This reinforced riverbank, just upstream from the Daintree River ferry crossing, was well underwater in the recent flooding rain – so we’re happy to report it has emerged unscathed to continue to do its job of stopping erosion.

One hundred metres of this riverbank was restored last year. Erosion problems had been worsening for years and Cyclone Jasper accelerated things in 2023, sweeping chunks of riverbank down the river and threatening the road running alongside the river.

Our solution, working with partners Neilly Group Engineering, was a combination of engineered rock work, earthworks and revegetation (mangroves, grasses and trees). And tree rootballs were embedded into the rock wall to better protect the mangrove plantings from flooding and to begin to replicate habitat conditions in established mangroves where large logs and branches collect and provide fish habitat.

The reinforced riverbank has now gone through multiple high rainfall events, with the latest nearing record high flows. Mangroves growing on the rockwall’s benching were the only part of the design that was significantly affected in the March flood. They will recover as tidal flows bring more mangrove seedlings from nearby vegetation.

Terrain NRM partnered with the Douglas Shire Council and Jabalbina Rangers for this project, which aims to stop an estimated 1,200 tonnes of fine sediment a year from washing down the river and out to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon

Terrain NRM’s Zack Severino says revegetation is the long-term solution, after a combination of rock and earthworks.

“We were dealing with a sheer drop. With every storm, more soil was getting washed away. Now we have a reinforced riverbank. And the upland area has been planted out with native, fast-growing trees to get a good root system embedded. Mangroves have been planted on the benched areas to catch sediment and more seedlings, so that’ll also help to secure the riverbank, and also filter the water.

The ‘Daintree Wetlands: Reef Coastal Restoration in the Lower Daintree’ project is being delivered by Terrain NRM through funding from the Australian Government’s Reef Trust through their Reef Coastal Restoration Program grant.

It’s a busy time of year for our Water Quality Monitoring Team! With the intense rain event between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the crew was out most days. (It’s lucky they love the wet.)

We have automatic sensor results from 11 locations across the Innisfail-Tully region and our team, along with 3C Farms, collected water samples from Utchee, Kennedy and Corduroy creek sites, and the Sandy Creek wetland.

Over that period, we amassed 170+ samples.

The water has been sent to laboratories for nutrient, sediment and pesticide analysis. The results will be shared with local landholders.

We’ve been collecting samples from some areas for 8 years now. They’re helping all of us to better understand how our activities in catchments affect water quality, and how wetlands can improve water quality by removing nitrogen and sediment.

Our water quality monitoring projects are funded by the Queensland Government’s Office of the Great Barrier Reef and World Heritage and the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

Feral pig and woody weed control programs are beginning in the Herbert catchment as Terrain NRM and its partners intensify efforts to improve water quality in a river system extending from west of Mt Garnet to the floodplain around Ingham.

Five projects are now being rolled out as the first stage of the Herbert Integrated Project’s on-ground works, and Terrain NRM Project Manager Fiona Barron said there were more to follow.

Council leads feral pig control program

One of the first is a feral pig management initiative led by Hinchinbrook Shire Council.

“Feral pigs are a major problem for the environment and also for the sugar cane industry and other farming industries in the Herbert,” Ms Barron said. “Pigs churn up soil and vegetation and damage wetlands and riverbanks, which releases nutrients and can spread pathogens.”

Hinchinbrook Shire Council will build on an existing control program by using emerging surveillance and control technologies, including AI-enabled cameras. A remote-triggering feral-tech trap door will also be trialled near a coastal community where traditional systems have been unsuccessful.

Woody weeds removal in Upper Herbert region

In the upper Herbert, stakeholders identified the thickening of invasive woody weeds, such as lantana, as a priority.

“Dense thickets of woody weeds are a problem for graziers because they lead to less soil protection and pasture,” Ms Barron said.

“Part of the project will involve working with graziers on trials of different burn approaches at different times of the year to determine the most effective way of tackling woody weeds so that we can share best practice with other landholders.”

