Habitat Connections is a strategic waterway rehabilitation program which aims to restore degraded riparian corridors throughout Ipswich and increase their resilience to erosion and flood damage.
The program delivers waterway corridor restoration through native revegetation and weed management.
Habitat Connections has been designed to provide the community with opportunities to take part in revegetation activities. These activities will improve water quality and increase habitat for local native fauna. Diverse and well-established riparian vegetation communities also increase resilience of streambanks to damage.
Community opportunities include:
- Trees For Mum planting event on Mothers Day
- World Rivers Day planting event in September
- Other partnership-based opportunities such as National Tree Day or Youth Week
Community events are listed on Ipswich City Council Eventbrite webpage close to the event dates.
You may also be interested in environmental volunteering opportunities throughout the year. Find more information and register your interest via council's Volunteering Portal.
Habitat Connections sites
Council delivers the Habitat Connections program across all of the urban waterways in the city. Recent areas rehabilitated through the program have included sites in the Bundamba, Woogaroo, Bremer, Six Mile and Sandy Creek catchments.
Sites chosen for the program are those that require increased native vegetation on the streambanks and those that provide a safe and accessible opportunity for the community to be involved.
Riparian corridor revegetation
The land that adjoins, or directly influences a body of water is also known as riparian land and includes:
- land immediately alongside small creeks and rivers, including the river bank itself
- gullies and dips which sometimes run with water
- areas surrounding lakes and dams
- wetlands and river floodplains which interact with the river in times of flood
Dense buffers of native riparian vegetation along streambanks play an important role in mediating waterway health and condition, including:
- supporting the lifecycle of aquatic and terrestrial fauna
- controlling sediment and filtering nutrients
- decreasing erosion
- improving water quality
- restoring biodiversity
- reducing flood damage
- increasing property value
- improving productivity of surrounding land
Riparian corridors are an important socio-economic asset, providing an integral link between suburbs, supporting people movement, offering recreational opportunities and improving the visual amenity of the surrounding area.
Riparian areas also provide a valuable space for the community to access and engage with the waterways.
Information and resources
Below are some helpful guides and links to improve waterways and riparian vegetation:
Erosion and Sediment Control : Ipswich City Council
Riparian corridor revegetation guidelines
Platypus Conservation : Ipswich City Council
Waterway Health Strategy : Ipswich City Council