Local hero award recognises 30 years of river restoration efforts

RICHMOND Riverkeeper stalwart Kristin Den Exter has received a local hero award for 30 years of landcare and restoration efforts at the NSW Coastal Conference in Ballina.

The awards recognised her outstanding contribution to river health, community collaboration and coastal care.

Den Exter has been a volunteer with the Wilson’s River Landcare Group since 1994 with her focus on education and river health.

“This award recognises the incredible collective effort of our community,” she said.

“From Elders and artists to scientists and volunteers, we’re all working together so that the rivers of the Richmond catchment can one day be drinkable, swimmable and fishable again.”

Den Exter studied environmental science and became a lecturer in the environmental science department at Southern Cross University in Lismore.

The coastal conference included keynote speakers from universities and three-days of activities across Ballina.

It included an insight into the Shaws Bay revitalisation and lighthouse dune care.

There was also a look at nature-based solutions to instream works at Macguires Creek.

It culminated with an awards night for innovation and community involvement with a focus on ecologically sustainable management of the NSW coastal zone.

The local hero award for Den Exter comes off the back of another successful Richmond Riverfest which included a month’s work of activities and workshops across Ballina and Lismore.

Highlights included school planting days, weaving groups with indigenous women, a come-and-try outrigging event, tinnie restoration trips and creative workshops with industry experts.

Another project saw the Riverkeepr group plant 1500 native trees and grasses along a key tributary of Boomerang Creek to improve fish habitat and reconnect remnants of the Big Scrub rainforest.