Blue Heart, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Fast Facts
- Location: Maroochy River Catchment, Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Focus Area: 5000 hectares, including 1200 hectares of publicly owned and managed land
- Carbon farming methods: Blue carbon sequestration
- Project collaborators: Queensland Government, Sunshine Coast Council, Unitywater
- Project period: Sub-projects underway, with project planning up to 2100
The Blue Heart project is a collaborative partnership between the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Sunshine Coast Council and the local water and sewerage services provider, Unitywater.
The project will demonstrate how land can be managed to improve water quality, biodiversity and carbon sequestration, while supporting landholders and local communities to adopt new land management practices. It also provides an opportunity to work with the Traditional Owners, the Kabi Kabi First Nations people, to honour cultural heritage and practices and discuss new opportunities.
The project aims to protect and manage the most critical areas of the Maroochy floodplain, with the initial focus on a core area of around 1200 hectares. It will not affect the existing land use entitlements of current private land owners, and through a coordinated and supported approach, will enable them to explore new land management options for the use of their properties.
The Blue Heart region on the Sunshine Coast spans more than 5000 hectares within the Maroochy River catchment and contains important environmental features. It acts as a critical flood storage area to protect the catchment from periodic flooding and possible incremental tidal floods.
What is blue carbon?
Blue carbon is the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses. These ecosystems sequester and store large quantities of blue carbon in both the plants and the sediment below.
More information can be found by visiting the Blue Heart Sunshine Coast information page.