The Project

Title: Proserpine Integrated Project (PIP)
Duration: 2024 – 2027
Funding: The Proserpine Integrated Project delivered by Reef Catchments is part of the $5.5 million Reef Place-Based Integrated Projects initiative funded through the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program.

Summary:
A Whole-of-Catchment Approach to Reef Resilience: Helping Growers Thrive While Protecting Our Waterways
The Proserpine Integrated Project (PIP) is a three-year initiative under the Queensland Government’s Queensland Reef Water Quality Program, designed to reduce pollutants flowing to the Great Barrier Reef.

PIP brings together seven innovative projects that are working collaboratively to develop long-term solutions tailored to the unique conditions of the Proserpine Catchment.

Using a whole of catchment approach, PIP brings together innovative and practical approaches from circular economy principles and AI driven technologies, to community-led practice change programs to tackle water quality challenges.

Through partnerships with landholders, industry, local communities and research organisations, the project is developing strategies that protect the environment while supporting regional sustainability and local economies.

Objectives:

• Improve water quality in Proserpine Catchment by targeting key pollutants such as dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and pesticides flowing to the Great Barrier Reef
• Support farmers and landholders to build on existing sustainable practices that balance environmental, social and economic outcomes.
• Foster innovation through the use of AI technologies and on-farm treatment systems in sustainable farming
• Promote circular economy principles to understand how materials flow, keep resource in use and reduce waste
• Strengthen community involvement and collaboration, using a values-based framework in managing catchment health.
• Create new opportunities for investment in natural capital and environmental markets

Our Strategy

PIP brings together a suite of coordinated activities across the catchment to address multiple challenges simultaneously. The project is made up of seven interconnected sub-projects, each targeting a different aspect of water quality improvement and catchment health.

1. Harnessing water quality improvement through circular economy approaches led by the aquaculture industry
2. Proserpine Catchment Sustainability Plan – using a whole-of-system, values-based framework
3. Catchment Treatment Systems
4. Reducing pesticide use using AI
5. Supporting practice change to reduce water quality risk
6. Circulatory Material Flows Analysis
7. Supporting Investment In Natural Capital

Why This Work Matters

The Proserpine Catchment is a key ecological corridor connected to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Its wetlands, estuaries, and streams support a rich array of marine, freshwater, and land-based species. Estuarine areas including mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrass beds provide essential habitat for fish, turtles, mammals, and commercially important marine life.

With its mix of grazing, sugarcane farming, and natural areas, the Proserpine Catchment has been identified as a high priority for water quality improvement. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and pesticides remain key concerns, with significant reductions needed to improve water quality and protect our local waterways and the Great Barrier Reef.

Protecting these ecosystems nurtures biodiversity and supports industries and communities that depend on a healthy environment and a healthy Reef.

By working collaboratively and using innovative solutions, PIP is helping to protect not only the Reef but also the communities and industries that depend on healthy land and water.

Get Involved

We’re inviting sugarcane growers in the Proserpine catchment to be part of a new program focused on improving chemical management practices. By working with experienced agronomic advisors, growers will have support to identify productivity constraints and develop practical management plans tailored to their farms.

The program also offers spray rig assessments to improve pesticide application and small financial incentives for equipment upgrades that support better chemical management.

The goal is to help maintain strong yields and profitability while reducing the risk of pesticide runoff and improving water quality flowing into local creeks, waterways, and the Great Barrier Reef.