From coastal horizons to rural plains, Healthy Land and Water delivers a range of services, initiatives and projects that support South East Queensland’s vast and unique environment.
Check out where we work!
Backyard
At Healthy Land and Water, we believe everyone can contribute to improving and protecting South East Queensland’s natural environment, and it’s as simple as starting in your own backyard.
To assist you fulfilling your environmental good deeds and help increase community participation, we have developed a range of fact sheets that can be found on our resources page.
The Land for Wildlife initiative has been designed to support and inspire landholders to undertake conservation work on their properties. This includes removing weeds, encouraging natural regeneration of native plants, protecting threatened species and controlling pest animals.
Over 4,000 landowners have now registered for the Land for Wildlife program, helping to preserve our natural assets.
Farm
For over a century, millions of hectares of woodland and trees have been cleared from South East Queensland’s agricultural landscape to make way for cropping and grazing livestock.
In an effort to promote environmental and economic sustainability, Healthy Land and Water strive to support the region’s landcare community through our Regional Landcare Facilitator initiative and Grazing Best Management Program.
Through the combination of our project and skill-based training 64% of riverbanks have been revegetated in western catchments. Riverbank restoration of 10km of Laidley Creek farmland is protecting important agricultural land while also guarding the water supply of Ipswich and Brisbane.
Bush
Healthy Land and Water supports the protection of the bush by implementing community partnerships driving to protect vulnerable species, habitat mapping and assessment programs and fire ecology research and fire management activities.
Waterways
Water is finite and the lifeblood of all living things. Yet as we know, our waterways and bay areas face devastating threats jeopardising the health of marine animals and habitats.
To fight off threats such as pollution, litter and soil erosion, Healthy Land and Water design effective wastewater and stormwater management plans that aid in restoring riverbanks and creating healthy ecosystems.
Our annual Clean Up Program collects over 250,000 pieces of litter every year.
In 2016, flood resilience solutions were applied to more than 63 kilometres of stream bank!
The ongoing Healthy Catchments program has achieved a massive reduction in sediment loss from treated catchment areas and innovative solutions to reduce grazing pressures has significantly improved ground cover.
Coastal
South East Queensland is home to some of the world’s most pristine beaches and precious saltmarsh environments.
To help protect these threatened ecosystems, we design and deliver one of Australia’s most comprehensive freshwater, estuarine and marine monitoring programs with results suggesting seagrass is growing at greater depths due to improved water quality.
In fact, 160km2 of seagrass meadows in Moreton Bay are currently stabilising the sea floor and providing food for dugongs, turtles and important fish habitats.
Parks
The population growth in South East Queensland’s metropolitan areas has been the driving force to enhance visual, social, cultural and ecological experiences in the urban environment.
Despite our growing region, only 31% of residents in the lower Brisbane catchment utilise their waterways on a weekly basis for leisure activities. At Healthy Land and Water, our mission is to establish an emotional connection between South East Queensland’s urban communities and their local waterways.
Since 2005, our Water by Design (WbD) initiative has been creating urban spaces that protect environmental values while providing quality recreation and social opportunities.
The Davidson St Creek Restoration Project is a testament to how the team fill knowledge gaps and implement WbD elements to improve sustainable water management.
By facilitating information exchange, networking, and constructive debate, Healthy Land and Water members are motivated to deliver high quality urban environments.
Nature
Connection to nature is an important component of well-being. Healthy Land and Water reports suggest people in South East Queensland on average spend 64 days recreating and enjoying the outdoors each year, with mid-Brisbane residents displaying the highest personal connection with nature.
At Healthy Land and Water, we help protect our natural environment by delivering weed management programs and fire planning, and developing initiatives that target endangered ecological communities.
The world heritage listed Gondwana Rainforest protects 51,250 hectares of headwaters in the Albert and Coomera catchments, providing SEQ residents with space to reconnect with our natural environment.
Pressures
Climatic Events
Our planet’s climate is changing in response to its high natural variability and human activity – and South East Queensland’s natural environment is certainly vulnerable to these pressures.
While South East Queensland’s wetlands and grasslands are subject to the climatic pressures of flooding, long-term drought and fire outbreaks, our neighbouring oceans are being affected by rising sea levels that push coastal development further inland.
Land-use Change
Poor land management has impacted the region’s landscapes and waterways by contributing to erosion, destroying wildlife and habitat and removing native vegetation.
Statistics indicate 52% of land in South East Queensland is dedicated to agriculture and only 23% of land is protected under conservation Acts. Between 2011 and 2031, 40% of predicted urban development will take place outside the existing urban footprint.
Pollution
Litter ending up in our waterways is threatening the live of marine animals fighting against abandoned nets, fishing lines and plastics.
Nutrient pollution caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus is affecting water quality. These pollutants trigger fluctuations in pH levels and dissolved oxygen which stress and cull our sensitive marine wildlife and plants. They are found in industrial wastewater and urban stormwater, fertilisers, and from soil erosion.
Invasive Species
Foreign species threaten to permanently remove native plants and wildlife as well as cause harmful effects to ecological communities and ecosystems.
Exotic animals like foxes and the black rat have been the cause of extinction of many native animals, while exotic plants damage the quality of soil nutrients. Invasive species have decreased productivity of agriculture and impacted access to sacred sites of our Indigenous cultural heritage.
Population Growth
71% of Queensland’s population reside in South East Queensland and approximately 75,000 new residents are moving to the region every year.
Influxes of population and human activity is placing significant pressure on South East Queensland’s natural environment. Habitat removal, nutrient and sediment pollution and hydrology change cause damaging, and sometimes irreversible effects on our environment.