Reef Guardian Council

Central Highlands Regional Council is a committed member of the Reef Authority’s Reef Guardian Councils program.

Local councils play a vital role in responsible water, waste, and land management, planning for sustainable population growth, supporting environmentally sound development, and addressing climate change. As a Reef Guardian Council, we recognize that local and regional initiatives are essential to protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef and the communities that rely on it.

The program includes 20 participating councils between Bundaberg and Cooktown, covering an area of 317 000 square kilometres and a population of more than 1.1 million people. Each council progresses a Reef Guardian Action Plan that outlines a variety of initiatives they are taking to contribute to Reef health and align with the Queensland and Australian Government objectives to improve the long-term outlook for the Reef, particularly the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan.

The following project is being activated via funding from the Australian Government’s Reef Trust to support the delivery of the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan and the Reef’s long-term resilience:

• • The Central Highlands Regional Council Landscape-Scale Feral Pig (and other feral animals) Integrated Control Program seeks to strategically control the invasive feral pig species by implementing a landscape-scale management program. The program will include core actions of surveillance, collaring, monitoring, trapping and baiting activities over a period of three years. The activities will be carried out in council within the key project areas of Springsure, Capella, Duaringa and Bauhinia. Feral pigs are known for significant soil disturbance and therefore suppression of their population will improve water and habitat quality in the catchments that ultimately drain to the Great Barrier Reef.