Seen + Heard: Helping Farmers Save the Reef

January 1, 2009 By: GPS World Staff GPS World

Helping Farmers Save the Reef

Farmers will be trained to use GPS technology to manage their crops as part of a $23 million rescue package for the Great Barrier Reef, reports The Age of Melbourne, Australia.

A 2007 report on water quality linked the reef’s decline to fertilizers, chemicals, and soil being washed from Queensland farms into the ocean. One researcher says the reef will be dead within 30 years unless human activity changes quickly. According to the report, 6.6 million tons of sediment had been discharged into the reef — four times higher than estimated pre-European settlement levels. Despite financial incentives for farmers to improve land management, 16,600 tons of nitrogen and 4,180 tons of phosphorous were flushed into the reef.

The Australian government has provided funds to encourage farming practices that will reduce the polluted run-off. Farmers will use GPS technology to improve soil quality by cutting down on erosion and compaction. Cane drains in sugar plantations will be revegetated, and farm machinery will be converted to use fertilizer and herbicides more efficiently. Nitrogen fixation and replacement systems for sugar crops and new methods for minimizing fertilizers on paw paw crops will be introduced.

Most of the funding will go to five natural resource-management groups, who will work with farmers and industry.

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the funding will help ensure the reef had the best chance of survival in the face of climate change. “Improved land management can have a real impact on the health of this internationally renowned, World Heritage listed wonder,” he said.

The $23 million is part of the government’s previously announced $200 million reef rescue package.

Leading the Blind. Leader Dogs for the Blind is the first dog-guide school in the United States to permanently integrate a talking GPS navigational tool into dog-guide classes for people who are blind and visually impaired, reports Crain’s Detroit Business.

HumanWare, makers of the GPS Trekker Breeze, has partnered with the school to launch the training. The Trekker Breeze is an audible device that gives step-by-step directions for a programmed route and notifies the user of upcoming streets and landmarks. “One of the overriding themes we hear from our students is the anxiety and apprehension of travel in a new environment. We believe we can really enhance the way we provide services by placing a GPS device in every student’s hand while in our training program,” said Greg Grabowski, president and CEO of Leader Dogs for the Blind. Underwhere? A Brazilian clothing designer has incorporated a GPS receiver into her line of “Find Me if You Can” lingerie, reports Agence France Presse. Critics maintain that it’s not exactly the most progressive idea, placing a satellite tracking device in women’s underwear. But maker Lucia Lorio says her design targets the modern, technologically savvy woman, one who will only be found when she wants to be found. Some women have also expressed interest in the lingerie line for safety reasons.