Community Groups

There are many community groups in Mackay, working on a range of environmental projects.  If you would like to find out more about some of the groups helping to make a difference in Mackay, or if you would like to attend one of the working bees or meetings, please contact Council's Natural Environment section.

Find out about:

• Conservation Volunteers Australia
• Friends of Morag McNichol Reserve
• Friends of Slade Point Reserve
• Mackay and Whitsunday Branch of the Bird Observers Club of Australia
• Mackay Conservation Group
• Mackay & District Turtlewatch
• Pioneer Catchment and Landcare Group
• Society for Growing Australian Plants (Mackay Branch)

Friends of Morag McNichol Reserve

Morag McNichol always wanted to see a section of the family property in Andergrove saved for nature conservation. 

In 1990 Mrs McNichol sold her property to the Pioneer Shire Council (prior to amalgamation) and negotiated for a small portion of the land to be developed and a larger portion of land (13.67 ha) saved for nature conservation.  This area was later named Morag McNichol reserve in memory of Mrs McNichol.

Since 2003 a group of committed volunteers, the “Friends of Morag McNichol Reserve” have been hard at work, helping to restore the remnant vegetation as habitat for local wildlife.  The reserve obtained Land for Wildlife listing in 2004 and is now one of Mackay’s iconic reserves.  It is an great example of a rainforest community growing on a sandy soil. The reserve has significant environmental habitat values and over the years various specialist groups such as Society for Growing Australian Plants and Mackay Bird Observers club have visited the reserve and marvelled at the natural diversity of the site.

The friends group meet monthly to conduct working bees within the reserve. Supported by Council’s Natural Environment Program, the working bees give local community members the chance to get their hands dirty by getting involved in on ground activities such as tree planting, fencing, weeding and mulching, which help regenerate, conserve and protect the natural environmental values of the reserve for future generations.

In July 2006 the friends group again took part in National Tree Day activities, and planted 60 native trees to revegetate vehicle tracks that once criss-crossed the reserve.

The friends group, supported by Council and sponsored by Pioneer Catchment and Landcare, recently obtained funding to build an information shelter on the corner of Pine and Wattle Street, so they can promote the reserve’s fascinating history, flora and fauna and inform the local community about up coming activities and projects.  

Friends of Slade Point Reserve

Friends of the Reserve are a volunteer organisation that have maintained the Slade Point Reserve for the past 10 years.  The Slade Point Reserve is a Reserve for Natural Resource Management and the Friends have created a series of walking tracks throughout the 73 hectare reserve for the community to enjoy.

Working bee's are held on the third Saturday of the month at 7.30 am. 

Contact details as follows:

President   Alison Jones    4955 2899, 0407 690 248
Secretary    Linda Williams  49550645
Treasurer   Alison Hambleton  TBA
Projects Co-ordinator   Alan Pickering 49556713

Download a map and brochure about the Reserve (250 KB)

MACBOCA - Mackay and Whitsunday Branch of the Bird Observers Club of Australia

The Mackay and Whitsunday Branch of the Bird Observers Club of Australia (MACBOCA) was formed in July 1991 and brings together people who are interested in learning about birds and appreciating their beauty in their natural environment.

New members and visitors are always welcome to join in the monthly outings.  All that is required is an interest in birds and desire to see them in their natural surroundings.  A pair of binoculars will come in handy but these can be borrowed if need be.  Mackay is blessed with an abundance of bird species. It also has many different bird habitats which are easy to access.  The outings are held on the first Sunday of the month.  

If you are interested contact Marj on 49522964, Tess on 49576236 or alternatively e-mail madgeb@bigpond.com

Find out about where to go bird watching around Mackay (PDF 577 Kb).

Mackay Conservation Group

Mackay Conservation Group recognises and strives to promote awareness of the value of our natural environment.

The group aims to represent people's desires to protect and maintain our region's natural assets and encourage moves towards sustainable systems. They achieve this by education, research, advocacy and action in cooperation with other community groups, industry and government.  The group works within the Central Queensland Coast and Brigalow Belt bioregions in the area from Bowen in the north, west to Clermont and South to St Lawrence, as well as the off-shore islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Environment Centre, located at 156 Wood St Mackay, is opened Tuesday,Wednesday, & Thursday 8:00am - 1.00pm and Friday 9:00am - 12:00pm.  The Environment Centre has a reference library of some 3000 items from books, to videos, cd's, dvd's, reports and tapes.  They have several information kits available covering a variety of subjects such as landcare, water, transport, wetlands, and the Great Barrier Reef and keep a supply of preloved books for sale as well as other environmentally aware items.

Phone: 07 4953 0808 (After hours: 07 4956 3256 or 07 4966 8025 (before 8:00pm) Fax: 07 4953 5438
Email: mcgmail@mackay.net.au

Visit the Mackay Conservation Group's website to find out more.

Mackay & District Turtlewatch

Late at night when most of us have been sleeping deeply for many hours, small numbers of people around the Mackay Whitsunday region are walking our beaches - in total darkness without the aid of torches or any other form of lighting, - sometimes they walk for kilometers alone.… sometimes in pairs.

They’re not insomniacs, although it must help to be one.  These people are dedicated Turtle-watchers with a commitment that drives them to push the boundaries of their waking hours so they can observe and protect the nesting Turtles who frequent our beaches during their laying season. Egg-laying females come to our shores around the time of the high tide in the evenings during October to February each year.

