A REVIEW OF PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES to DECEMBER 2016 Written and Published by MCCG, November 2017 Page 1 MCCG Review of Progress to December 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... 2 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................... 4 1.1 Major Conclusions ............................................................................. 4 1.2 Major Recommendations for the Future Direction of MCCG ............... 6 2 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 8 2.1 Earlier Strategic Plan and Reviews .................................................... 8 2.2 The 2016 Review ............................................................................... 9 2.3 Description of Catchment and Introduction to Environmental Issues 9 3 FINANCE ................................................................................................. 12 3.1 Annual Income and Expenditure ..................................................... 12 4 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION ................................................... 14 4.1 MCCG’s Current Management .......................................................... 14 4.2 MCCG’s Strategic Planning .............................................................. 16 5 PROMOTING MCCG AND OUR EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ....................... 17 5.1 Developing our Membership ............................................................ 17 5.2 Friends of Moggill Creek .................................................................. 17 5.3 Newsletter ...................................................................................... 18 5.4 Publications and Reports ................................................................. 18 5.5 Events, Education and Communications .......................................... 19 5.6 Photography Competition ................................................................ 19 5.7 Website ........................................................................................... 20 5.8 Facebook ......................................................................................... 21 5.9 The Cottage ..................................................................................... 21 5.10 MCCG and Other Environmental Organisations ................................ 22 6 BIODIVERSITY, LAND AND WATER CARE ................................................ 23 6.1 Overview ......................................................................................... 23 Location ............................................................................................. 23 Development Impacts .......................................................................... 23 Soil and Landscape Features ................................................................. 24 Biodiversity Significance ....................................................................... 24 Ecological Challenges ........................................................................... 28 6.2 Established and Emerging Weeds of the Moggill Creek Catchment .. 29 Vines and climbers .............................................................................. 29 Trees ................................................................................................. 30 Shrubs ............................................................................................... 30 Herbaceous and ground-cover species ................................................... 31 6.3 Review of Cat’s Claw Strategy ......................................................... 35 How do we respond? ............................................................................ 35 Recent on-ground achievements ........................................................... 36 Conclusions from the recent review ....................................................... 36 Proposed activities .............................................................................. 36 6.4 The Nursery..................................................................................... 37 Main Concerns .................................................................................... 38 Seed collection and storage .................................................................. 38 Vegetative propagation ........................................................................ 39 Inventory enhancement ....................................................................... 39 6.5 Summary of Section Achievements and Challenges ......................... 39 Final_07 Nov.docm Page 2 MCCG Review of Progress to December 2016 Section 1: Pullenvale Road / Moons Lane ............................................... 39 Section 2: Lower Moggill Creek ............................................................. 42 Section 3: Huntington/Tuckett .............................................................. 47 Section 4: Showgrounds ...................................................................... 53 Section 5: Haven Road......................................................................... 59 Section 6: Upper Brookfield .................................................................. 62 Section 6a: Pacey Road ........................................................................ 66 Section 7: Gold Creek Reserve .............................................................. 69 Section 8: Wonga Creek ....................................................................... 71 Section 9: Upper Gold Creek ................................................................. 77 Section 10: Lower Gold Creek ............................................................... 80 Section 11: McKay Brook ..................................................................... 82 Section 12: Gap Creek ......................................................................... 87 Section 13: Mt Coot-tha Park ................................................................ 90 6.6 Land for Wildlife in Moggill Creek Catchment .................................. 93 7 CATCHMENT WIDE INVESTIGATIONS ..................................................... 95 7.1 Overview ......................................................................................... 95 7.2 Planning Considerations .................................................................. 95 7.3 Platypus Survey .............................................................................. 97 Key Points of Recent Surveys ................................................................ 98 7.4 Creek Health Monitoring Program (CHMP) ...................................... 99 7.5 What species of fish occur in Moggill Creek? ................................. 102 7.6 Bird Focus in Habitat Restoration .................................................. 104 7.7 Frogs of Moggill Creek Catchment ................................................. 106 7.8 Dragonflies and dragonfly monitoring in Moggill Creek ................. 108 8 MAJOR CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CURRENT REVIEW ................................................................................................ 109 8.1 Conclusions ................................................................................... 110 8.2 Future Direction of MCCG: Major Recommendations ..................... 113 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... 114 REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 114 APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................... 115 APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................................... 117 APPENDIX 3 ............................................................................................... 121 APPENDIX 4 ............................................................................................... 124 APPENDIX 5 ............................................................................................... 127 Final_07 Nov.docm Page 3 MCCG Review of Progress to December 2016 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Moggill Creek Catchment Management Group Inc. Incorporated on 8 December 1997, the Moggill Creek Catchment Management Group Inc. (hereinafter referred to as MCCG) is a volunteer community action group aiming to conserve native ecosystems on private and public land, and to provide information to landholders responsible for land management. Moggill Creek and its tributaries are situated in the foothills of the D’Aguilar Range, in the outer western area of Brisbane. It comprises significant areas of conservation parks, acreage properties and urban areas. Review Rationale A Review of Progress and Challenges from 1999 to December 2010 was published in 2011. The MCCG Management Committee decided in 2016 to update that review and its strategic and action plans to ensure that our achievements are recorded and monitored against the objectives we have set and to plan our future activities. This review is predominantly concerned with activity up to the end of December 2016, although in a few instances, some early activity in 2017 is included. Objectives This Review has been prepared for members and other stakeholders with the following objectives in mind: To critically review activities of the group since the 1999-2010 review; To provide an objective assessment