In 1991, a pioneering group of community and industry leaders led by well-known Gympie local Guenter Kath, had an idea that they could tackle the issues facing the river on a whole-of-catchment basis, involving all those who had a “stake” in the river system, which included government at all levels and the wider community. Three community meetings in the catchment led to the establishment of a Committee with representatives of government, industry, farmers, landcare and community organisations. The Committee began the task of working out a way forward by developing a Catchment Strategy that included actions aimed at improving the health of the catchment.
In 1996, the MRCCC’s non regulatory and cooperative approach facilitated the development of the Mary Catchment Strategy, which outlined a suite of actions to improve catchment health. An implementation plan to carry out the works needed to achieve the actions outlined in the Catchment Strategy was published in 2002. The Mary River and Tributaries Rehabilitation Implementation Plan was subsequently published in 2002, prioritising river and stream reaches for rehabilitation investment. These documents outline a 50-year strategic vision and planning framework for creating a sustainable and productive future for the catchment and were developed in active partnership with the Queensland Government, local communities and industry.
In 2016, the MRCCC produced the draft Mary River Threatened Species Recovery Plan in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including the federal government Department of Environment, the state government Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and widespread community consultation. The implementation of on-ground actions identified in the draft Recovery Plan are underway, through support from the federal government.
Now, almost 30 years post-establishment, the MRCCC employs 9 Environmental Scientists who collectively have over 100 years’ experience in the fields of sustainable land and water management, agricultural systems, riparian zone systems, water quality monitoring and data analysis, aquatic health assessment, sub-catchment planning, threatened aquatic species monitoring, geographical information systems and community education.