Noosa Integrated Catchment Association

Dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of the Noosa River catchment

Established in 1996, the Noosa Integrated Catchment Association, Inc (NICA) is a community-based not-for-profit organisation formed to coordinate and align natural resource management activities in the Noosa River catchment.  NICA was responsible for the development of the original Noosa River Catchment Strategy  and has since undertaken numerous terrestrial and on-water programs and initiatives to fulfill its aims.  

Today, NICA is the largest active-participation community organisation in the region specifically dedicated to the conservation and sustainable use of the catchment. Learn more about NICA’s strategic goals, current and past programs. 

We acknowledge the original custodians of the land on which we live and pay our respects to the Gubbi Gubbi people past present and future.

An incredibly unique and largely intact coastal lagoon system

The Noosa River catchment encompasses an area of 854sqkm.  The unusually low-lying headwaters of the Noosa River are located on the Como escarpment, deep in the pristine Great Sandy National Park, charged continuously by fresh water springs draining sand deposits.   From there, the river flows generally north to south, fed by over 1,505km of streams, creeks and tributaries that drain six distinct sub-catchments featuring 27 broad vegetation groups including rainforests and scrubs, eucalyptus and melaleuca woodlands, heathlands, wetlands, mangroves and saltmarsh.

The catchment extends through an extensive, shallow and largely unmodified  system of freshwater, brackish and saline (tidal) lakes, marshes, heathlands and estuary and drains to the Noosa river mouth 60km to the south.  Located at the intersection of the Macleay-McPherson overlap, the catchment supports incredibly high biodiversity including 61 different regional ecosystems, 1,340 plant species, almost 350 terrestrial vertebrate animals and 217 species of birds including half of all known migratory shorebirds.

Almost one-third of the catchment is protected within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park. The catchment also includes two nationally significant wetland areas (Noosa River Wetlands and Lake Weyba) and almost 6,000 hectares of protected fish habitat.  The catchment is home to over 30,000 residents located mostly in contiguous urban south of the catchment and rural hinterland villages.  The catchment forms part of the UNESCO-designated Noosa Biosphere Reserve.  The Noosa River is consistently rated amongst Queensland’s healthiest.

An active participation, volunteer led organisation

NICA is the largest active-participation conservation organisation in the region with over 500 volunteers engaged across the catchment. NICA provides direct access to a range of opportunities to participate in the integrated coordination, conservation and sustainable use of the natural environment, and to develop social bonds with like minded community members of all ages and capacities. NICA’s integrated and innovative catchment programs include River Rangers, Water Watch, Bushcare and Urban Wildlife Garden.
As a NICA member and volunteer, your capacity to experience, enjoy and conserve the natural environment is limited only by your capacity to participate. Interested? Join us

NICA’s Management Committee

  • President: Jill Campbell
  • Vice President: Bruce Hallett
  • Treasurer: Tony Haslam
  • Secretary: Gill Studdock
  • Committee: Julie Glennon, Yanni van Zijl and Pam Walpole