8 December 2021

Over 32,000 native trees have been planted along riverbanks in the Johnstone, Murray and Russell catchments as part of a year-long project to boost rural economies by creating ‘green jobs’.

Johnstone Region Landcare Group, Johnstone River Catchment Management Association and Terrain NRM have worked together since late 2020 to deliver the $520,000 project, funded through the Queensland Government’s $10 million Reef Assist program.

An area equivalent to over 20 football fields (8.4 hectares) and spanning five kilometres of streambank has been planted with native woody and non-woody vegetation.

The benefits of the project extend beyond the on-ground revegetation work, with 26 local people gaining training and employment through the project.

Youth and Traditional Owners are among the team of local people employed, with 13 receiving classroom-based training in cultural awareness, riverine processes, species selection, weeds, and crocodile awareness.

Innisfail local Brenton Congoo gained experience as a Johnstone Region Landcare revegetation team supervisor during the project.

“What we’ve achieved in this project is really amazing. I’ve enjoyed working on it and feel proud to have been given the opportunity to be a team supervisor at my young age. I’d love to do this work every single day,” Mr Congoo said.

Johnstone Region Landcare Group Leader Fay Falco-Mammone said the project has generated environmental, economic, and socio-cultural benefits across the Wet Tropics region.

“We’ve provided training and employment for a diverse range of people in the community through this ‘shovel-ready’ project.

“Projects like this connect community groups with willing landholders and provide employment opportunities that have a flow-on effect in our local regional communities,” Ms Falco-Mammone said.

Nineteen businesses in Tully, Innisfail and Babinda have benefited from the project through the purchase and hire of equipment, materials, and supplies.

Most of the revegetation sites are located on private farming properties in the area, with farmers willing to give over unprofitable small corners of paddocks for trees to stabilise eroding creek banks impacting on farmland.

A Tully farmer said: “The planting work was carried out very professionally and in an efficient way, as evidenced by the number of healthy trees now established”.

HOTSPOT FOR REEF RUNOFF 

Poor water quality is second biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef after climate change.

While climate change is a global issue, there is a lot we can do locally for the Reef by improving water quality flowing off the land.

The Wet Tropics is one of seven Great Barrier Reef catchments, where water is collected by the natural landscape and flows out to the reef lagoon.

Each year the wet season dumps rain into our landscapes which races down the escarpments, picking up pollutants along the way and carrying them out to sea.

Terrain NRM has successfully delivered a number of large Great Barrier Reef programs that have been funded by the Australian and Queensland governments.

These programs have mostly been focused on working with farmers to help them transition to farm practices that present a lower risk to water quality flowing to the Reef, while also maintaining farm productivity and profitability.

Our work involves:

• Supporting farmers to transition to more environmentally sustainable practices
• Trialling innovations including treatment systems like bioreactors
• Repairing riverbanks, gullies and landscapes to reduce sediment runoff and maintain farm productivity
• Developing innovative ecosystem service markets to incentivise and reward landholders to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff to the reef
• Raising community awareness about links between farm practices and reef health

Current projects:

• Bridging the Gap Between Science and Farmers – Trialling a new approach for reef programs:
  Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project (MIP)
• Reducing the use of nitrogen fertiliser:
  Reef Trust IV Repeated Tenders
• Fixing sediment runoff from gullies caused by historic grazing practices:
  Reef Trust IV Herbert Gully & Streambank Repair Project
• Fixing soil erosion hotspots in a high priority catchment:
  Upper Johnstone Integrated Project
• Fixing streambank erosion hotspots:
  Mossman Integrated Project
• Repairing flood damaged riverbanks:
  Disaster Recovery Project

Tracking progress:

• Monitoring progress towards the Reef 2050 targets – The Paddock to Reef Integrated Monitoring, Modelling & Reporting Program (P2R)
• Assessing waterway health condition – The Wet Tropics Waterway Health Report Card – Delivered through Wet Tropics Waterways

Poor water quality is the second biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef after climate change.

While climate change is a global issue, there is a lot we can do locally for the Reef by improving water quality flowing off the land.

