Brisbane school wins $10K prize for five-year creek restoration project

A Brisbane primary school, a bee expert and an education centre are just some of the environment champions who have been recognised for their valuable work at the Healthy Land and Water Awards gala dinner.

Speaking at the dinner, Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch announced the winner of the $10,000 Minister’s Grand Prize and congratulated the other winners who won a share of $19,000 for their crucial efforts to protect and improve the state’s environment.

“This year’s grand prize has been awarded to Hilder Road State School for their work to restore and protect ‘Fish Creek’ – a waterway that runs right next to their school,” Ms Enoch said.

Member for Cooper Kate Jones congratulated Hilder Road State School for this amazing achievement.

“The students and teachers at Hilder Road State School have been working since 2013 to clear litter and replace weeds with local native plants in a 2km squared section of Fish Creek,” Ms Jones said.

“Thanks to these fantastic efforts, Fish Creek is now much healthier and will continue to stay healthy well into the future.”

Ms Enoch said it was encouraging to see so many passionate people and organisations who were committed to keeping our environment clean.

“Congratulations to all of the winners of this year’s Healthy Land and Water awards, it is an honour to recognise your ongoing contributions to environmental conservation,” Ms Enoch said.

Healthy Land and Water is an independent organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Government to improve the sustainable use of land and waterways in South-East Queensland.

Healthy Land and Water CEO Julie McLellan congratulated the 2018 finalists and said they are inspirational environmental leaders.

“It is heart-warming to witness the passion in the community for our environment and the selfless dedication so many people have for protecting our remarkable part of the world,” Ms McLellan said.

“We believe it is crucial to celebrate the people helping to make Queensland a greener, cleaner and healthier place to live so they inspire more people to take action.”

The full list of this year’s Healthy Land and Water Award winners below:

• Brisbane primary school Hilder Road State School won the Minister’s Grand Prize for restoring and protecting a local waterway, Fish Creek, by removing litter and weeds from 2,072 metres of creekbank from the area over the past five years.
• Gold Coast resident Jordyn de Boer won the Lifetime Achievement Award for developing Boomerang Bags, a community-based initiative to produce hand-sewed reusable bags from recycled material.
• Brisbane student Alexander Davies won the Youth Environment Champion Award in recognition of his efforts to regenerate rainforest habitat nearby Ambrose Treacy College.
• Brisbane resident and Bulimba Creek Catchments Coordinating Committee project manager Wayne Cameron was inducted into the Healthy Land and Water Hall of Fame for his 25 years of service to South East Queensland’s environment.
• Moreton Bay resident Bob Luttrell won the Science Innovation Award for his work to nurture and protect stingless bees and for educating the community on the bees’ importance to biodiversity.
• Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre won the Sustainable Education Award for developing a science education program that allows students to engage in scientific research and build an appreciation for South East Queensland’s waterways.
• The University of Queensland’s Underwater Club (UniDive) won the Environmental Guardians Award for a pioneering project to survey and analyse Flinders Reef Marine Park and produce a detailed report on their findings.
• Ipswich resident Luise Manning shared the Volunteer of the Year Award for establishing Springfield Lakes Nature Care and for being the driving force behind the group’s projects to clean-up Spring Lake and eradicate pest species from the local environment.
• Brisbane resident Mathew Townsend shared the Volunteer of the Year Award for establishing Nature Freedom, a social enterprise that helps young people with disabilities and mental health issues improve their leadership skills and find employment in the environment sector.
• Seqwater, based in Ipswich, won the Sustainable Water Management Award for establishing a partnership with six landcare and catchment groups to improve water quality on private agriculture property.
• Bee expert and Brisbane resident Dr Tim Heard won the Sustainable Agriculture Award for helping farmers maximise the pollination of agricultural crops through the introduction of stingless bees, and his ongoing work to improve hive design and beekeeping techniques.
• Austinville Landcare won the Healthy Habitat Award for its skilful planning and execution of work to restore a 7-kilometre section of Austinville Valley, a critically-endangered sub-tropical lowland rainforest on the Gold Coast.

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