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Safeguarding the Wet Tropics from flood and climate risks

  • Context: National
  • Status: Current

Floods are becoming more frequent and intense in the Wet Tropics region of Far North Queensland, and they have significant impacts on communities, the economy, and the environment. These floods can cause millions of dollars in damage, and in response Terrain NRM continues to implement Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to mitigate risks and improve flood resilience. 

Over the last ten years, Terrain NRM has delivered extensive works to protect, rehabilitate, and stabilise riverbanks and streambanks, to reduce sediment erosion and protect productive agricultural land.

Through this project, Terrain NRM is evaluating the effectiveness of these works to better understand the full suite of benefits that accrue from these NbS including protection of built infrastructure, agricultural values, cultural sites, community health, and wellbeing.

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This project is a trial under the Nature-led Resilience project which is being delivered in collaboration with NRM Regions Australia with the support of the Minderoo Foundation. Find out more about the Nature-led Resilience Program here.

The main aims of the project are to:

  1. Better understand the effectiveness of a range of NbS to mitigate flooding in the Wet Tropics.
  2. Quantify the benefits of waterway and wetland restoration as NbS for flood mitigation.
  3. Provide an evidence-based framework to help reduce risk and improve capacity for decision-making.
  4. Demonstrate and showcase how community groups, government, and others can transfer and apply methods to improve flood resilience at landscape scale.
  5. Contribute to improved national databases and frameworks for NbS.

The lessons identified through this project will be applied in the planning, design, and implementation of future NbS for flood resilience. This includes identifying priority areas for work within a strategic landscape-scale approach, and identifying lessons that can be transferred to other tropical locations.

 

Hazard(s) addressed: Flood, Cyclone, Tropical Storm

Nature-based Solution used: Riparian restoration

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