Hundreds of pond apple trees have been removed from the edge of the picturesque Russell River.

Indigenous rangers are targeting the pest species, which was originally introduced as grafting stock for commercial custard apples. It’s now out-competing native species along waterways and in world-heritage rainforests.

Jaragun Ecoservices’ team has treated more than 400 mature trees over a six month period, along with pond apple seedlings. They reached the areas by boat, to inject trees with dry herbicide capsules.

Pond apple removal work was part of a broader ‘Forest Resilience’ project to better protect six forest types across the Wet Tropics region through weed and pest control, tree-planting and conservation agreements.

Important area with unique microclimates

Terrain NRM’s Deb Bass said the Russell River is an important area.

“Along the lower Russell River, there is lowland rainforest, littoral rainforest and mangroves growing side by side, creating unique microclimates for rare and ancient plants,’’ she said.

“Both littoral and lowland rainforest are listed as Threatened Ecological Communities. The rainforest here is as old and important as the Daintree.”

Cyclones opening country to pest plants

Pond apple got a foothold in the lower Russell River area after Cyclone Larry, when tree canopies were damaged, letting more light in. The project is focused on removing pond apple trees before they create thickets and take over the rainforest.

“Left untreated, this invasive species will grow into dense thickets. It hasn’t taken over the rainforest yet, so it makes sense to remove the individual mature pond apple trees now.”

The need to keep monitoring for pond apple

Pond apple has a two-year seed viability. Jaragun Ecoservices rangers will be continuing to monitor the river system.

Most people think of rainforest when they think of the Wet Tropics. Not grasslands. But grasslands were once widespread here, and maintained by indigenous groups.

Today, treeless native grasslands are perhaps one of the most rare, threatened and overlooked ecosystems in our region. One example is at Mission Beach, where kangaroo grass grows at Clump Point but is overrun by guinea grass, an environmental weed. Others are Eubenangee Swamp National Park near Innisfail and Cattle Creek south of Ingham.

Threats to the few remaining Wet Tropics treeless grasslands include weeds, trees, introduced pasture grasses, the absence of fire and a low level of awareness about the predicament for these areas.

Some community groups and organisations are now working to raise awareness. Eubenangee Swamp National Park showcases the Wet Tropics region’s best remaining lowland grassland. And a new Clump Point Coastcare group is working with Djiru Traditional Owners, the Cassowary Coast Council and grassland restoration experts on restoring the Clump Point grassland.

“This grassland is important to us. It has always been here. We’ve had a connection since we were children,’’ Djiru’s Leonard Andy says.

How does urban stormwater affect our local waterways? Australian Wetlands Consulting is beginning an urban stormwater modelling project in the Cairns region and we will be helping them to develop stormwater runoff models and assess erosion risks in priority areas.

It’s part of a $30 million Reefwise Urban Program, funded through the Australian Government, to reduce water pollution from stormwater runoff and wastewater discharges and to better protect the Great Barrier Reef.

The project is the first phase of the program. It’s aimed at helping councils and Reef catchment managers to:
• better understand how urban stormwater affects local waterways
• identify priority urban catchments for stormwater improvement actions

Terrain NRM’s role will include working with Cairns Regional Council on foundational data activities to ensure investments are targeted, and undertaking site erosion assessments.

Monsoon-battered creekbanks will be repaired in the iconic Daintree River system thanks to a disaster recovery package.

Terrain NRM is working with landholders, Douglas Shire Council, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation and Neilly Group to restore sections of Martins Creek, Cassowary Creek and Saltwater Creek.

A range of nature-based solutions will be used including pile fields, bank reprofiling and tree-planting.

Cyclone Jasper recovery work

The $2.7 million Daintree Riverine Recovery project is focusing on damage caused to creekbanks in the floods that followed Cyclone Jasper and is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA). Tree-planting will be funded through the Australian Government’s Reef Trust Landscape Repair Program.

Federal Member for Leichhardt Matt Smith said the project is another example of how the Federal and State governments stand shoulder to shoulder, building resilience in the Far North under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

“Almost three years on from the devastating impacts of Cyclone Jasper, we are still finding ways to grow back better – protecting our communities and building a Far North better prepared to weather the storm,” Mr Smith said.

Work is scheduled to begin this month (September).