Whole-of-farm and whole-of-catchment planning

Other projects include developing a whole-of-catchment management plan, supporting cane farmers through integrated whole-of-farm planning led by Herbert Cane Productivity Services Ltd, and synthesising past and present water quality monitoring data to better understand what’s happening across the catchment and help farmers and the wider community.

Circular economy, natural capital opportunities

There will also be a focus on circular economy opportunities and natural capital capacity-building within the Herbert catchment area.

Ms Barron said the Herbert Integrated Project was being driven by the community, and Terrain NRM was working with a wide range of partners and community groups.

“We have engaged widely with stakeholders across the upper and lower Herbert catchment to understand how the catchment can be managed as one integrated system – to not only improve water quality but also deliver broader community and landscape benefits,” she said.

A new high-frequency water-quality monitoring station has recently been installed at Corduroy Creek south of Tully. It’s the eleventh for the Tully-Innisfail region and it’s in one of 50+ locations where water monitoring has been happening in paddocks, drains, creeks and rivers across the Tully, Murray and Johnstone River catchments.

Why do we do it and how does it help farmers?

We’re helping farmers to sustainably manage their land. The data is giving all of us a better understanding of how human activities, including land management practices, impact waterways and the Great Barrier Reef. We design water monitoring programs to answer landholders’ questions about water quality. The data is shared with participating landholders and industry bodies. It has led to changes in the way farmers use pesticides and fertiliser, and manage ground cover. Having more knowledge and understanding = good decision making.

Why Corduroy Creek?

Cane growers in this area asked for data. So this creek has been monitored for more than six years now, initially through a project run by Sugar Research Australia and then through two Terrain NRM projects. We chose the same monitoring sites so we can look at trends over time. With long-term datasets, we can track changes in water quality following changes to land management practices. This helps us all to see the effects of different practices and the way changes can make a positive difference to water quality.

How do high-frequency water monitoring stations work?

These stations fill in the gaps between monthly water sampling results. Every half hour, a nitrate sensor takes a measurement. By measuring stream flow as well, we can see changes in nitrate concentrations and we can also calculate the nitrate load moving down the creek (in kilograms) during a single rain event, during the first big flush of the wet season or for an entire year. The new station at Corduroy Creek also has a rain gauge, to help us relate the stream flows and nitrate concentrations to rainfalls, given how localised rain can be.

The bank of the Daintree River has been restored near the ferry crossing – where flooding rain after Cyclone Jasper washed away land and part of a road.

Terrain NRM partnered with the Douglas Shire Council, Jabalbina Rangers and Neilly Group to rebuild 100 metres of riverbank upstream from the ferry crossing recently, and to begin revegetation work including mangrove restoration.

The work is designed to stop an estimated 1,200 tonnes of fine sediment a year from washing down the river and out to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.

Landholder Colin McDowall says it has been welcomed.

“It was the highest flood we’ve ever seen here, and it did some damage. There had already been erosion in this area over the years with the way the current runs to the side and hits the bank in floods.

Restoration a combination of rocks and mangroves 

“We’re hoping the rocks and mangroves will help to hold the bank together better and save it from this happening again.”

Terrain NRM’s Zack Severino said revegetation is the long-term solution, after a combination of rock and earthworks.

“We were dealing with a sheer drop. With every storm, more soil was getting washed away. Now we have a reinforced riverbank. And the upland area has been planted out with native, fast-growing trees to get a good root system embedded. Mangroves have been planted on the benched areas to catch sediment and more seedlings, so that’ll also help to secure the riverbank, and also filter the water.

Tree rootballs for fish habitat

“Tree rootballs are part of the design, to create fish habitat. Natural processes will build up over time.”

Jabalbina Ranger Manager Rick Burchill said over 100 native trees from Jabalbina and Douglas Shire Council nurseries had been planted at the site.

