Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee

03/09/2026

Celebrating our Spring in the Mary Photo Competition 2025 winners is the fabulous "Milky Way through a Spring Storm", by Nicole Gordon.
Nicole won Highly Commended in the Overall section.
Thanks to Barung Landcare and Kenilworth Rural Supplies for sponsoring this section of the competition.

Are you a keen photographer?
The competition opens on Sept 27 celebrating World Rivers Day - with prizes to be won across multiple sections - Rivers and Creeks, Coastal and Estuary, Wildlife, Rural, Junior and a special People's Choice category.

03/09/2026

Did you know SEPTEMBER is ?
Sept 7 marks to commemorate the death in captivity of the last Tasmanian Tiger.

However when you live in the Mary River Catchment - Every day is THREATENED SPECIES DAY.
The MRCCC works year-round to protect the unique and endangered wildlife of the Mary River catchment.
- Mary River cod (endangered)
- Mary River turtle (recently upgraded to critically endangered)
- White-throated snapping turtle (critically endangered)
- Queensland lungfish (vulnerable to extinction)

For over 30 years, the MRCCC has partnered with riparian land managers to restore and protect the habitats of not only the cod, turtles, and lungfish, but also rare and threatened frog species including the Cascade treefrog, Giant barred frog, and Tusked frog.
Projects aim to improve biodiversity for the rarely sighted Pink Underwing moth, the near threatened platypus, and the even lesser known Conondale spiny crayfish.
More than 3,000 landowners have participated in riverbank rehabilitation activities, which improve water quality by reducing erosion and decreasing the amount of sediment flowing to the Mary River estuary near Hervey Bay and to the southern Great Barrier Reef, home to the dugong and the migratory Eastern curlew.
The MRCCC has established several Community Waterwatch networks, with over 100 volunteers monitoring water quality at 110 sites across the catchment each month.
MRCCC’s on-ground work primarily focuses on rehabilitating riparian areas and instream habitat, we also undertake and support work that restores and augments habitat for terrestrial species including koalas, now listed as endangered throughout Queensland, primarily due to loss of habitat.
Throughout a catchment covering nearly 10,000 km2, we’d like to think that widespread community interest in threatened species may just provide the impetus needed to change the status of many of these species from endangered to commonplace.

To support this important work you can make a tax deductible Donation to MRCCC at https://mrccc.org.au/donate/

27/08/2026

We are sure that everyone agrees that every view of a Platypus is a thrill. It doesn't seem to matter how times we see them, they are just delightful and mesmerising. August is PLATYPUS MONTH and we are also delighted with our WaterWatch volunteers who take monthly trips to their local waterway to do water quality testing and sit for a bit to observe what's going on. We've collated their Platypus records as well as those from landholders and staff and are, again, delighted with the spread of sightings across most of the Mary River catchment (see the map). We welcome your sightings wherever you are throughout the Mary River catchment and will make sure the data is secured away in the Qld Government's WildNet database. Give a Platypus a gift of your time; they need our attention! (Video by K. Sanderson, MRCCC - out on the Mary at Kenilworth recently)

27/08/2026

💯Fire Ant Eradication in South East Queensland is working!
Now only 208,000 hectares is currently under the fire ant eradication program which is the result of years of hard work to reduce the infestations in south east Queensland, proper funding and good strategy by the Invasive Species Council

This means the Mary River catchment is less at risk of being infested by Fire Ants, something the MRCCC is keen to prevent from happening, and is appreciative of all the hard work by many organisations to achieve this milestone.

This milestone means eradication efforts are moving into the heart of the infestation - Scenic Rim, Logan, Ipswich, Somerset and Lockyer Valley and that measures have been successful.
It is vital the Australian Government provide long-term funding to finish the job.
Please advocate to Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers MP and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher to continue this really important work.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reece-pianta-5296622a2_208000-hectares-thats-the-area-now-moving-ugcPost-7488100032408203265-xHop?utm_medium=ios_app&rcm=ACoAAGj8Q5ABU6PcOj6VCfQl-NYtDQ_J2B2caig&utm_source=social_share_send&utm_campaign=messages&fbclid=IwY2xjawT9pVZwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7Ye5Jp4jdFLsj4iu9r6u-9mon9GwRBy0yHMHXJzeFLivA0ERe9crw12rhndg_aem_elo68qyoVV6NU_ouXjMZow

208,000 hectares - that's the area now moving into fire ant eradication. It’s the clearest sign yet that the strategy is working. It's the result of years of hard work, proper funding and good strategy. This milestone means eradication efforts are moving into the heart of the infestation - Scenic ...

