The mission
of the Black Mountain Range Catchment
Extensions Project (BMRCEP) is to
protect and enhance the floral and
faunal biodiversity which occurs in
the Cooroy and Black Mountain locales.
These areas are part of the Mary River
catchment.
The projects’ goal is to establish
corridors of vegetation linking differing
regional ecosystems to enable migratory
movement of fauna within the Cooroy
and Black Mountain catchment area.
Increasing biodiversity and establishing
connectivity between significant areas
of high environmental value is the
core aim of the project.
The proponent of the project is the
Noosa and District Landcare Group
(NDLCG) with funding being supplied
from the National Heritage Trust Environmental
Grants which are allocated by the
Burnett and Mary Regional Group (BMRG).
The BMRCEP was developed from an
earlier, smaller project which began
in late 2005 and had the objective
of protecting and restoring the riparian
vegetation along Cooroy Creek. At
the time, the riparian zone along
Cooroy Creek, although continuous,
was narrow and highly vulnerable to
degradation. It was under threat from
rapid development, subdivisions and
population growth within the region.
The initial project intended to increase
the area of the riparian zone and
to reduce degradation occurring along
the creek, thereby increasing available
habitat along the watercourse margins
and consolidating on the ecological
values which were already present.
This initial project was very successful
and provided the impetus to increase
its scope.
The Cooroy Creek project was expanded
to include Happy Jack Creek, Blackfellow
Creek, Middle Creek, Skyring Creek
and the Western branch of Six Mile
Creek giving birth to the Black Mountain
Range Catchments Extensions Project
(BMRCEP).
The focus of the project changed from
addressing creek conditions and health
at a local level to rehabilitating
and connecting areas of significant
ecological value at the regional level.
The BMRCEP offers technical and material
support to local residents to achieve
the aims of the project. This support
can range from simply providing free
trees to landowners to carry out their
own revegetation processes to providing
comprehensive property management
plans, planning and implementing co-operative
projects between landowners and NDLCG
and conducting rehabilitation works
on areas of high ecological value.
With a particular emphasis on landholder
education, the BMRCEP has contributed
to the capacity building of the local
community and has been instrumental
in strengthening community bonds and
cohesiveness. Noosa Landcare’s
Black Mountain Project is an outstanding
example of how grass roots organisations
can use local partnerships and relationships
to achieve the greatest on-ground
outcomes for the local environment.
For information about this project
please contact Paul Sprecher on 07
5485 2155 or email: projects2@noosalandcare.org
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