Martins, Saltwater and Cassowary creeks

Terrain NRM Project Manager Max Brownlow said Martins Creek was an important tributary for the Daintree River, which received heavy flows off the mountains.

“We’ll be working at a series of erosion sites along about 1.2 kilometres of the creek,’’ he said.

“At Saltwater Creek, we’ll be restoring and stabilising a creek area that has seen dramatic erosion and land loss since Cyclone Jasper, where floodwater has been coming over the top of the bank and cutting a channel behind it and where the banks are continuing to collapse and recede.

“Cassowary Creek is a smaller creek with very high flows in floods. One side of the creek has receded three metres since the start of this year alone, and almost 30 metres of creek bank has been lost since 2011.”

Two pile fields will be built at Martins Creek, along with bank battering, strategic rock placements and tree-planting while at Saltwater and Cassowary and creeks there will be bank battering and widespread tree-planting.

After hearing from more than 140 people through 11 consultation workshops, the updated Regional Water Quality Strategy for the Wet Tropics has been released.

The strategy captures current community priorities by each catchment and is designed to guide future government investment. It includes knowledge gained after nearly 20 years of reef water quality programs, and the latest science. It also incorporates research and science from the Queensland Government on key issues and priorities for each catchment.

Project Leader Fiona Barron said one of the key messages emerging from the strategy is that good water quality can’t be taken for granted. “Even those catchments that are in better condition require active management and investment to maintain their current condition,” she said.

The strategy identifies priority actions to reduce pollutant loads, strengthen catchment resilience, support sustainable land management, and improve the effectiveness of water quality investment and reporting.

Ms Barron thanked all the partners and stakeholders who volunteered their time and knowledge to ensure that the strategy captured the best available knowledge and science. “A lot of work has been done over the past couple of decades and we are making progress. But there’s still a way to go to meet Australia’s reef water quality targets. This strategy builds on that work and provides a shared direction for the next phase of programs.”

This project is funded through the Australian Government’s Reef Trust program.

Would you climb a mountain to help save a critically endangered frog? A new project in the Wet Tropics will take a team of field officers to the top of not just one but five densely rainforested mountains to check on six threatened frog species in the wake of Cyclone Jasper.

Terrain NRM’s Dr Andrew Dennis says he’ll do it in a heartbeat. He discovered one of the species – the tiny mountain-top nursery-frog – on hikes up Mt Lewis with his cousin Michael Trenerry 40 years ago, and he’s been at the forefront of actions to save it from extinction.

Helping six critically endangered mountain frog species 

“Most nursery frogs are tiny – smaller than two centimetres,’’ he says. “These six species live at the top of our highest mountains and they’re a very special group of frogs that lay their eggs on land and hatch as fully formed frogs rather than tadpoles.

“They’re all listed a critically endangered because the areas they live in – up high where it’s coolest and most moist – are getting smaller in a warming climate. These frogs are no longer breeding in the lower parts of their range. And feral pigs are coming up higher, disturbing their habitat and adding to the pressure.”

Terrain NRM field officers will be working on Mt Lewis, Mt Bartle Frere, Mt Bellenden Ker, Thornton Peak and the Windsor Tablelands, and along creeks in the Kuranda area as part of the new project which will include feral pig surveys, trialling new feral pig baits and bait stations, audio monitoring of frogs, and exclosure fencing to protect breeding areas from pigs.

The project will also include revegetation work along Kuranda streambanks that were damaged by floods after Cyclone Jasper, to look after another threatened frog – the Kuranda Tree Frog.

It follows a recent project focused solely on the mountain-top nursery-frog, which showed how intervention can help these threatened frog species. A team from Terrain NRM, Western Yalanji, Gulf Savannah NRM, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and James Cook University monitored the mountain-top nursery-frog (Cophixalus monticola) at the top of Mt Lewis for a year.

Dr Dennis says results from exclosure fencing trials – to protect breeding sites from feral pigs – were encouraging. The new project will continue this work to see if it is beneficial to add exclosure fencing around a newly discovered breeding area.

“We’ve seen the recovery of walking stick palms (Linospadix apetiolatus) which are used by these frogs to call from when they’re mating,’’ Dr Dennis said. “Leaf litter – used to lay their eggs under – is thicker. Seedling diversity is changing and more frog calls have been recorded.”

