The aim of the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC) is to promote within the community and through interested sectors, a common view of a sustainable and productive catchment. Key roles which promote the MRCCC’s nonregulatory and cooperative approach in achieving this aim have been determined. These roles are Education and Awareness, Planning (assisting Local Government) and assisting interest-sectors to adopt Best Management Practices.
The Mary River Catchment is one of the most diverse catchments in Queensland. It covers 9595 km2 from Maleny to Fraser Island and contains a population of over 200,000 people, both on the land and in urban areas and rural subdivisions. Economic activities in the Mary River Catchment range from dairying, beef, forestry, fishing, horticulture, mining, sugar, farm forestry, tourism, sand and gravel extraction, small industry and cottage arts and craft. The Mary River itself is 310 km long and water quality varies from fresh through to saline in the estuarine areas where the river flows into the RAMSAR listed wetlands of the Great Sandy Strait, home to Dugongs, migrating whales and migratory birds. This complex catchment is subject to high intensity cyclonic rainfall on very steep slopes and is experiencing major changes in land use, increased competition for resources, and rapid population growth (being adjacent to the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay).
