A display of Townsville's better nature.
The ‘Reef Revolution: Empowerment through nature' project from Envite Environment received seed funding to see select residents of Townsville’s Men’s Low-Custody Correctional Complex working together to restore the health of Mundy Creek and reduce negative impacts to the reef catchment.
The project is delivered by teams from Envite Environment, Townsville City Council, and Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare Inc.
Supervised prisoners, partnered with conservation professionals, engaged in activities including weed management, erosion control and bank stabilisation, rubbish removal, and planting of native seedlings — all to minimise sediment runoff and see better quality water reaching our Reef.
“We were very excited to have this opportunity to work with Queensland Corrective Services, says project leader, Natasha Rodwell. This program is a fantastic community service initiative that provides meaningful activities for participants to connect with nature and gain valuable skills to increase employment opportunities — all the while helping to protect and restore our valuable waterways.”
“The project also offers significant positive mental health outcomes for everyone involved.”
Townsville Men’s Correctional Centre Deputy General Manager George Muir said the three month pilot program allowed Queensland Corrective Services to trial the impact of nature-based community service on prisoner wellbeing and capacity building, with the aim of incorporating it into the Community Services Program.
For more details please see the full media release and the 7NEWS coverage.
Another successful Community Action Plan (CAP) project
The Reef Revolution project is one of three successful projects to receive kickstart funding from the Townsville Community Action Plan (CAP) for Rivers & Reef. CAP projects address waterway issues of priority as identified by Townsville itself; in particular stormwater runoff and climate change.
Townsville’s CAP has been made possible by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, and is co-led by the Dry Tropics Partnership for Healthy Waters and Reef Ecologic.
