Iain McCalman

The Australian Marine Conservation Society - AMCS (founded as Queensland Littoral Society) is one of the oldest conservation groups in Australia, and the only conservation group dedicated solely to protecting Australia’s amazing oceans and marine wildlife.

Did you know the first bumper sticker used in Australia was ’Save the Barrier Reef’?
Toni Pankaluic.

Cassowaries the Formidable Giant of Queensland's Wet Tropics Monday, 2 January 2023
by Toni Pankaluic

Cassowaries… gentle giant of the Wet Tropics rainforest.  

How are they faring with human encroachment on their habitat? How do we live with them?
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For a deep dive…
Visit Mission Beach Cassowaries for an aggregate of all kinds of relevant Southern Cassowary info and follow them on Facebook. The Australian Museum's Southern Cassowary page is also a good source on getting a primer on this magnificent bird. Check out the IUCN Red Listing for the Southern Cassowary. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red Listing) is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. The IUCN Red Listing is far more than a list of species and their status, it's a powerful tool used to inform and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change. 

The Cassowary Recovery Team is a group of organisations working together to implement the Recovery Plan for the Southern Cassowary and ‘protect cassowaries, habitats and corridors from threats through better planning, monitoring and community involvement'.

Literally get your hands dirty by volunteering to revegetate rainforest habitat for cassowaries in Mission Beach with the Brettacorp non-profit.

...and finally, sign the petition to Oppose the Mission Beach Helicopter Facility which will further degrade the established rainforest corridors and tranquility of the cassowaries' environment.
Toni Pankaluic

Please note; Publication of any articles submitted for consideration is solely at the discretion of the Friends of Ninney Rise  management committee