In 2008, ARCS entered into a Restoration Agreement with the Queensland Government. Under the 10-year Agreement, ARCS has undertaken to carry out restoration of rainforest on cleared areas on land purchased by the Queensland Government. This service, estimated to be worth $3.4 million over 10 years, is being provided at no cost to the Government. In return, ARCS has access to a number of buildings that can be used to accommodate staff and volunteers working on the restoration project. The Restoration Agreement became the responsibility of the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) when that department was established in March 2009. A Steering Committee consisting of DERM officials and ARCS representatives was established to oversee the Springbrook Rescue project. A committee of scientists was also established to advise on scientific and research aspects of the project and to assess annual progress reports. DERM and ARCS were also partners with CSIRO in the Wireless Sensor Network project at Springbrook. This is described on the Wireless Sensor Network page under the Science menu on this web site. Following the election of a new government in March 2012, DERM was split into a number of agencies. Responsibility for the Restoration Agreement has been transferred to the Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing (NPRSR). The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) now has responsibility for the Wireless Sensor Network project. |