Trialling innovative pig baits

A key part of the new project will be finding a bait that will attract feral pigs and also be viable in the wet, humid and densely forested habitat at the top of mountains. On Mt Lewis, field officers will be trialling several innovative baits and ‘hog hopper’ bait stations that can be monitored and operated remotely.

The rainforest on our highest mountain tops in the Wet Tropics is rarely visited – but it’s super important and it needs our help. ‘Highland rainforest’ is one of the most ancient, biologically complex and evolutionarily important forest systems on Earth. It’s a refuge for species escaping our changing climate’s higher temperatures. But it’s also under threat.

Highland Rainforest grows above 800 metres in the Wet Tropics, on mountaintop plateaus and ridgelines where there’s more rainfall, cloud and mist, and lower temperatures. It’s home to threatened animal species and more than 100 threatened plant species, as well as plants like the purple kauri pine which has ancient evolutionary lineages and is only found on Wet Tropics mountain tops.

The highland rainforest ecological community is under pressure from the changing climate’s heat stress and rainfall extremes, and the creep of heat-adapted species up mountains including feral pigs and cats. Other threats include a frog disease, Chytrid fungus, and the plant diseases myrtle rust fungus and dieback.

Terrain NRM has been working, through the Australian Government’s Saving Native Species Program, to improve the resilience of highland rainforest. Actions include revegetation, weed management, feral pig and cat management and wildlife friendly fencing projects. We are also supporting the creation and protection of wildlife corridors connecting highland rainforest areas.

“Highland rainforests are home to species ranging from endangered frogs to colourful crayfish and rare plants, and they all rely on the cool wet conditions which are steadily changing as human actions warm the globe,’’ Terrain’s Dr Andrew Dennis says.

“Terrain NRM and partners are working on way to manage impacts. And all of us can act to stabilise our climate by doing things like switching to renewable energy, adopting a more circular economy and reducing consumption and waste.”

Download this new, free booklet on where to see highland rainforest in the Wet Tropics region, the amazing plants and animals living in it, key threats, and actions to save it.

Nature-based solutions work with natural systems to address environmental challenges.

While flooding is a natural part of life in the Wet Tropics the increasing frequency and severity of severe flood events are having significant impacts on communities, agriculture, infrastructure and the natural environment.

Rivers where riparian vegetation has been removed are particularly vulnerable to flood damage. Clearing makes riverbanks more susceptible to erosion during high flows, leading to the loss of soil, increased sediment runoff and damage to downstream habitats, including the Great Barrier Reef.

There are several ways to manage flood-related riverbank erosion. Some require hard engineering but solutions that work with natural processes are better for longer-term outcomes. They can help slow water flow, stabilise banks and reduce erosion creep, which is better for waterway health and helps protect community infrastructure.

Using nature-based solutions in Mossman

After severe flooding in 2019, Terrain NRM restored two erosion hotspots in the Mossman catchment—Bamboo Creek and the Mossman River—using nature-based solutions (NbS).

Five years on, these sites show how working with natural systems—not against them—can stabilise riverbanks, support vegetation, and improve resilience to future floods.

The two sites, one at Bamboo Creek (BC-1) and one on the Mossman River (MR-2), were restored using a combination of nature-based engineering techniques and revegetation. Thanks to funding from the Minderoo Foundation, we’ve been able to revisit these sites to see how they fared after major weather events, including during Tropical Cyclone Jasper (2023), and to understand how nature-based solutions perform under real-world conditions in the Wet Tropics.

Lessons learnt

1. Smart design starts with the right location
Nature-based solutions succeed when they match the natural behaviour of the river. At the Bamboo Creek site, revegetation has thrived because it was placed above the active channel, where it is only occasionally inundated. This reduced exposure to strong flows and erosion, allowing vegetation to establish and strengthen the bank.

2. Nature-based solutions can significantly reduce erosion
At the Mossman River site, timber pile fields reduced erosive forces dramatically – by up to 75–90% in smaller flows and by around 50–75% in larger flows. During Tropical Cyclone Jasper, the site experienced far less damage than was expected. Well-designed NbS can therefore meaningfully reduce the physical forces that drive erosion, and can protect both land and infrastructure.

