Wilsons River Landcare

15/05/2026

🌱 We can’t wait to see you at Simes Bridge Community Tree planting today/Saturday from 10am.

💦 it’s an ideal tree planting day 🌱 wet and fertile ground and the holes are all dug ready for you

🤗 Bring by along your smiles and a camp chair for morning tea ☕️

See you soon Carers!

11/05/2026

🌱Come plant with us on the river in Lismore, this place has needed some river love for so long!!

💧 Follow signage, park on Winterton Pde. Please wear gloves, boots, hat, long sleeves and pants, sun & insect protection and BYO water bottle.
🌿 Sunscreen and insect repellent, tools and light refreshments provided
🌱 All welcome – no experience needed!

Join Wilsons River Landcare Group, Lismore City Council and Rainforest to River project partners as we come together for a community tree planting day!
Bring the kids and be part of regenerating Lismore’s endangered rainforests. With the support of experienced bush regenerators and ever-caring Landcare volunteers, we’ll be planting >500 native rainforest plants on the bank of the Wilsons River. Holes will be dug, trees and mulch placed out ready- all you need to do is plant! Your hands-on support will help restore critical floodplain and riparian habitat, improve biodiversity, protect the river, and build a greener, more flood-resilient city- right way, river way.
Please arrive for a Welcome To Country at 10am, and sign on at arrival.

This site is located on Widjabal Wia-bal Country.

This site is not readily wheelchair accessible, and includes some walking over uneven ground. The nearest public toilets are located at Browns Creek/Clyde Campbell Carpark, Zadoc St or McKenzie Park, Pitt St North Lismore.

The event will be postponed in the case of wet weather.

26/03/2026

Magic on the riverbank this afternoon 🌱🌱🌱 Lismore City Council

19/03/2026

We love working with this incredible human on the riverbanks of our beautiful Lismore 🫶🏾

This series of women working in Lismore City Council came about because I was hired to photograph and interview 18 women in Council who work behind the scenes to capture their stories for International Women’s Day. Thankfully all the girls allowed me to share their full stories with you on HOL.

HANNAH RICE-HAYES -
“I grew up between Newtown and the far south coast of NSW. My family had a bit of bush down south so we had this privileged upbringing having the best of both worlds.

My parents were environmentalists at heart though their professions differed slightly but it was there that I got the bug to do environmental work. I came up here for Uni in 2006 and did my Science degree. I chose this degree because I had a penchant for the National Parks uniform, I don’t care if I have to pick up rubbish on the roadside if I can wear that uniform with the little bird on the shoulder (laughs). It was the Bachelor of Applied Science and I did a double major in Natural and Coastal Resource Management. I loved it! I threaded it out and did all sorts of degree units from the Indigenous College. I loved being a student.

I had intended to go back to Sydney but I fell well and truly down the rabbit hole. I came into theTropical Fruits community and found my tribe. All these things kept popping up and I kept saying yes, so I haven’t left since. One of the features of all my working life has been volunteerism. I reckon every meaningful job I’ve ever had, I volunteered in first. It’s so important, the reward that you get in giving without the expectation of return is so good for the soul. I started volunteering for National Parks while I was at uni and yes I got to wear the uniform. Out of the volunteering I got a job for a short time guiding bush walks.

I finished my degree and was finding it hard to get my foot in the door so I did a Tafe course in bush regeneration and the whole class was full of National Parks staff. Bush regen is hard yakka but it teaches you so much about how nature works. I did that for a few years and met amazing people. I also did a bit of flat water kayak guiding on the side. That led me into Landcare where I worked for ten years in Lismore and Ballina shires. The projects that get delivered on an absolute shoestring budget are incredible. I was working in Landcare and doing work for Tropical Fruits as well so I had this kind of dual life of nature conservation and Gay dance parties. Landcare and Fruits taught me a lot about community organising and supporting one another and how to make things happen at a very local level in a way that’s responsive to the needs of the local community.

At the time of working with Landcare, Lismore Council was contracting the local Landcare network to support Landcare coordination. A job came up in the team that I had been working alongside, so I jumped ship. I thought watching Council do it’s thing that I could go in there and shake that up a bit, so I jumped over and got shook up a bit (laughs). I’ve been here for four years now. We’ve just undergone a merger and are now part of the Strategic Services team so we look after the implementation of the biodiversity management strategy which in Lismore is an absolute powerhouse of a program. So the team delivers a whole range of actions underneath that strategy.

My role is Environmental Strategies Officer (Natural Resource Management) so at the moment I’ve been looking after the Landcare groups which has been the greatest joy. The work that these groups achieve through volunteerism is astronomical. Lismore has a long history of it. The Wilsons River Landcare have been working over 30 years planting the river banks. Working in the subtropics, the w**ds are always winning, we are never going to have enough money. Council has a staggering amount of bushland in our urban area.

At the moment the main flagship program that I’m involved in is this beautiful passion mash of a project called Rainforest to Rivers, restoring Lismore’s river banks for a Federal Government project. We were successful in getting a grant of two million dollars from the Federal Government which I’m really proud of. We are all really well connected and capable organisations and individuals doing the work. We wouldn’t be able to do it all without the collaborators and partners who have all pledged in kind as well.When I look back at the jobs I have done there’s always been women around me to offer support, to offer learning or to give me a push. Every job there’s been a wonderful woman to help me out. I’ve tried to do the same for other people wherever I can. I can’t offer enough gratitude for the privilege of that.”

28/02/2026

A wander around Claude Riley Reserve picking finger limes, admiring the incredible work of bush regenerator Alex Stephens and planning the next phase of works as part of the Rainforest to Rivers project. So exciting!

17/02/2026

We can make it happen! Let's make the rail trail more than just a track to ride your bike. It can be a wildlife corridor and a beautiful native landscape as well lining the trail with shade. Over 2000 trees, shrubs and native grasses have already been planted along the Naughtons Gap section of the trail. Come join Naughtons Gap Landcare volunteers this Saturday morning for a few hours of easy maintenance to ensure these plants get the best chance to take hold. Many hands make light work. BYO gloves for hand w**ding around the plants. 8:30 am to Noon.
Northern Rivers Rail Trail
Northern Rivers Cycling Club
Friends of Rail Trails in Australia
Rail Trails Australia
Northern Rivers Rail Trail Supporters
North Coast Regional Landcare Network
Landcare NSW
Friends of the Koala Inc.
Richmond Valley Council

14/02/2026

When we care for the river,
we care for ourselves.

Be a Riverkeeper this Valentine’s Day. 💙

Treat yourself and listen to our ‘WE ARE THE RIVERKEEPERS’ - podcast link in comments 👇🏽

25/11/2025

🎉Join with the River Crystals Project and work alongside farmers to improve river health.

Casino Food Company has an open invitation to join a community planting event at Eden Creek on Friday the 12th of December.

The restoration project at Eden Creek is important for repairing fish habitat in the upper Richmond Catchment. 25,000 trees are already in the ground, with an overall 100,000 trees target!🌳

A free sausage sizzle lunch will be provided for all participants. 😊

RSVP [email protected]

17/11/2025

18/10/2025

We met where the rivers meet at Coraki, for morning tea, photo portraits, river landscapes. Some of us got wet!