Project Description

The Project

Funded by Noosa Council, the project has been running since May 2005.  The Noosa Volunteer River Ranger Project is one of the many outcomes of the Noosa Catchment Management Strategy (July 2001).  Using NICA’s boat, the Volunteer River Rangers are  out on the river each week engaged in WaterWatch, River Watch, Sand Island Weeding and Bird Counts.

It is estimated that the dollar value of the volunteer’s time over the four streams amounts to $22,300 or 534% return on the grant.  This doesn’t include the social capital of having this work carried out by a community based organisation.

NICA’s volunteers doing water testing at a site near the oyster reefs at Settler’s Cove.

Objectives

  • Provide NICA a presence on the river to facilitate various aspects of river management
  • Assist in the implementation of local, catchment and regional strategies
  • Provide information to facilitate education and awareness  on catchment, river, biodiversity, water quality , ecosystem health and fisheries
  • Provide assistance to institutional, government and industry based research
  • Identify environmental issues and potential project sites
  • Coordinate litter collection and assist with pollution control
  • Encourage a volunteer support base to assist the River Ranger either directly or indirectly through existing groups
  • Promote community discussion and participation

Sponsorship News 2024

NICA is pleased to acknowledge, with sincere thanks, the donation of a grant from the Qld Govt Gambling Community Benefit Fund of $23,952 for the purchase of boat equipment including a new outboard engine, trailer and safety equipment.  The NICA boat is used for river monitoring and management, rubbish collection and environmental surveys such as mangroves, shorebirds populations etc.

Volunteering

The Volunteer River Rangers venture out onto the river fortnightly to carry out water testing, clean ups and monitoring and notify relevant stakeholders on issues such as weed infestations and unsafe, abandoned and derelict vessels.

If you care about the Noosa River and love going out on the river, join our rangers’ team roster.  We are especially in need of people with a boat license and experience in boat operations, but it is not a requirement.

We receive a grant from Noosa Council which enables us to pay for the costs of running this project.

Sponsorship

Noosa Council