3. After big change, smaller floods can cause bigger damage
One key finding from the report is that changes in site hydrology require adaptive design. Although the Mossman River site emerged from Tropical Cyclone Jasper with minimal impact, smaller flood events in 2026 caused significantly greater erosion and vegetation loss. The cumulative effects of the cyclone over the following three years fundamentally altered the Mossman River system, creating conditions that the original, site-specific nature-based design was not equipped to withstand.

A small population of endangered mahogany gliders is living in narrow strips of forest on farmland south of Ingham. Wildlife cameras have captured mahogany gliders for two years in a row at four spots in the Bambaroo-St Helens area.

Improving ‘glideability’

Terrain NRM’s Evizel Seymour said the gliders were in forest along creeks where vines and woody weeds have been removed to improve its “glideability” and condition. Coupled with scientists’ findings from genetic research in recent years, it shows the critical need for more habitat restoration.

“Mahogany gliders are only found between the Hull River near Tully and Ollera Creek north of Townsville, with an estimated total population of about 2500,’’ Evizel said. “The woodlands they live in are often narrow fragments of forest. To help this species, a big focus is restoring and connecting their habitat.”

Inbreeding a concern

Recent genetics research by James Cook University researcher Eryn Chang found the species was retaining moderate genetic diversity across much of its range despite decades of habitat loss. But it also identified inbreeding in northern parts of the mahogany glider’s habitat and researchers fear the combination of habitat decline and an increasing fragmented mahogany glider population could lead to more serious genetic health issues.

During Terrain NRM’s recent ‘Keeping Country Connected for Mahogany Gliders’ project, crews from Hinchinbrook Shire Council removed woody weeds and vines from 15 kilometres of forest along Waterview Creek, Easter Creek and two unnamed creeks on cane farming land in the Bambaroo-St Helens area.

Gliders captured on camera in four farmland locations for two years in a row

Evizel said wildlife cameras, installed twice at 30 spots along the creeks for six-week periods over two years, had led to mahogany glider detections across 15 locations. Gliders were detected in four of those locations both times the cameras went out.

“Of these, four locations recorded mahogany gliders during both survey periods, indicating consistent use of those areas,” she said.

“This region was focused on for weed and vine removal because we knew from earlier monitoring that small populations of mahogany gliders were likely to be living there.

Narrow strips on woodland on cane farms

“The narrow strips of woodland are between sugar cane land and waterways and they’re close to Paluma and Halifax Bay national parks. The aim is to link more coastal patches of mahogany glider habitat to foothills in national parks via vegetated waterway areas, so there is a functional corridor for this endangered species.”

This work follows a series of Australian and Queensland government-funded mahogany glider projects led by Terrain NRM over the past 15 years, focused on planting wildlife corridors on private land to connect to existing glider habitat and staging cool burns on private properties and in national parks to reduce forest thickening and restore glider habitat. Population monitoring has also been part of projects.

In NAIDOC Week we’ve asked our Indigenous Partnership Team what it means to them.

Derek Beaut, Partnership Project Officer, says:
“NAIDOC – it’s a celebration of our people and our culture.  It’s an opportunity for people from all walks of life to share the richness of our ancient culture in the present context.  It’s also a time to reflect on the past to help gain an understanding of how things have come be the way they are, which enables us to decide how we wish to move forward to guide others.”

He also said, and we love this, that it’s a privilege to be helping mob by being part of Terrain NRM.

‘How Terrain helps to make mob deadly’ – Derek Beaut

“As an Indigenous employee at Terrain NRM, I’m proud to be part of an organisation that recognises First Nations peoples as the original custodians of Country and managers of natural resources.

“It’s an organisation that cares. Since starting with Terrain, I’ve found it encouraging that this NRM doesn’t come to communities with pre-determined solutions. Instead, it works alongside our people to support our aspirations for Country, respecting our cultural authority, knowledge systems and decision-making processes.

“Daily, from the inside out, I see Terrain’s understanding of working with Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples. I see it in the way this organisation helps Traditional Owner groups to manage landscapes, waterways, forests and coastal environments so that our people’s vital knowledge about caring for Country – over tens of thousands of years – stays at the forefront.

“Terrain’s role is to build genuine partnerships based on trust, respect and long-term relationships with Traditional Owner groups. I see the way Terrain listens first, supports community-led priorities and creates opportunities for Traditional Owner groups to lead projects that align with their cultural, environmental, social and economic goals.