More than 140 people have been part of community workshops focused on the next 10 years of investment in water quality improvements for the Wet Tropics region’s nine river catchments.

From Cardwell to the Tablelands and Cairns, workshops have brought together landholders, industries, traditional owners, river catchment groups and local government. Workshops are also happening further north, in Mossman and the Daintree region, in coming months.

New strategy to guide investment in water quality programs

Terrain NRM’s Charles Hammond said the sessions would help to guide strategic investment in land-based water quality programs over the next decade. Terrain is being funded through the Australian Government’s Reef Trust program to lead the development of catchment priorities.

Identifying regional priorities

“In the workshops, we’ve been identifying regional priorities,’’ Charles said. “We’ve also been looking for opportunities that’ll maximise investment by delivering multiple benefits to the environment and local communities.

“The response has been great. People are telling us how useful it is to talk with other industries and groups, and to share information about a wide range of past, current and future projects and resources.

“They’re seeing just how many organisations are working towards improvements for river catchments and water quality, and the value of working together.”

He said a huge amount of effort and investment had already gone into improving reef water quality over the last 15 years, and good progress had been made.

“There has been significant work with landholders on farm management practice changes to improve everything from the land and production to the quality of water leaving properties.

A water monitoring program at wetlands on farms is helping scientists and landholders to learn more about how wetlands work as treatment systems for nutrient and sediment runoff.

Water samples have been collected from two constructed wetlands in the Innisfail and Tully region of Far North Queensland over the past five years, both on a regular basis and during large rainfall events.

Terrain NRM’s project officer Maria Ribbeck said the data was providing valuable insights into the way wetlands function and their extensive capacity to filter pollutants and improve water quality.

Learning the best wetland conditions for nitrogen removal

“It is also helping us to learn the best conditions for wetlands to optimise removal of nitrogen from the water cycle,’’ she said.

“One of the two constructed wetlands is on eight hectares of low-lying land on a farm managed by Tully Sugar Limited. The data has shown us it’s a high-performing site, with capacity to remove an over 1000 kg of nitrogen a year from the water passing through the wetland.”

Greg Shannon, Cane Productivity and Development Manager at Tully Sugar Limited, said the project was raising awareness of wetlands and their usefulness in the farming landscape.

“The last year’s findings were recently presented to us,’’ he said. “This project has helped us understand how wetlands work and how we can optimise their ability to treat water. The longer this wetland is monitored, the more data we can get, and this will make the findings more and more useful for our decision-making in terms of wetland maintenance and management as time goes by.

“It probably should be noted that not everyone can have a wetland like this on their farm, but we had a piece of cattle grazing land with a natural depression in it already, so it was possible to develop it into a wetland with help from Terrain NRM and the Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project.”

Monitoring at two constructed wetlands

The two constructed wetlands have been monitored for the last year through the Tully Johnstone Wetlands Monitoring Project, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.  Terrain NRM has worked with James Cook University, Griffith University and the Queensland Government’s departments of Environment and Science and Agriculture and Fisheries on the project.

Flood-damaged riverbank upstream from the Daintree River ferry crossing will be repaired and nearby wetlands restored in a new $1.98 million project.

Terrain NRM has received funding from the Australian Government through its Reef Coastal Restoration Program to rehabilitate areas close to the ferry crossing in the Lower Daintree wetlands precinct, working with Douglas Shire Council, landholders and Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.

Repairing flood-damged riverbank

“We’ll be repairing around 100 metres of eroding riverbank and restoring mangrove habitat,” Terrain NRM’s Charles Hammond said. “The erosion here, on the Daintree River, has been steadily getting worse, especially with floods like the one after Cyclone Jasper.

“Remediation work will include a mix of hard and soft engineering, and replanting mangroves and other vegetation.

“Within the Lower Daintree area, we will also be working with landholders and traditional owners to improve the condition of nearby wetlands. This is an important wetland area for the health of the Daintree River because it’s a settling area for sediment, nutrients and other loads in runoff. It’s also a fish nursery and home to more than 70 species of birds as well as flying foxes, estuarine crocodiles and other animals.”

