Community members and Council staff who took part in the recent kayaking tour of the Gwydir River agreed, the river is generally healthy, and enjoys a good range of fauna living by the river.
The tour, organised by the Border Rivers-Gwydir CMA and the Upper Gwydir Landcare Association, gave local people the opportunity to see the state of the river and what can be done to both improve and maintain the resource.
Learning about the river: A group of local people setting out to learn more about the Gwydir River.
The tour took a group each day on October 31 and November 1, under the guidance of Dr. Mahri Koch from the CMA, and Andrew Fraser and Peter Vaughan from Out and About Adventures.
Along the way, the groups, including Council’s weeds officers, noted various exotic species amongst the natural vegetation. The weeds officers said the trip helped them identify weeds they would not have otherwise seen.
Dr. Koch and others taking part were also shocked to see in one part of the river, trees which had been dozed and heaped together in the bed of the river.
Council staff Nikki Williams and Saul Standerwick pointed out to community members an area on the northern side of the river which has been fenced off from vehicles and horses, and set aside for regeneration.
Overall, the river was deemed to be healthy, with an abundance of wildlife enjoying the water. The people who took part also enjoyed the water with the comment “we don’t use the river enough” made by several people.
