When Maureen and her husband first moved onto their property in Coolabine on the Sunshine Coast over 30 years ago, the drainage line on their property was no more than a grassy depression in an active grazing paddock. Fast forward to 2024 and now the drainage line is a forested riparian zone, with a creek system of flowing water, secondary recruitment of native trees and an abundance of habitat for local fauna. The creek line helps to provide a vital riparian linkage across mostly cleared agricultural land in the valley bottoms of the upper Mary River Catchment.
The story of how Maureen transformed the landscape on their property offers many lessons in planning, outreach and perseverance that other landholders in a similar situation can learn and take inspiration from.
The revegetation areas have been planted in stages beginning more than 15 years ago. With each stage, fences were erected to exclude stock from the newly planted riparian zone. While this level of planning may seem daunting to a landholder just beginning their revegetation journey, Maureen humbly insists that at the beginning “we just started somewhere, and it evolved from there.”
Along the way they overcame many difficulties, including drought, flooding, meeting the demands of revegetation maintenance and cattle that insisted on ignoring the presence of newly erected fences.
To tackle these challenges, Maureen actively sought assistance from local government and non-governmental organisations, including the Sunshine Coast Council Land for Wildlife program and her local catchment group, the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC). Both organisations have helped with planning, species selection and execution of the planting projects.
Maureen has also applied for and received funding from the Sunshine Coast Council Landholder Environment Grants for nine successive years and will continue to apply for the foreseeable future.
Last year, Maureen was gracious enough to host a field day on her property with other Land for Wildlife members, giving valuable insight into both the logistics of fencing and revegetation. In addition to the technical insights, the opportunity to see what has been accomplished served as motivation for landholders unsure about the prospect of large-scale planting.
When asked to give one piece of advice for landholders wishing to embark on a similar journey, her response was simple, “Start somewhere and don’t give up.”
Article by Chad Oliver
Land for Wildlife Officer
Sunshine Coast Council