Our Reef

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Livingstone Shire Council is proud to be recognised as a Reef Guardian Council, for our efforts to help protect, conserve and enhance the values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

The Reef Guardian Council program is a partnership between local government and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Reef Authority) which recognises that local and regional approaches are central to protecting and managing the Reef and the communities it supports. 

Local governments are key management partners as many of the threats to the Reef and heritage values arise outside of the Marine Park boundaries and the Reef Authority’s jurisdiction.

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. 

  • Reef Guardian Council Map

Livingstone Shire Council's Reef Guardian Council Action Plan

Livingstone Shire Council has been a Reef Guardian Council since the program's inception in 2007. Our Action Plan outlines the wide range of initiatives we are undertaking that help address the key threats to the Reef including:

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  • Limiting the impacts of climate change - implementing the Low Carbon Livingstone 2030 strategy, Street light replacement programme, advocating for and investigating electrical vehicle infrastructure, membership of Cities Power Partnership, membership of Queensland Climate Resilient Councils programme.
  • Reducing the impacts from coastal development - beach clean ups and source reduction identification, implementation of Our Living Coast Strategy, Coastal Precinct Planning Working Group, Eco-certified Tourism Destination, Nature Based Resilience Project, Citizen Science Coastal Monitoring.
  • Reducing the impacts from land-based activities - implementation of Livingstone Biodiversity Strategy, pest management programme, reducing the impacts of feral goats, Livingstone Planning Scheme, implementation of Resource Recovery and Waste Strategy, best practice erosion and sediment control, implementation of Open Spaces Framework, membership of Reef Urban Stormwater Management Group.
  • Protecting, rehabilitating and restoring habitats - marine turtle habitat protection, community based coastal rehabilitation activities, implementation of Shoreline Management Plan.
  • Reducing impacts from water-based activities - Fishing Frenzies Program, Capricorn Coast Local Marine Advisory Committee (CCLMAC) membership.
  • Conserving historic and cultural heritage - Build partnerships with Darumbal and Woppaburra peoples to deliver on ground natural resource management projects, Sustainable Livingstone Expo, Livingstone Community Plan, Sustainable Livingstone Program, Team Turtle CQ (TTCQ) Team Hatchlings Project, community environmental groups support, local schools support, involvement in major events (National Tree Day, World Wetlands Day, World Environmental Day, Recycling Week etc.).

View our Reef Guardian Council Action Plan to learn more

Reef Guardian Council grant projects

Projects identified in Reef Guardian Council Action Plans are being delivered via funding from the Australian Government to support the Reef’s long-term resilience and protect its future.

In recognition of our actions that contribute to the Great Barrier Reef’s resilience and the implementation of the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan, in 2022 the Australian Government allocated $17.48M towards projects identified in Reef Guardian Council action plans ($920,000 for each of the 19 councils at the time).

Three council projects were approved under the Australian Government’s Reef Guardian Councils Program — Activating Local Council’s Reef Action Plans funding for Livingstone Shire Council. The projects are:

  • This project will involve partnership with the Darumbal people to ensure cultural heritage values and knowledge are incorporated in the project and will engage local residents and stakeholders in a co-design process.  Ten thousand plants will be grown in the Council's Community Local Native Plant Nursery for planting into the Bangalee and Todd Avenue sites.  This will rehabilitate native plant communities, including remnants of littoral rainforest (a threatened community), trapping sand, taking up nutrients and improving water quality. Restored habitats will support a range of wildlife of local to national significance including marine turtles (predominantly Green turtles)that nest on this beach. 

  • This project will involve partnership with the Darumbal people to ensure cultural heritage values and knowledge are incorporated in the project and will engage local residents and stakeholders in a co-design process.   Fifteen thousand plants will be grown in the Council's Community Local Native plant Nursery for planting into the Oxford Road sites and other waterway sites to create diverse native plant communities that will trap sediment, take up nutrients and improve water quality. Restored habitats will support a range of wildlife of local to national significance including, Cycas ophiolitica, the Marlborough Blue Cycad, locally endemic and Endangered at State and Federal level. Earthworks will be undertaken within the watercourse to re-create ponds and riffles that give the water settling areas to allow sediment to drop out of the water and be naturally treated as it passes over rocks and vegetation before flowing downstream.

    Oxford road stormwater area

  • This project incorporates two key components: the purchase of eight streetlights, each with two solar panels and four batteries, to be installed on the Scenic Highway at the entrance to Causeway Lake; and the purchase and installation of a solar BBQ (electric BBQ, light and solar panels/roof structure) at Farnborough Beach to replace a gas BBQ.

    Both installations will be 100% off-grid, stand-alone solar powered facilities. The ongoing contribution of the renewable solar power will reduce power costs and provide an excellent demonstration to encourage the broader community to transition to renewable power sources. Signage will be installed at both locations to promote the project and highlight the threat of climate change to the Great Barrier Reef.

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