The RACQ Foundation recently brought a team of amazing volunteers for a full week of planting native trees along the riverbanks. These champions worked extremely hard to contribute to the future resilience for the area and deliver benefits for the Laidley Creek Restoration Master plan.

We sent along our roving reporter, Alberta, to cover the story.

		Flood resilience Planting native species will increase the resilience of the area to flooding events.
		Collaboration and community This initiative allows the community to participate to the restoration of our environment and ecosystems and to learn more about how they can contribute to SEQ’s environmental health.
		Cleaner water Restoring vegetation along the riverbanks will contribute to containing and controlling erosion and sediment flowing downstream ultimately increases water quality.

In March we had a very busy week working in the Mulgowie area with the amazing volunteers from the RACQ Foundation.

Some 30 hard working bees showed up to spend the day with us and our colleagues from Forest Rehabilitation Ecology planting native trees along the Laidley Creek riverbanks. Their work will restore the environment and contribute to the resilience of the area to extreme weather events.

On day one we sent out our Comms reporter Alberta to tell us all about the start of this busy working week.
Read below to find out more.

Part of a big picture

I jumped in the car with Healthy Land & Water’s Power Partners Manager, Jorgen, to head to the site and set up for the week.

While in the car I took the chance to get some context about the location chosen for the RACQ planting week.

I found out that the planting efforts will take place on two sites within our Laidley Creek Restoration Master Plan, located on the streambanks of the Laidley Creek and are on Mulgowie Farming Company owned land.

Recent flooding in the area in early 2024 damaged some of the existing restoration sites and impeded the establishment of restoration planting works on the riparian margins of the Laidley Creek.

The Laidley Creek restoration project area consists of an overarching, multi-year collaborative restoration plan to make Laidley Creek more resilient to flooding, protecting farming assets and waterway health.

What is unique about this master plan is that it provides a blueprint for long-term, catchment-scale restoration efforts on a landscape scale, unlocking more coordinated investment from multiple collaborators towards a common restoration goal.

Kicking off the day

The day started at the Mulgowie Hall where we met our Land Restoration Senior Project Engineer, Vanessa, the amazing RACQ Foundation crew and volunteers for the first safety briefing before heading on site to learn the ropes (or better yet, the roots) of the planting job.

Safety vests are donned, and everyone heading to the site signs in. We are then all ready to head off to the designated site for the day.

Both sites were prepared professionally by our contractor, Forest Rehabilitation Ecology, prior to commencing the planting activities. Preparation of sites included slashing (where necessary), removal of invasive and dominant weed species, pre-drilling of planting holes and ensuring safe site access.

Learning, planting and monitoring

Due to the rain the previous day, the selected site for day one was the closest one to the Mulgowie Hall, so it was a just short stroll away to get to. The site was chosen because it had the flattest banks out of the two, hence it was less slippery after the rainy days.

Once there, we listened attentively to the on-site safety briefing. We then met with one of Healthy Land & Water’s longstanding contractors Forest Rehabilitation Ecology. Their staffer Amy, ran the volunteers through each step of the planting process:

• Water crystals first. The first step is to pour a handful of water crystals in the predrilled planting hole.
• Then the native plant. The next step is to choose the plant, position it in the hole and secure it with soil.

All plants chosen for the planting were native trees and shrubs which will support the restoration of the environment and ecosystem as well as the resilience of the site to flooding.

According to Vanessa, Australian natives are ideal for building stable banks. Species like bottlebrushes and blue gums have adapted over centuries to survive through floods and other extremes.

The plants on site were divided in two main groups: top and bottom of the riverbank according to where the species were best suited and would best perform in their growth and function. Within each of the two groups, species varied like what would happen naturally.

• Mat, pins, stick and cover. The last step consists of protecting and anchoring the new baby plant to ensure the best chance of survival.
  First, Amy covers the base of the plant with a jute mat which she pins to the ground with two metal pins on the sides. Then she finishes by inserting a wooden stake into the mat used to support the plant and a protection biodegradable cylinder. The cylinder and the stake will protect the plant as much as possible from water flow and topsoil runoff.

Time to work!

The team and volunteers were divided into groups and then pairs, based on each step of the planting process. Then the hard work began!

Everyone was extremely precise, and the teamwork was outstanding throughout the whole day. The volunteers didn’t shy away from the exhausting work of carrying plants, bending over, walking up and down the riverbanks.

Lunch learning session

Halfway through the day, we had the opportunity to learn while having lunch. Soil expert and Regen Ag Manager for Mulgowie Farming Company, Steve Martin, joined us to talk healthy soil and sustainable farming practices. He explained how healthy soil increases farming sustainability and is the foundation for healthy produce, carbon sequestration and more.

Back to work and monitoring wrap-up

After the extremely interesting presentation and questions to Steve, the volunteers were back hustling to finish planting for the day.

The group was in for the full start to finish process and the day wouldn’t have been considered as concluded without monitoring and recording. This final step consists in looking at the single rows of plants and recording the individual species planted for each row starting at the top of the riverbank all the way down to the stream.

The team absolutely loved this part of the day because they learned how to recognise the different species and their name. You could hear them yelling to the person who was holding the recording sheet: Lantana, Tea tree, Casuarina, and so on!

A good day

The smiles never left people’s faces along the day, and everyone was excited to have contributed to protecting the environment and the resilience of the area.

We departed with a warm and happy ‘see you tomorrow’ as most of the volunteers would have come back the following day and some for the full five days. They loved being part of helping the Laidley Creek Masterplan in its goal to create resilience to flooding, protect farming land, assets, and waterway health.

Read more about the Laidley Creek Masterplan here.