Healthy Land & Water secures $12.25 million from Queensland Government to scale up environmental action
Healthy Land & Water will deliver three environmental programs worth $12.25 million across South East Queensland under the Queensland Government's Natural Resource Management Expansion Program (NRMEP), scaling evidence-based solutions to protect threatened species, restore landscapes, and strengthen urban biodiversity.
HEALTHY LAND & WATER MEDIA RELEASE
Date 22 January 2026
Healthy Land & Water secures $12.25 million from Queensland Government to scale up environmental action
- Healthy Land & Water receives $12.25 million to deliver three major environmental programs across South East Queensland under the Queensland Government's Natural Resource Management Expansion Program.
- Projects will protect threatened species across 3,250 hectares, restore waterways, landscapes and soil in priority catchments, including Laidley Creek, and strengthen native vegetation corridors and biodiversity in urban areas, across 320 hectares.
- Investment builds on 25 years of comprehensive environmental monitoring, scaling evidence-based solutions to match the pace of environmental challenges.
Healthy Land & Water will deliver three environmental programs worth $12.25 million across South East Queensland under the Queensland Government's Natural Resource Management Expansion Program (NRMEP), scaling evidence-based solutions to protect threatened species, restore landscapes, and strengthen urban biodiversity.
The three projects, Threatened Species Resilience, Living Landscapes & Resilience, and Urban Rewilding, represent a significant scaling of Healthy Land & Water's landscape-level approach to environmental management, backed by over 25 years of comprehensive monitoring and scientific expertise.
Healthy Land &Water CEO Julie McLellan said the three projects will deliver measurable environmental outcomes across some of South-East Queensland's most critical landscapes.
"These projects target the environmental challenges that matter most to our region, protecting threatened species like brush-tailed rock wallabies, greater gliders and Glossy Black-Cockatoos, restoring degraded streambanks to reduce flood risk and improve water quality, and enhancing natural areas in our urban environment where most South East Queenslanders live," McLellan said.
"In priority catchments like Laidley Creek, we'll be working with landholders to restore streambanks and improve land and soil health, delivering benefits for agricultural productivity, water quality, and flood resilience. In urban areas across South East Queensland, we'll be strengthening habitat corridors and installing nest boxes to support wildlife in our growing cities."
The CEO emphasises that each project builds on over 25 years of comprehensive environmental monitoring that allows Healthy Land & Water to identify where investment will deliver the greatest return for nature and community.
The projects
Threatened Species Resilience ($250,648)
This project will improve habitat resilience and reduce key threats to threatened wildlife, including the Koala, Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, Glossy Black Cockatoo, and Greater Glider, by undertaking threat reduction activities and improved fire management strategies across 3,250 hectares of habitat adjacent to Main Range National Park.
Living Landscapes & Resilience ($4 million)
Targeting streambank restoration within the Laidley Creek sub-catchment and surrounding areas to increase flood resilience and water quality, while safeguarding productive agricultural land, this project will restore 1.25 kilometres of streambank, improve soil health across 400 hectares, and improve land condition across 50 hectares through controlling invasive weeds.
Urban Rewilding ($8 million)
This project will strengthen the biodiversity and disaster resilience of urban and peri-urban areas across South East Queensland by improving 140 hectares of native vegetation condition, increasing the extent of native vegetation by 180 hectares, and supporting threatened species by installing 70 habitat refugia.
Evidence-informed action at scale
Healthy Land & Water has strengthened its approach to landscape-scale solutions that address multiple environmental challenges simultaneously.
"What makes these projects powerful is how they address multiple challenges at once. When we restore a riparian corridor along Laidley Creek, we're improving water quality for communities downstream, protecting productive farmland from erosion, creating wildlife habitat, enhancing biodiversity, and building resilience against floods and droughts," McLellan said. "These aren't just environmental projects, they're investments in the liveability, productivity, and resilience of South East Queensland."
Healthy Land & Water’s Chief Science & Sustainability Officer, Dr Andrew O’Neill, says the success of these initiatives stems from science and strong collaborative foundations.
“Success depends on strong partnerships across government, industry, and community. It also stems from over 25 years of monitoring conducted in partnership with the Queensland Government, water utilities and universities. This year, Healthy Land & Water has worked on 75 programs, all driven by science and demonstrating the power of collaborative environmental management,” O’Neill said.
While maintaining core focus on proven environmental management techniques, the organisation continues to explore innovative approaches, including environmental markets through the ENVestor program, circular economy principles, and improved monitoring technologies.
This positions South East Queensland as a leader in evidence-based environmental management, creating approaches that can be adapted and applied in other regions facing similar challenges.
All projects are funded by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Management Expansion Program.
Read the full government media statement here.
ENDS
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To arrange interviews or for more information: Marketing and Communications Specialist, Alberta Guadagnini, Healthy Land & Water,
About Healthy Land & Water
Healthy Land & Water is South East Queensland's official Natural Resource Management organisation, delivering science-backed environmental solutions that restore ecosystems, strengthen climate resilience, and create lasting impact.
For over 25 years, the organisation has turned environmental research into action across diverse landscapes, from inland catchments to Quandamooka (Moreton Bay). Healthy Land & Water combines environmental science, engineering expertise, and innovative funding mechanisms to deliver measurable results that protect natural assets, improve water quality, and build thriving ecosystems.
Working alongside Traditional Owners, landholders, community groups, governments, councils, and industry, the organisation designs and delivers nature-based projects that address the region's most critical environmental challenges, improving biodiversity and ecosystem values, honouring cultural landscapes, supporting sustainable agriculture, and increasing communities' and landscapes’ resilience to climate events.
From vision to impact, together, Healthy Land & Water is building a more resilient South East Queensland.
