SIMO’s story begins in 1978 when the organisation was formed to help stop a proposed bridge that threatened to join Stradbroke to the mainland and unleash widespread development. The bridge was not built. However, SIMO has found many other pressing environmental reasons to defend the island. SIMO’s main objective is to preserve Stradbroke’s character – natural and built. We encourage government regulators to carry out their statutory obligations, especially with regard to the management of reserves and beaches, the regulation of sand mining, the protection of wildlife and the sustainable use of the island’s aquifer. SIMO is a member group of the Queensland Conservation Council. The following issues form the core of SIMO’s work. Regulation of sand mining Sand mining has been a major presence on NSI since the late 1940s. It has affected large areas of the island and caused irreparable changes to the environment. SIMO has stakeholder status in the ongoing processes associated with regulating sand mining. SIMO has been talking to the mining companies, Environmental Protection Agency, Mines and Energy and Natural Resources and Water since the 1980s concerning mining practices. We feel that we had some influence in the past in ensuring that a percentage of grass trees were saved and returned to the landscape after mining, that topsoil was saved and native seeds collected to be used in rehabilitation. We also had open and fruitful discussions. But things have changed. SIMO is dismayed that the mining companies have shifted to a hardline attitude towards landform and rehabilitation, with environmental imperatives playing second fiddle to economic concerns. Just as worrying has been Consolidated Rutile Limited’s proposal to take sand from the island, in addition to the minerals it extracts, for sale as construction material. Sand mining has played a large role in the life of Stradbroke since the 1950s, with economic and social as well as environmental consequences. Generations have grown up with parents and siblings working for a mining company. While today they are increasingly less important to the island's economy, the mining companies continue to have a presence and will do so until mines close and the companies complete rehabilitation of mining leases to be returned for national park. Protection of the aquifer When Redland Shire Council installed a borefield on NSI and began pumping water in 1990 to supply 70 per cent of the Redlands, it did not consider it necessary to conduct an Environmental Impact Study. The mayor of the day even declared the capacity of the island’s aquifer to be ‘unlimited’. SIMO has worked hard to ensure that people became aware that the aquifer is not unlimited but is – just like a conventional dam – fed solely by rainfall. Over the long dry period from the mid-1990s, the island’s rainfall decreased along with the rest of South-East Queensland; and the inevitable consequence was a decline in the groundwater mound that lies under the island. In 2007 the State government announced it would take an additional 22 megalitres per annum from NSI. This alarmed SIMO and other island groups. A protest was mounted. The government decided not to take the extra water; it installed more monitoring bores to return essential data about the aquifer; and instituted a Water Resource Plan (amendment to the Logan Basin WRP). Based on extensive data and monitoring, the WRP sets the management principles for using the water resource for ten years, when it is reviewed. SIMO is on the Community Representative Panel that informs the WRP process. (See: Water Fact Sheet) Extending national park on North Stradbroke Island In 1992, the government of the day was all ready to gazette 16,000 hectares of NSI national park. But this came to naught. Blue Lake National Park, 512 ha, gazetted in 1962, remains the only national park on NSI. No one doubts the environmental, cultural and heritage values of much of NSI, or the necessity to protect flora and fauna. In June 2010 the State government announced new national park to cover 80 per cent of the island by 2027, with 50 per cent to be declared in 2011. SIMO advocates that all expired mining leases should not be renewed. It is vital to preserve the last tracts of ancient dunes, some of which are in the Enterprise mine path, as well as all other pristine old growth areas remaining on Stradbroke. Land that has been mined cannot be returned to it original condition. The national park will be jointly managed by the Traditional Owners. (See: National Parks Fact Sheet) Keeping the community informed SIMO publishes up to four Newsletters a year which can be downloaded from the website (see: SIMO Newsletters). SIMO also publishes Fact Sheets on island environmental issues (see: SIMO Fact Sheets). North Stradboke Island book, published by SIMO and revised in 2004, is a detailed introduction to the island's natural and social environments and cultural heritage (see: SIMO Books). SIMO's educational role SIMO has an important educational objective. Over the years, SIMO has spoken to and workshopped with primary, seconday and tertiary students in order to inform, educate and raise awareness of issues affecting the island and to generate public support for our work. SIMO published North Stradbroke Island as an educational initiative; the revised edition (2004) can be ordered from this website (see: SIMO Books). | 