Improving wetland connectivity

The project aims to improve wetland connectivity and the coastal ecosystem including the fish nursery habitat.

Microplastics are now being monitored on beaches and in rivers and creeks in the Innisfail region as part of a larger project focused on improving the health of waterways.

Mamu Indigenous Rangers will be testing for microplastics at a number of sites, sharing their results with a national program and, where they can, looking for solutions to reduce plastic pollution.

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are plastics that have broken up into very small particles in the environment, as well as plastic products like microbeads which are used in a range of cleaning, cosmetic and personal care items, or microfibres shed from clothing and other textiles like fishing nets.

Mamu Senior Ranger Francis Joyce said plastic pollution was one of the issues listed by traditional owners at community meetings last year when planning began for the waterway health project, which is being delivered in partnership with Terrain NRM.

Rangers have recently received training from AUSMAP, the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project team which records data collected by a network of researchers and citizen scientists to create a map of microplastic pollution hotspots around Australia. The information is helping to regulate industries and enabling communities and governments to develop better waste management systems.

“We’ll be setting up sampling areas, sieving sand, counting and categorising plastics,’’ Francis said.

Tracking plastics to their source

“Hopefully, further down the track, this data can tell a story. There’s also potential to track plastics to their source if a lot of the same kind of microplastics are detected.”

The Mamu Healthy Waterways Project includes monthly water sampling across the Johnstone River catchment, testing for nutrients, pesticides and suspended solids.

A century-old cattle station is getting a revamp. Minnamoolka Station, at the headwaters of the Herbert and Burdekin rivers, is undergoing changes to improve cattle production, the land, and the water flowing to the Great Barrier Reef.

Landholders Margie Atkinson and Greg Jenkins say it is never too late for fresh ideas. They are 60 kilometres into a 70km fencing project that will make 62 paddocks out of the property’s existing 28 paddocks for a switch from set stocking to rotational grazing in smaller paddocks for shorter, more intense periods.

They are also in the midst of adding extra water points for cattle.

“We’re always interested in new ideas and better ways to manage the land and improve feed quality for our livestock,’’ Margie Atkinson said.

“Next year this land will have been in our family for 120 years and traditionally our family has always endeavoured to practice sustainable land management with set stocking.

“We are excited by the possibilities that we perceive as being offered by the Grazing Naturally method.”

Better ground cover and pastures

She and Greg are working with natural resource management organisations Terrain NRM and NQ Dry Tropics on projects that they hope will lead to better ground cover and pastures across about 29,000 hectares of land. They currently graze around 4000 head of beef cattle.

Margie said a free workshop with Grazing Naturally’s Dick Richardson, through Terrain NRM’s Upper Herbert Sediment Reduction Project, had been a catalyst for change. Dick has since spent time with them, again as part of the project, to assess grass condition and work on a solid plan for their property’s dry season, including forage budgeting and determining stocking rates.

Smaller paddocks and shorter more intense grazing periods

Creating smaller paddocks for rotational grazing will mean the cattle have shorter, more intense grazing periods in paddocks and the paddocks have variable rest periods – with the long-term aim of creating better ground cover and more diverse and nutritious pastures.

Margie says it will also help with other things: “As well as improved forage for cattle we are hoping to reduce the annual fuel load. Left to free-range, during the growing season the cattle generally concentrate on small areas and when the dry season comes fire can be a big issue in the areas that haven’t been grazed”.

She said the biggest challenge of the project is provision of adequate stock watering points. By the end of 2023 they will have installed 17 new waters, and they will increase this number as they can afford to.

“Grazing cattle in a large mob through smaller paddocks means there is a much higher daily demand on water points, so with help from NQ Dry Tropics we have put in a new bore and by the end of this year with assistance from Terrain NRM we will have installed another, to be able to pipe water to additional troughs.