An area of land that is double the size of Tasmania is now officially protected in Queensland, following an announcement by the Queensland Government this month.

The Queensland Government announced at the beginning of the month that another 43,000 hectares of land including national parks and nature refuges across the state is now protected, bringing the total protected areas covered to 14.3 million hectares.

South East Queensland landholders actively contributed by nominating a number of nature refuges to protect the critical ecosystems, plants, and wildlife in their region.

New protected areas in South East Queensland include:

• Lamington National Park (increased by 129.9 hectares).
• Mount Mellum Nature Refuge, Noosa (10.32 hectares addition to an existing nature refuge).
• Weyba Nature Refuge, Noosa (121.53 hectares in addition to an existing nature refuge).
• D’Aguilar National Park, Somerset (increased by 52.5 hectares).

Last year’s budget announced the state’s single largest investment to date ($262.5 million) towards expanding the state’s network of protected areas.

The Premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk says the multimillion-dollar investment will go towards creating new national parks and supporting the 17,000 jobs that rely on the tourism our protected areas generate.

Sources: QLD Gov Medial Statement https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/96904