Imagine an isolated strip of tropical rainforest about sixty by three kilometres, surrounded by cleared pastures and swathes of dry eucalypt forest. Give it a bit of altitude, let’s say an average of 800 metres, and almost all of its annual rainfall in summer. Now bless it with almost 900 species of plants and a spectacular array of wildlife, including 227 recorded bird species (one of which is endemic), and presto – Eungella National Park!
A Park Ranger in Great Sandy National Park. A Butchulla man (the Butchulla people are the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of K’gari aka Fraser Island). Holding an identified Indigenous Ranger position and a passion for culture. His aim is to bring cultural awareness and understanding into QPWS and to look after our natural landscapes and sea country in his dual role of Park Ranger and Traditional Custodian. Find out more about the ranger of the month.
It’s a tiny pocket of woodland squeezed to the west by the Bruce Highway, to the south by Deception Bay Rd, and on its other flanks by residential developments.
Our state’s biodiversity has borne the brunt of much of our activity. The last State of the Environment Report contains some sobering figures. From 2007 to 2015 a further 61 fauna species became extinct, endangered or vulnerable (threatened). 68 recognised threats are contributing to this; key ones being vegetation clearing and inappropriate fire and grazing regimes. During the same period 275 plant species became threatened – the key contributing processes again being clearing, the spread of weeds and inappropriate fire regimes.
The Queensland government has recently released a call for Expression of Interest (EoI) from private entities to provide eco-tourism developments in three Queensland national parks.
Bridget Armstrong is a Senior Conservation Officer in the Great Barrier Reef and Marine Parks Region of QPWS. She spent much of her childhood playing in and exploring the bush, beaches and estuaries. She studied ecology at university, and her first job confirmed that what she loved most was to be out in the field, providing ecological advice for park management.
Marika shares her perspective on national parks as a way to foster a curiosity and interest in the world. We all have a opportunity to help reconnect our children – and each other – with our natural places.
Cats take a hefty toll on Australia’s reptiles – killing an estimated 649 million of them every year, including threatened species – according to our new research published in the journal Wildlife Research.
This time last year Dennis wrote about a looming threat to the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve.
Sadly the fears he wrote about have become reality and now commercial fishing is encroaching on sensitive marine reserve area.
A founding purpose for NPAQ was to grow and protect national parks and appreciation for nature. Where once this was reflected in photography and sketches, new technology is opening different frontiers for the sharing of our precious natural places.
Parrallel Parks is one example of this.
