Mary River Recovery Project Celebrates Four Years of Success

On Friday, September 6, landholders, community groups, and government gathered in Kenilworth on the banks of the Mary River to celebrate a successful four-year initiative led by a consortium of organisations, including the Burnett Mary Regional Group (BMRG), the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC), and specialists in fluvial geomorphology, Alluvium Consulting. The Mary River Recovery Project, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF), has run from July 2020 to June 2024.

The primary objective of the Mary River Recovery Project was to substantially decrease the fine sediment loads flowing from the Mary River into the Great Barrier Reef by implementing significant erosion control measures on unstable banks. The 11 landholders involved represent key custodians of change in the Mary Valley. The project successfully achieved sediment reduction by stabilising steep, eroded banks, installing pile fields, planting vegetation, and installing fencing.

The stakeholder day was about thanking the landholders and local contractors involved in the riverine restoration works on these 11 properties on the Mary River from Conondale to Tiaro.

Attendees shared a BBQ lunch and were guided by MRCCC, Alluvium, and SEQ Water through Charles St Park in Kenilworth, showcasing how a previously restored site evolves over time. As part of the celebration, landholders received a gift—a book designed to help them share how their legacy of change will positively impact both the local landscape and the Great Barrier Reef, now and into the future. The sites funded by this project will receive an extra year of on-ground maintenance to support the establishment of revegetation, funded by the GBRF and Reef Trust Partnership.

“River Guardians - Mary River Recovery" was the book gifted to landholders and includes stunning photos taken by Sam Thies.