Over 60,000 trees have been added to an internationally recognised coastal wetland near Innisfail – and the plan is to plant even more.

Eubenangee Swamp’s rehabilitation has been a 30-year project. The tallest trees have created a forest canopy while the smallest, planted just six months ago, extend the southern end of a rainforest corridor that will link the coast with mountain ranges on the Tablelands.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Chris Roach said the project was a labour of love for rangers and indigenous groups.

“The results are pretty amazing – it was hard work at the start but we’ve got a dedicated team and you can see the difference it’s making,” Mr Roach said. “With revegetation, weed and fire management and water restoration work, we’ve seen huge changes over a relatively short period of time.

“Areas that were infested with weeds, and silent to work in, are now alive with birds, frogs and all manner of wildlife. Ecosystems that were completely modified are now functioning again.”

Rangers are currently working with Terrain NRM and a group of indigenous people to plant native trees on what was previously marginal farming land. The land was added to the national park in 2003 to secure a wetland water source and to strengthen the link between coastal areas at Bramston Beach and Queensland’s tallest mountain Bartle Frere or Choorechillum.

Terrain NRM’s Tony O’Malley said trees had been planted along Casey Creek to widen the corridor as part of Terrain’s Building Rainforest Resilience project funded through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

He said the funding enabled Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to employ indigenous people for the next two years to work there on weed control and other revegetation maintenance.

“Planting the trees is the first step – keeping the weeds down so the trees can grow is an essential part of successful revegetation projects,’’ Mr O’Malley said.

“Eubenangee is considered a lowland climate refugia and the corridor is one of the Cassowary Recovery Team’s top priorities to conserve. It has been great to hear that a cassowary and his chicks have already been seen in the area.”

Mamu’s Steve Purcell said the project was bringing younger indigenous people “back on Country”.