Cooling the Dunes: From Macadamia Inter-Rows to Turtle Conservation at Mon Repos

Each summer, marine turtles return to Mon Repos on the Bundaberg coast — one of Australia’s most significant turtle rookeries and home to the Mon Repos Turtle Centre.

For years, rangers have monitored nest temperatures closely. What they’ve observed reflects a broader climate trend: sand temperatures during incubation are increasing.

As Ranger Shane explained during a recent site tour, if sand temperatures rise above 34°C, the eggs can die and hatchling numbers decline. For turtle conservation, sand temperature is not an abstract statistic — it directly determines survival.

Behind the dunes, a landscape restoration project is now playing a quiet but important role in addressing that challenge. That is where MFM has been able to assist.

Reinstating a Wetland Video

Two years ago, an additional 40 hectares of land behind the original Mon Repos Conservation Park were secured. Historically, this area had been cane farm, cattle grazing land and, further back in time, natural wetland.

The original system had been modified with drainage channels designed to move water away quickly. Water that once pooled and filtered slowly through the dunes was instead diverted out of the system.

As part of the restoration project, those drainage lines have been filled and the landscape carefully reprofiled to reinstate the original wetland dimensions. Now, instead of rushing out, water pools and lingers.

That water gradually seeps through the sand dunes toward the Pacific Ocean. As it moves, it acts like a natural radiator, moderating sand temperatures before they reach nesting areas. It is not an engineered cooling system; it is the restoration of how the landscape once functioned.

Slowing Water, Restoring Function

The work has involved reprofiling land to hold water longer, creating controlled flow “pinch points”, constructing access tracks, and re-establishing native wetland vegetation.

Managing invasive species has also been part of the challenge. Sesbania — native to Australia but problematic in this setting — has returned more aggressively than expected. Slashing is underway to prevent further seed spread while native groundcover is reintroduced.

During wet seasons, parts of the wetland can hold water knee-deep before it gradually filters through the dunes. The longer water remains in the system, the greater its cooling influence.

Healthy vegetation supports this process by increasing evapotranspiration, stabilising soils and reducing surface heat loads. It is long-term landscape repair rather than short-term intervention.

Where Orchard Equipment Fits

At MFM, we use our Great Plains precision air seeder to establish inter-row cover crops in macadamia orchards. Those inter-rows protect soil, improve infiltration, moderate orchard microclimates and build soil structure over time.

The Great Plains precision seeder being delivered to support native seed establishment as part of the Mon Repos wetland restoration project.

The ranger team is working to establish native groundcover across bare areas around the wetland perimeter — areas currently exposed or dominated by sesbania. Accurate depth placement and good seed-to-soil contact are critical, particularly in sandy soils and where native seed supply is valuable.

The same principles apply in wetland restoration.

The seeder allows controlled depth placement, even distribution and efficient seed use, improving establishment outcomes in challenging conditions.

While designed for orchard systems, its precision translates directly to careful restoration work.

Reintroducing Woongarra Scrub

Beyond the wetland, the broader restoration vision includes reintroducing Woongarra scrub — a rare dry rainforest thicket species once common in the Bundaberg region. Large tracts were historically cleared for agriculture, and rangers are now working to re-establish parcels of this original habitat on higher ground behind the wetlands.

The site also carries layers of history: remnants of the original Mon Repos homestead, a 19th-century stone wall built from locally removed volcanic rock, and land once used for dairy, cane and cattle.

Restoration here reconnects the site to its earlier ecological function.

A Connected Landscape

Macadamia orchards and turtle nesting beaches may seem unrelated, but they share a coastline, a climate and a reliance on careful land management.

In both settings, the fundamentals are consistent: slow water down, protect soil, establish groundcover and build resilience over time.

If holding water longer behind the dunes can help moderate sand temperatures — even marginally — that can improve incubation success.

Lending our seeder is a practical contribution to a much larger conservation effort. We remain macadamia farmers first and foremost, but responsible land stewardship does not stop at orchard boundaries.

From orchard inter-rows to coastal wetlands, healthy ground systems matter.

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