Welcome.
Overview
The Mitchell River Watershed Management Group was formed after a conference on watershed management hosted by the Kowanyama Aboriginal community in 1990. Since then it has grown into an independent, not-for-profit organisation working in partnership with local communities and stakeholders towards:
- A balanced approach to the use of the catchment resources; and
- sustainable and integrated management of the Mitchell River catchment area.
The catchment has an area of 72,000 square kilometres (larger than Tasmania) from above the Coral Sea to the Gulf of Carpentaria across four very diverse bioregions from the Wet Tropics to the Gulf Plains.
Our watershed is comprised of five main river catchments: the Lynd, the Walsh, the Mitchell, the Palmer, and the Alice.
Status: Active
In May 2021 Mitchell River Group signed a management agreement with Mareeba Shire Council to take over the ongoing management of a remnant wetland known as Abattoir Swamp.
The wetland is located on the Molloy - Mossman Road and is one of the few publicly-accessible reserves of its type in the area.
Water and Soil quality testing program to help provide better irrigation options on the Arriga Plains.
Money has to be invested in the fight to keep Frogbit out of the Mitchell. The funding has to be secured for the next several years until we beat this threat.
Rather than complain and point fingers, key land managers have reached into their own budgets and are providing much-needed additional funds for a Sentinel Network that can protect the Mitchell while the bigger issue of cleaning up the Barron gains traction.
This project implements recommendations of the National Recovery Plan for Neochmia evangelinae, the White-bellied Crimson Finch (WBCF), or “our little red bird” as it is fondly known to locals.
The project is designed to engage and up-skill people in the remote Aboriginal community of Kowanyama.
We are acting in the leadership role to co-ordinate action to control and reduce the Koster's curse infestation centred at Julatten.
Status: Past
A Queensland government Everyone’s Environment enabled us to carry out weed control projects in the catchment, especially the mapping and control of bellyache bush on the Palmer and Walsh Rivers.
Setting priorities for managing and monitoring Black-throated Finches and other threatened Finches in the Mitchell River Catchment
The project trained Indigenous rangers of Kowanyama to help them to manage and monitor habitat and numbers of the Endangered White-bellied Crimson Finch (WBCF). The training included bird recognition, understanding habitat needs in relation to the impacts of fire, livestock, pigs, weeds and management effort, plus outcome monitoring.
A Community Landcare Grant funded a series of four land management workshops with Traditional Owners, graziers and other land managers throughout the catchment.
Collection of low-level aerial images up the Palmer and Mitchell. Useful for overview of land condition and mining impacts.
Special projects
