Save the Mary River Turtle

Welcome to Tiaro Landcare

Tiaro & District Landcare group is based in the Tiaro district situated between Maryborough and Gympie in South East Queensland and is part of the Mary River catchment.

The indigenous peoples were the Butchulla nation who knew the Mary River as Moonaboola. In 1842 Andrew Petrie and his party rowed up the river until they were blocked by rapids near Tiaro and named it the Wide Bay River.

In 1847, the Governor of Queensland changed its name to Mary, naming it after his wife. The headwaters of the Mary originate in the Conondale Ranges near Maleny. Three hundred and seven kilometres downstream, the waters of the Mary empty into the Great sandy Straits west of Fraser Island at River Heads. Major floods have been recorded at Tiaro with the river rising over 20m in 1893 (21.95m), 1955 (20.75m) and in 1974 (20.62m).

The health of our district is dependent on the condition of the Mary River, her many creeks and all the plants and animals that are sustained by her.