The Curtis Coast Carers
Posted on August 6th, 2019
Over the last four months, 805.6 hours of volunteer work has been invested into caring for the Curtis Coast. This is thanks to the hard work of Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) and funding from Fitzroy Basin Association (FBA). Home to endangered ecological communities and a priority breeding area for endangered marine turtles, a lot hangs on the health of this stretch of coast.
CVA has been protecting and enhancing the Australian environment with hundreds of thousands of volunteers since 1982. Over the last five years, the Gladstone CVA group have been caring for the Curtis coastline. Focusing on three coastline sites (Lilley’s Beach, Canoe Point and Wild Cattle Creek), the group have achieved many wins for both the community and coast. This includes winning the impressive title of Queensland’s Cleanest Beach, not once but twice! To keep the good work going, CVA secured an FBA Community Bursary earlier this year, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
The bursary, along with in-kind support from many local organisations (including Gladstone Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Volunteering Network, Tangaroa Blue and the Local Marine Advisory Committee) enabled CVA to undertake an ambitious restoration plan.
Over 14 project days, 106 locals from five different community groups pulled together and put in 805.6 hours of work (the equivalent of over a month of around the clock care) to improve the health of the coast in multiple ways. The collective planted 500 native species, removed 234kg of marine debris, constructed four erosion control structures and cleared 2.75ha of weeds. This mammoth effort will stabilise and restore the costal landscape allowing native fauna and flora to thrive.
Surpassing all project ambitions, CVA continues to care for the Curtis Coast. CVA hold regular conservation projects tailored to fit a range of audiences including school groups, disengaged youth, indigenous participants, mature age volunteers and many more. Adapting to the needs of the landscape, CVA are always running new programs and projects to meet the requirements of their local environment. In the coming months, CVA Gladstone will have microplastic survey kits available for community members to loan so they can undertake their own assessments of the amount of plastics hiding in the sand at their favourite beaches. Additionally, the group are always looking for passionate new volunteers ready to dig in and lend a hand. To learn more about upcoming opportunities, email gladstone@cva.org.au.
