The Fence & Flow project is making significant steps in protecting important watercourse ecosystems across the Brigalow Belt region of the Burnett catchment. Led by Burnett Catchment Care Association (BCCA), the project focuses on improving riparian health by keeping livestock out of sensitive waterways, encouraging native vegetation to thrive and reducing erosion along creekbanks.
By installing riparian fencing and off-stream watering points, the project aims to significantly improve water quality by minimising sediment, nutrient and pathogen runoff from grazing lands.
Landholders across the central Burnett have embraced the opportunity, with several now contracted to install over 12 kilometres of fencing and 14 off-stream watering points along the Boyne River and other high-value waterways.
To measure the project’s ecological impact, BCCA Ecologist Misty Neilson has commenced baseline monitoring across participating sites. Her assessments include bank stability, vegetation structure, natural regeneration and water quality testing (turbidity and conductivity). This data will help track changes over the next 12 months as landholders implement their projects.
The project is coordinated by the Burnett Catchment Care Association through funding support from the Queensland Government’s Community Sustainability Action grants program.
