Mary River Community Connection Gympie
Healing a River: Gympie’s Mary River on the Road to Recovery
The urban reach of the Mary River at Gympie is entering a new chapter—one defined not by extraction, but by restoration. After more than a century shaped by gold mining and quarrying, this once heavily impacted waterway is now the focus of a coordinated effort to bring life back to its banks, its waters, and the species that depend on it.
At the heart of this transformation is the $1.73 million Integrated Catchment Management Gympie Urban River Project, funded through the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program. The initiative targets a stretch of river between Six Mile Rest area and Widgee Crossing, including the lower reaches of Six Mile Creek and Deep Creek—areas historically vulnerable to erosion and ecological decline.
The goals are ambitious but clear: stabilise riverbanks, improve water quality, and restore habitat for some of Australia’s most unique and threatened aquatic species. Among them are the ancient Australian lungfish, the endangered Mary River cod, the rare Mary River turtle, and the iconic platypus. Each depends on clean water, stable banks, and healthy vegetation—conditions that have been under pressure for decades.
One of the most visible restoration efforts is underway at “The Sands,” a critical nesting site for the Mary River turtle. Here, rehabilitation work is focused on protecting and stabilising the riverbank to ensure successful nesting seasons into the future. Nearby, at Widgee Crossing, efforts extend to weed control and the restoration of a historically significant roost for the grey-headed flying fox, further highlighting the project’s broad ecological scope.
Collaboration is central to the project’s success. The Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC) is working closely with Gympie Regional Council, Gympie District Landcare, and the Kabi Kabi People’s Aboriginal Council. Together, they are building on years of local knowledge and past rehabilitation work across key sites such as the Victoria Bridge Conservation Area and the designated fossicking area.
On the ground, the changes are already tangible. Strategic weed removal and revegetation have begun to stabilise vulnerable banks, reducing erosion and limiting the amount of sediment entering the river system. This has far-reaching implications—not only for the health of the Mary River itself but also for the downstream ecosystems that rely on it, including the globally significant Great Barrier Reef.
Encouragingly, recent flooding in February has served as an early test of the project’s resilience. Most revegetated areas held firm, with plantings surviving and even helping to trap sediment during high flows. It’s a promising sign that the restoration methods are working with, rather than against, the natural dynamics of the river.
The legacy of historic gold fossicking, particularly around the Victoria Bridge Conservation Area, has left sections of Lower Deep Creek vulnerable to erosion. Addressing these impacts is part of the broader mission—to not only repair the past but to future-proof the river against ongoing environmental pressures.
The recovery of the Mary River through Gympie is not an overnight transformation. It is a gradual, carefully managed process that depends on sustained effort, community involvement, and respect for the river’s natural rhythms. But as vegetation takes hold, banks stabilise, and wildlife returns, the signs of renewal are becoming impossible to ignore.
In a region once defined by what was taken from the river, Gympie is now helping to define what can be given back.
This project is funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program, with the support of the Mary River Catchment Coordination Association.