Straddling the NSW–Qld border, UNESCO World-Heritage-listed Lamington National Park is one of the world’s best sites to immerse yourself in ancient Gondwanan rainforest.
Set aside in 1915, after years of campaigning from NPAQ founder Romeo Lahey and Binna Burra founder Arthur Groom, Lamington National Park covers 21,176 ha of glorious, lush green habitat that shelters abundant birdlife, including the rare (but rowdy) Albert’s lyrebird, the endangered eastern bristlebird and the beautiful satin bowerbird. Lamington NP also harbours several species of earthworm found nowhere else, the vulnerable Richmond birdwing butterfly, the colourful Lamington spiny crayfish and the endangered spotted-tailed quoll.
The December Park of the Month, on Saturday 13 December at Binna Burra Upper Day Use Area was scaled back to include only a few events. However, our December BioBlitz will not only run throughout the Park in December, but also through the month of January, while our team takes a well-earned holiday break.
Park of the Month is a key initiative of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) and NPAQ’s Parks Connect program. We’re passionate about parks, and by sharing decades of knowledge from committed volunteers, conservationists and National Park Rangers with local communities and visitors, we hope Queenslanders from all walks of life will fall in love with our amazing wild places.
We set up in conjunction with the Lamington Natural History Association to guide our walkers and explain Parks Connect and the programs we offer to guests and visitors to this incredible World Heritage-listed national park. Many thanks to both Binna Burra Lodge and the Lamington Natural History Association for their assistance and warm welcome. If you’re up at Binna Burra Section, the Teahouse is a great place to pause and take in the beautiful view.
Participants set off with Barry Davies and Suzanne Noakes, President and Vice President of the Lamington Natural History Association, on a guided walk of the 5-km Tullawallal Circuit, taking in part of the famed Border Track and winding up to a pocket of Antarctic beech (Nothofagus moorei) on the summit that makes up the most northernmost patch of this species in Australia and is one of our remaining links with the ancient forests of Gondwana.
A great little outdoors nook was converted into a temporary writers’ room for the Words in the Wild event, where participants were invited to think of themselves as the ancient forest or another natural element, and to ‘immortalise’ this park in words, using all the tips in an editor’s toolbox. Of course, if you’re camping or staying at Binna Burra, don’t skip a visit to the quaint reading room in Groom’s Cottage, which documents the history of this extraordinary place and the close relationship between Binna Burra’s founder, Arthur Groom, and NPAQ’s founder, Romeo Lahey.
Parks Connect is proudly supported through funding from the Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
