Projects

Be involved and help to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Reef Trust IV (RT4) aims to reduce fine sediment which enters the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon by developing long term affordable methods for landholders to improve water quality and reduce sub surface erosion from gullies and stream banks.

The Mackay Whitsunday Water Quality Program (MWWQP) is part of the larger Reef Trust Partnership Water Quality Program involving the Australian Government and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Funding of $22.7 million has been allocated under the Reef Trust Partnership for this four-year program.

The Whitsunday Water Quality Monitoring Blueprint for Tourism Operators project aims to increase understanding of water quality and reef health in the Whitsundays.

Sandy Creek is a very high risk area for pesticides, improvement in water quality depends upon growers improving their land management practices.

Reef Catchments has been awarded funding through the Australian Government Reef Trust IV – Gully and Stream Bank Erosion Control Program to undertake erosion management works within five high priority sub-catchments.

The Tackle Bin Project is an initiative to prevent plastics and other litter, particularly recreational fishing rubbish, from entering the marine environment.  Reef Catchments has brought this project to Mackay, and there are Tackle Bins throughout Queensland.

Every year, volunteers come together to collect citizen science data about five seagrass sites across our region. Reef Catchments is looking to support a volunteer group in Mackay/Isaac to monitor southern sites.

Informal access to beaches, dunes, and coastal wetlands and waterways by vehicles and pedestrians can lead to the destruction of native vegetation, reduce vegetative cover, and increase the potential for erosion or compaction and weed invasion. Traffic can also displace wildlife or destroy their habitats.

A total of 91,000 indigenous species were planted across the urban coastal landscape of the Mackay Whitsunday Isaac region between 2013 and 2016.

The Mackay Whitsunday Isaac (MWI) urban system repair program began July 2013 as a means to identify, prioritise, and implement management actions to improve urban water quality and protect and enhance native vegetation and biodiversity across waterways, wetlands (constructed and natural), estuarine and coastal environment with the MWI.

Identifying and prioritising anthropogenic barriers that prevent, delay or obstruct fish migration in the Greater Brisbane Urban Area. The Greater Brisbane Urban Fish Barrier Prioritisation Process was created as part of a larger federally funded fish migration project: Re-connecting aquatic habitats across the greater Brisbane Urban Area.

Diadromous fish in Mackay and Whitsundays face serious transit challenges.

The Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator (RALF) programme is made up of a national network which involves facilitators in each of Australia’s 56 natural resource management regions. They work to support Landcare and production groups to adopt sustainable farm and land management practices, and to protect Australia’s landscape.

The Game Changer and Project Catalyst sugar innovation programs involve around 140 sugarcane farmers from Australia’s most productive sugar growing regions. The Game Changer program is a part of the Australian Government Reef Programme and facilitates on-farm demonstrations and trials of practices with the potential to cut pollutant loads to the Great Barrier Reef.

Reef Catchments is working with community and industry to promote sustainable forestry in the Mackay Whitsunday Isaac region.

Australia’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy identifies changing fire regimes as one of six key threats to Australia’s biodiversity.

The Paddock to Reef integrated monitoring, modelling and reporting programme is a collaboration involving governments, industry bodies, regional natural resource management groups, landholders, and research organisations.

Reef Catchments works with community and industry to promote sustainable horticulture practices in the Mackay Whitsunday Isaac region.

The primary focus of the programme is to assist graziers in the implementation of grazing practices that benefit both the landscape and improves the long-term viability of the grazier’s farm as a more efficient agricultural operation.