Mary

The Mary River is located in Queensland, Australia just north of Brisbane. The river rises at Booroobin in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, west of Caloundra. From its source, the Mary River flows north through the towns of Kenilworth, Gympie, Tiaro and Maryborough before emptying into the Great Sandy Strait, a passage of water between the mainland and Fraser Island, near the town of River Heads, 17 km south of Hervey Bay. The river is home to the endangered Mary River Turtle (Elusor macrurus), the Queensland Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) and the endangered Mary River Cod (Maccullochella peelii mariensis).In April of 2006, Peter Beattie, the Premier of Queensland announced that the Mary would be dammed at Traveston Crossing which is about 20 kilometres south of Gympie. The mega dam would flood over 9000 hectares of prime agricultural land and inundate or fundamentally alter the communities of Kandanga, Imbil and Carters Ridge. Over 900 families will be forced from their homes if this proposal goes ahead.The dam is an act of environmental vandalism which will destroy the eco system of the river valley and threaten the downstream eco systems including the World Heritage listed Great Sandy Straits and protected Ramsaar Wetlands.If you want to learn more about the campaign to keep the Mary River flowing free go to www.savethemaryriver.com. To learn more about the downstream impacts of the proposed dam go to www.ourgreatsandy.com