Save Our Macleay River paddle

SOMR were delighted to host and organise interesting stories from stakeholders about the return of the Yarrahapinni Wetlands to its natural state as a salt-water fish-nursery with regenerating mangroves.

Almost 50 years of blockage of salt water and drainage, which released frequent and extreme pollution events, resulted in frequent oyster damage and fish-kill events.

The return of the Wetlands being alive again was found interesting and much appreciated by the hardy paddlers.

Congregating in light rain at the Golden Hole, Elder Uncle Neville Donovan welcomed the paddlers to this significant Aboriginal area.

Oyster grower Todd Graham greeted the paddlers and described the positive effects of the natural salt water flow in the Wetlands on the health of the river.

Besides using improved breeding stock in recent times, the clean water has greatly contributed to oysters maturing very quickly. Unfortunately, black water events from the adjacent Clybucca Wetlands are still occurring with lethal effects on the oysters.

When entering the wetlands the paddlers saw salt water pouring in two to three-metre high mangroves establishing, an abundance of pelicans, cormorants, herons and other birds feeding on fish and even the regeneration of sea-grass on the margins of Middle Island.

Going up into the Broadwater, the real expanse of now established fish nursery habitat unfolded. The edges and low islands are strongly tinged with the light green of regenerating mangroves. To the east with a steeper bank is the coastal rain forest, believed to be on top of a part of one the largest recorded middens in Australia.

Young mangroves were seen in what used to be fresh-water reed side-swamps, now covered in salt water.  After about 1.5 to 2km, the mangrove regeneration became patchy, but there was one mature mangrove that had surprisingly survived the 45 years of fresh-water.

At a distance of 2-3 km from tidal salt water in flow, the paddlers could see that significant rehabilitation in this area will take time. Small areas of salt-marsh regeneration are developing on the edges of the old and dug channel.

The paddlers stopped for a lunch at the site of the Scalds, some 3.5km up the Wetlands before returning. As the name suggests, this was a large area of acid sulphate surface soil scalds, releasing sulphuric acid and pollutants into the Macleay River estuary every time it dried out and rained again – destroying fish, oysters and tourism.  

Paddlers heard from National Parks and Wildlife Service’s Matt Wills, of the next steps in the Yarrahapinni Wetlands rehabilitation.  It is planned to remove further parts of the levee, fill-in the remnant flood gates and undertake re-vegetation and bank stabilisation activities.. 

It was generally agreed by the paddlers, that this was one of the few success stories for rehabilitation of a significant wetland and a boost to the reduction in damage to the environment, economy and tourism from past practices.