Our region’s Turtle numbers are low with only 90 or so nesting turtles frequenting our beaches from Seaforth to Clairview .This means our coast is classified as a ‘low density’ nesting area . However -the protection of this iconic species is no less important, as their presence is a key attraction to tourists and locals alike.

Our region’s coastal area is blessed with beaches - this popular animal is not often found in populated coasts of Queensland outside of Bundaberg. where there is  a large regular nesting population of many hundreds of turtles.

The Mackay District beaches are host to 3 main species of turtle. The main species which nests only on Australian coastal beaches is the Flatback turtle. Offshore islands support populations of Flatback and Green turtles. Occasionally -on remote islands- the Loggerhead turtle may be sighted. Most beaches along the Mackay-Sarina coast are turtle-friendly beaches and support the nesting of Turtles

Volunteers -like our Turtles -are a ‘rare breed’ in themselves.  To become qualified to watch over turtles in this way requires that you become permitted to do so by the Environment Protection Authority. This involves taking a two week long trip to Mon Repos Beach Research Centre located adjacent to a Turtle Rookery in Bundaberg where under the guidance of Queensland’s own international expert in turtle research, Dr.Col Limpus -you can be trained in the gentle art of turtle monitoring and protection.

Volunteers learn to apply principles of Animal Ethics to which other species protection volunteers such as Wildlife Carers and bird observer’s groups.-adhere.  Turtle watchers learn how to do turtle tagging, how to dig nests to undertake egg counts, measure nest temperatures and nest relocation methods. A Turtle watcher’s main aim is to ensure that each year as many hatchlings survive as possible – so they get to cross their beach to get the magnetic imprint which enables them know where to return to reproduce in about 30 years time.

Mitigation of threats to Turtles is the key theme of education efforts of the Mackay district Turtlewatch Group. When seen as a nesting area for turtles, the beach becomes a place where threats to their survival abound. Education which balances a delivery of public understanding of our Turtles habitat and behavioural needs with people innate curiosity to observe them without threatening their survival is the aim of the group.

Threats to turtles in the Mackay District include:

• nest disturbance by people, dogs, and vehicles
• behavioural threats including-disorientation of the turtles from inappropriate lighting which draws turtles away from the safety of their beach habitat. Removal of foredune vegetation exacerbates this problem        
• shining torches on nesting females as they arrive to nest will send them back into the water         
• disturbances to hatchlings as they cross the beach to the water
• accidental death due to injuries from collisions with water craft
• entanglement in netting, plastic waste and marine debris
• suffocation or starvation due to ingestion of plastic bags which they mistake for their favourite food- jellyfish
• predation of juveniles and adults
• reduction in foraging habitats – soft corals and seagrass meadows-restrict their range of living habitat
• flooding which buries forage in sediment can lead to turtle starvation 
• disease

The solutions Mackay& District Turtle Watch applies to this problem include:

• signage at nesting beaches to manage beach user’s behaviour in turtle nesting season
• facilitating local council’s installation of ‘Turtle friendly lighting’ at beaches ( i.e. Eimeo Beach)
• relocation of nests where they are threatened by high tides to prevent drowning
• tagging turtles for monitoring of populations
• in-schools education programs in the Sarina Beaches area
• establishment of an informative website at: www.mackayturtles.org.au

Dead, sick or injured turtles can be reported to the Qld Environmental Protection Agency’s Marine Species Stranding HOTLINE on 1300 130 372.

Turtle Watch always needs new volunteers – to keep an  eye on our turtles - even in the dark.   Visit the Mackay and District Turtle watch association's website to find out more.
Fay Griffin of Mackay Turtlewatch, Blacks Beach asks any people prepared to assist with the effort in any way to please contact her on Tel; 49 54 9613 or email on: feykan@hotmail.com OR Diane Clarke of Sarina on Tel: 49 566 167 or email: tdclarke@mcs.net.au.

Pioneer Catchment and Landcare Group

Pioneer Catchment & Landcare Group Inc. is a non-profit community based organisation.  It was formed in the early 1990’s as one of the first catchment groups in Queensland, and was then called Pioneer Integrated Catchment Management Association (PICMA).  Funding is from the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Landcare Program through Mackay Whitsunday Natural Resource Management Group Inc., and is supplemented from a range of other sources.  Pioneer Catchment & Landcare Group Inc. also receives strong support from key stakeholders such as Council.

Pioneer Catchment & Landcare Group coordinates and facilitates the following programs:

• Sustainable Landscape Program (cash incentives for land managers)
• Healthy Waterways Volunteer Monitoring Program
• Coastcare
• Land for Wildlife
• Junior Landcare 

For more information about Pioneer Catchment and Landcare Group's programs and activities visit www.pioneercatchment.org.au

Society for Growing Australian Plants – Mackay Branch

Membership of the Society is open to anyone interested in the growing and preservation of Australian plants.   Branch membership includes membership of Queensland Region and in addition to regional entitlements provides a range of local activities and benefits. These include friendly informative meetings, plant propagation group workshops, an extensive library, branch publications and a regular newsletter.  Meetings are usually held on the first Thursday of the month (except January) at the Mackay Gem & Craft Society Hall, Leisure Court, Mackay.  7.30 pm Library, plant and publication sales.  8.00 pm Business followed by regular features and a topic of interest.  Meetings conclude with a raffle and supper.

Visitors are always welcome!  For further information telephone the Secretary on 4955 1745.  PO Box 6864 Mackay Mail Centre, 4741.