Revitalising Townsville: Komatsu Employee Supports Local Landcare Efforts

Komatsu Live Your Dream – Elizabeth Moreno – Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare Inc (CDTLI)

Mount Isa team member Elizabeth Moreno has helped a community organisation improve the natural environment thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Komatsu Live Your Dream program.

The Live Your Dream initiative enables employees to support a charity or community project that is important to them.

For Elizabeth, that meant partnering with Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare, which has been restoring native habitats across Townsville for decades, reviving barren areas to sustain local wildlife and flora. Elizabeth’s Live Your Dream grant coincided with the group’s 30-year anniversary.

“Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare has done so much with limited resources, and their work benefits not only the environment but also our community. I am so pleased to be able to support them to continue their work,” Elizabeth says.

Elizabeth’s project, which took place in July and August this year, focused on mulching and site consolidation at four locations across Castle Hill, Mundy Creek, Ross River and Rowes Bay. The grant secured 160 cubic meters of high-quality mulch and paid for a landscaper with a mini loader to distribute it across the sites. The mulch acts as a protective layer, helping to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and boost plant health - especially vital during Townsville’s late dry season.

Approximately 25 volunteers joined Elizabeth in preparing and consolidating the sites, participating in extra days of weeding, planting, and mulching. This project’s impact was equivalent to hundreds of hours of manual labour, demonstrating the difference the grant made.

Feedback from the Landcare group has been incredibly positive.

“It’s always a pleasure working with you Liz. You are such a bright spark that brings joy and fun to our work. We appreciate the much-needed resource support you and Komatsu provided to Mundy Creek and our Catchment Care group. Thanks for selecting our Landcare group to assist through the Live Your Dream project!” Said Bernadette Boscacci, Mundy Creek Landcare Site Leader and CDTLI Vice President.

“The Castle Hill volunteers were very grateful to have been provided with mulch which enabled us to plant a new area. The small new plants are really benefiting from the mulch and the protection it provides in this dry time of year. And we also really appreciated that Elizabeth came to visit us at the site and see how we work and were using the resources. The personal dimension of the Komatsu representative visiting our sites and being interested in how we were applying their grant to meet our needs is gratefully appreciated.” Said Julia Hazel, Castle Hill Site Leader.

Elizabeth was delighted to be able to support such a worthy organisation.

“I chose Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare as they are a local group which receives little support. This organisation benefits the environment, the native wildlife and the community. It’s a win-win-win!”