The Wet Tropics is one of seven Great Barrier Reef catchments, where water is collected by the natural landscape and flows out to the reef lagoon. The Wet Tropics catchment is a particular hotspot for nutrient and pesticide run-off due to the following:

• 9 short sharp rivers
• exceptionally high rainfall
• intensive farming along the coastal plain
• closeness of the reef to our coast

Each year our wet season dumps rain into our landscapes which races down the escarpments, picking up pollutants along the way and carrying them out to sea without little chance to dilute.

Terrain NRM has successfully delivered a number of large Great Barrier Reef programs that have been funded by the Australian and Queensland governments. These programs have mostly been focused on working with farmers to help them transition to farm practices that present a lower risk to water quality flowing to the Reef but also maintain farm productivity and profitability.

Our work involves:

• Supporting farmers to transition to more environmentally sustainable practices
• Water quality monitoring
• Trialling innovations including treatment systems like bioreactors
• Repairing riverbanks, gullies and landscapes to reduce sediment runoff and maintain farm productivity
• Developing innovative ecosystem service markets to incentivise and reward landholders to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff to the reef
• Raising community awareness about links between farm practice and reef health

Current reef projects:

• How do we support cane farmers to transition to environmentally sustainable farm practices?
  GBRF RAP2 – An extension program delivered through the Wet Tropics Sugar Industry Partnership
• How do we incentivise cane farmers to reduce their use of nitrogen fertiliser?
  Reef Trust IV Repeated Tenders
• How do we fix sediment runoff caused by historic grazing practices?
  Reef Trust IV Herbert Gully & Streambank Repair Project
• A place-based approach: Bridging the Gap Between Science and the Farmers
  Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project (MIP)
• How do we track progress towards the Reef 2050 targets? The Paddock to Reef Integrated Monitoring, Modelling & Reporting Program (P2R)
• How do we assess how healthy our waterways are? The Wet Tropics Waterway Health Report Card – Delivered through Wet Tropics Waterways

The Wet Tropics has the greatest biodiversity in Australia. We are home to the world’s oldest continuously living rainforest and the 8,000 year old Great Barrier Reef as well as many rare species not found anywhere else. Despite taking up just 0.26% of Australia’s total area, this bio-region contains half of Australia’s bird species, one third of its mammals, about 3000 plant species and over 600 different coral species.

Many of these species are under threat from land clearing, urban development, invasive species and climate change. Terrain NRM works in partnership with local governments, community conservation groups and industry to improve the condition, extent and connectivity of habitat corridors for threatened species.

Our work involves:

• Providing technical advice to recovery teams
• Advising landholders about habitat management
• Developing recovery action plans
• Raising community awareness about threats
• On-ground activities like revegetation, weed management and controlled burns

Current Wet Tropics biodiversity projects:

• Biodiversity Bright Spots – Rainforest Resilience
• Biodiversity Bright Spots – Woodlands Resilience
• Many Hands Make Light Work – Native Vegetation
• Improving Nothern Bettong Habitat
• Improving Fish Habitat Connectivity

Soil health is a term we use to describe soil that is in good condition. It describes the state of a soil system and includes the physical, chemical and biological aspects of soil that need to be in balance in order to sustain thriving farm businesses and plant and animal growth.

Healthy soil is an essential asset for farm businesses and helps them be more resilient, efficient and profitable. It also has other benefits in terms of improved water quality, carbon sequestration and healthy landscapes.

About two thirds of agricultural land in Australia is suffering from acidification, depletion of nutrients and organic matter, or salinisation. Given the Wet Tropics produces 90% of Australia’s bananas and 30% of its sugarcane, as well as a variety of tropical fruits, agricultural resilience is a major priority for our region.

Terrain NRM is supporting farmers across the Wet Tropics to shift to sustainable farming systems that build organic matter, increase biodiversity, improve water cycling and capture carbon.

This benefits our farming industries as well as building resilience to droughts and floods, and reducing the pressure on our ecosystems, particularly the Great Barrier Reef.

Some of the activities we undertake include:

• Bring national and international experts to the region
• Provide extension support for soil health and regenerative farming improvements
• Training in soil testing and water sampling
• Help with grant applications

Current sustainable agriculture projects:

• Healthy Farming Futures
• Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator

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