Healthy waterways underpin our lifestyles and livelihoods. When waterways thrive, so do we.
There’s many people and groups around the region working
to improve reef and waterway health. We think their work
should be celebrated. We’re committed to telling their
stories and hope that it sparks important conversations.
SmartCane BMP 2014- to date Focus: Accreditation program for cane farmers to record and verify practice changes Catchments: Herbert, Tully, Johnstone, Russell-Mulgrave, Mossman Funder: Queensland Government Delivery Partner: Canegrowers More information: www.smartcane.com.au
Cane Changer 2016-2020 Focus: Behaviour science program to accelerate adoption of sugar cane farm practices with lower risk to water quality Catchments: Herbert, Tully, Johnstone, Russell-Mulgrave, Mossman Investment: $2 million Funder: Queensland Government Delivery Partner: Behaviour Innovation, Canegrowers
Project 25 2016-2020 Focus: Local scale water quality monitoring on cane farms Catchments: Russell-Mulgrave Investment: Funder: National Environmental Science Program Delivery Partner: Canegrowers Cairns, Reef & Rainforest Research Centre Listen to our Reef & Rivers podcast to find out more.
Enhanced Extension Coordination Project 2017-2021 Focus: Increased adoption of land management practices by through improved coordination and collaboration across agricultural industry extension networks. Program also included funding for small projects to enhance extension and peer-to-peer learning. Catchments: All catchments Investment: Funder: Queensland Government Reef Water Quality Program Delivery Partners: DAF, Terrain NRM, Cape York NRM
2021-2023 Focus: Reduction in fine sediment by remediating gully and streambank erosion hotspots with engineered solutions and revegetation. Program also includes educational workshops in land management and natural grazing. Catchments: Herbert catchment Investment: $3.5 million Funder: Great Barrier Reef Foundation & Australian Government's Reef Trust Delivery Partners: Terrain NRM
2020-2023 Focus: Reduction in DIN runoff from cane farms Catchments: Herbert catchment Investment: $16.2 million Funder: Reef Trust Partnership (Great Barrier Reef Foundation & Australian Government's Reef Trust) Delivery Partners: Canegrowers Herbert, HCPSL, Liquaforce, Catchment Solutions, Agro Group
In May 2015 the Queensland Government established the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce to advise on how to invest $90 million over 5 years to achieve ambitious water quality targets. The final report was published in May 2016.
In April 2018 the Australian Government provided $444 million to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to coordinate reef program investment.
2021-2024 Focus: Reduction in DIN runoff from cane farms Catchments: Tully & Johnstone catchments Investment: $11.6 million Funder: Great Barrier Reef Foundation & Australian Government's Reef Trust Delivery Partners: Terrain NRM, Innisfail Canegrowers, JCU's TropWater, CSIRO, Liquaforce
2021-2023 Focus: Reduction in runoff of dissolved inorganic nitrogen from cane farms through provision of extension support Catchments: Mossman & Murray catchments Investment: $5 million Funder: Australian Government's Reef Trust Phase VII Delivery Partners: Terrain NRM, Mossman Agricultural Services, Canegrowers Tully
Martine joined the Wet Tropics Waterways team as a Science Technical Officer in early 2024. She is an environmental scientist and ecologist and has worked on water quality and aquatic ecology projects as a consultant and in private industry for over 20 years. She is using her experience in statistical programming and database development to develop new systems for the Report Card.
Richard has been the Science Technical Officer for Wet Tropics Waterways since 2016. His role involves producing the annual results for the waterway health assessment of the wet tropics region using data from a wide range of sources, to present as scores and grades, as well as developing new indicators to address knowledge and monitoring gaps. He works in collaboration with technical staff at other regional report cards.
Richard has a background in freshwater ecology research projects and environmental assessments with CSIRO, University of Queensland, Queensland Government and as a consultant. For a long time he’s been interested in freshwater aquaculture and continues this interest through farming freshwater crayfish, alongside other farming activities.
Simon has over 30 years’ experience advocating for waterways across academia, government and the private sector. He started out in marine botany with a fascination for seagrass, mangroves and macroalgae, and has gone on to lead major environmental initiatives both in Australia and overseas. He has established report cards in eight countries.
Rowan is a conservation scientist with a background in wildlife science and tropical ecology. She holds a Bachelor of Wildlife Science from the University of Queensland and has recently completed a Master of Tropical Biology and Conservation at James Cook University.
Rowan brings experience in science communication, with a strong interest in connecting people with conservation outcomes. In her role with Wet Tropics Waterways, she supports initiatives that combine scientific knowledge with community outreach to help protect the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef catchments, and to strengthen collaboration between researchers, stakeholders, and the wider community.