General News
27 October, 2025
Acute damage all fixed
INDIGENOUS rangers and engineers have strengthened 100m of a flood-damaged Daintree riverbank to protect a road and the Great Barrier Reef from future weather events.
The bank of the Daintree River was restored near the ferry crossing – where flooding rain after Cyclone Jasper washed away land and part of a road.
Terrain NRM partnered with Douglas Shire Council and Jabalbina rangers to rebuild 100m of riverbank upstream from the ferry crossing recently and to begin revegetation work including mangrove restoration.
The work is designed to stop an estimated 1200 tonnes of fine sediment a year from washing down the river and out to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
Landholder Colin McDowall said the project was welcome.
“It was the highest flood we’ve ever seen here and it did some damage,” he said.
“There had already been erosion in this area over the years with the way the current runs to the side and hits the bank in floods.
“We’re hoping the rocks and mangroves will help to hold the bank together better and save it from this happening again.”
Terrain NRM’s Zack Severino said revegetation was the long-term solution, after a combination of rock and earthworks.
“We were dealing with a sheer drop,” he said.
“With every storm, more soil was getting washed away. Now we have a reinforced riverbank. And the upland area has been planted out with native, fast-growing trees to get a good root system embedded.
“Mangroves have been planted on the benched areas to catch sediment and more seedlings, so that’ll also help to secure the riverbank and also filter the water.
“Tree rootballs are part of the design to create fish habitat. Natural processes will build up over time.”
Jabalbina ranger manager Rick Burchill said 100-plus native trees from Jabalbina and Douglas Shire Council nurseries were planted at the site.
“They’ve shot up. They’re looking really good. We had the boat out for collecting and planting the mangroves. What happened here was pretty bad. We’re really happy with this result,” he said.
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