26/08/2026

💯There are some terrific articles in the latest CODLINE - the MRCCC's annual publication. Pick one up from the office, or read it here online.

Check out 'Introduction to Cool Burning - Fire risk management for landholders workshop' by Kym Burnell-Jones, Project Support, Upper Mary Rivercare.

The cool burn gods must have been shining down on us in May.
On an almost perfect late autumn day, the first fine day after a week of rain, an amazing collective of landholders, dedicated agency members, experienced practitioners, and Traditional Owners delivered a first for MRCCC – a workshop about fire.
This special, landholder-requested event was co-designed with landholders, key stakeholders, community leaders and Traditional Owners, and culminated in a practical cool burn demonstration at the end of the day.

Images: Michael Turner and Kabi Kabi Rangers keep an eye on the fire.
MRCCC Chair Ian Mackay opens the forum with Kabi Kabi Rangers
Thank you to for Country and the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation
For full article and to show your interest in cool burning go to:
�https://mrccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CODLINE_2026_final_lr.pdf

24/08/2026

🙌 The Reef Water Quality Report Card 2023-2025 was recently released. This report card is prepared jointly by the Queensland Government and Australian Government to capture the great work and progress landholders and catchment groups are making towards improving the condition of the Great Barrier Reef. The Mary River catchment is the southern most of the Great Barrier Reef catchments.

This report encompasses east coast catchments of Queensland from Cape York to the Mary River - measuring water quality and catchment management actions – and assessing these parameters against targets to improve overall reef health by 2050.

The Mary River catchment, its active community of concerned landholders and NRM groups are doing very well at reducing fine sediment, particulate nitrogen (PN) and particulate phosphorus (PP). The Mary catchment has met its interim 2025 targets by reducing by 20% the end-of-catchment PP loads in 2025. Which is tremendous work by the catchment community. However while our landholders of the catchment have been working away over the past 30 years on improving the condition and extent of the riparian vegetation along the Mary River and its tributaries there is still more work to do.

The MRCCC thanks all the landholders who engage in catchment repair, working together we can make significant improvements the Mary catchment.
Full report 👉 https://impact.ncsuite.au/impact/Reef-Report-Card/view/BM-Mary/All-indicators

23/08/2026

🙌Have you read the latest CODLINE?
It's MRCCC's annual publication with project updates like Sediments of Success, Inside the Mary River Integrated Project by MRIP Program Manager Tom Brook.
Nestled in the southernmost reaches of the Great Barrier Reef catchment, a quiet revolution is taking place along the banks of the Mary River. Through the multifaceted Mary River Integrated Project (MRIP), a diverse coalition is proving that healthy farming and a thriving reef aren’t just compatible, they are inseparable.
For full story:
�https://mrccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CODLINE_2026_final_lr.pdf


The Mary River Integrated Project delivered by the MRCCC, is part of the Reef Place-Based Integrated Projects initiative funded through the Queensland Government 's Queensland Reef Water Quality Program.

21/08/2026

The annual John Sinclair Memorial Lecture "The Legacy - The Future" is on this Sunday Aug 23 with Senator Murray Watt and youth activist Spencer Hitchen from Save Sunrise Glossies.
Don't miss this one and thank you to Fraser Island Defenders Organisation - FIDO the watchdog of K'gari that aims to ensure the wisest use of its natural resources.

Educational lecture to commemorate the life and achievements of John Sinclair OAM founder of the environmental organizatio FIDO

18/08/2026

Thank you to Gympie Regional Council for raising awareness about fishing closure to protect the vulnerable Mary River cod

Mary River Fishing Closure 🚫🎣

To protect the endangered Mary River Cod, fishing in the Mary River and its adjoining waterways (upstream of its junction with Six Mile Creek at the creek's northern bank) is prohibited between 1 August and 31 October.

This is to support this vulnerable species through its breeding season.

Fishing is still allowed within Borumba Dam, Baroon Pocket Dam, and Lake MacDonald during this period.

Learn more: https://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/closures/fresh/waters

18/08/2026

IT'S BUG CLUB!!
👉This event is open to everyone! Pack up the kids and bring a hat, water bottle and sturdy shoes - this Saturday August 22 at Coondoo Creek – Tin Can Bay Road.
Bug club will be undertaking an aquatic macro-invertebrate survey as part of National Science Week 2026.
Join Shona Sengstock, Waterwatch Coordinator from MRCCC from 9am – 12pm to learn more about our waterways and the creepy crawlies that live in them and how these creatures are great indicators to water health.