Burdekin Dry Tropics Region Natural Resource Management NRM Plan Status Report 2022 | Page 3

Repairing gullies to save sediment
Citizen science for the reef

1

cultural burning project

Repairing gullies to save sediment

Poor water quality , caused by fine sediment and nutrients entering the Great Barrier Reef lagoon , has been shown to be the greatest threat to the reef after climate change . The Burdekin River is responsible for delivering the highest volume of fine sediment of any river into the reef .
Greening Australia worked with a range of partners to remediate ten alluvial gullies on Kirknie Station , situated on Birriah Country , on the banks of the Bogie and Burdekin rivers . This prevented 2078 tonnes of fine sediment from reaching the reef annually .

Working together

More than

80

organisations and government departments across 12 sectors involved
More than

6500

tonnes of sediment saved from reaching the reef

Citizen science for the reef

Since 2003 , Reef Check Australia volunteers have been collecting reef health data as a part of a longterm monitoring program within the Townsville region . Inshore reefs are extremely important as a refuge and nursery for a variety of invertebrate and fish species .
Magnetic Island inshore reefs are resilient , despite being impacted directly from activities occurring on land . Around Magnetic Island alone , volunteers have donated 4608 hours and collected 23,040 pieces of substrate data , along with data on invertebrates , impacts and fish .

44

Reef Guardian schools

More than 335,000ha

of weed control undertaken by councils

3:1

the ratio of woody vegetation cleared to that regrown

More than 734,000ha

of feral animal control undertaken by councils

56 %

of grazing land with adequate ground cover

Caring for our wildlife

North Queensland Wildlife Care rescues sick , injured and orphaned wildlife and rehabilitates them for release .
A network of volunteers extending from Ingham to the Burdekin and Mount Isa , cares for 2 - 3000 animals annually .
Approximately 50 per cent are successfully rehabilitated . The group ’ s 24-hour hotline receives around 6000 calls per year .
More than

2500

NRM volunteers in 2022

Each organisation relies on an average of 10

partnerships across areas including industry , research , conservation and government