Bushfire recovery project
This project is helping protect and regenerate native species in an area impacted by fires in 2019.
Protecting and regenerating native species from weeds in bushfire-affected areas.
This important project is helping protect and regenerate native species in an area that was impacted by high-intensity fires in late 2019.
While significant natural regeneration is occurring, re-sprouting and germinating native species need to be protected from weed growth that could overwhelm and inhibit natural regrowth.
To date, the program has restored and protected habitat for more than 20 state and nationally listed threatened species, and restored areas within an Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) listed critically endangered ecological community.
The first phase of the project was focused on the rehabilitation of rainforest species damaged across the Illinbah section of Lamington National Park. Following the success of the initiative, the work has been expanded to other areas within Lamington, Mt Barney, and Main Range National Parks.
This project is focused on:
- Restoring the rainforest canopy and removing transformer weeds which became established after the fires.
- Controlling access to bushfire-affected areas including repairing and erecting fencing to prevent cattle intrusions.
What we are doing
Facilitating natural regeneration by controlling high-impact weed species.
The first phase of the project involved:
- Removing select weeds such as lantana, moth vine, white passionflower, palm grass, and devil’s fig from the upper Illinbah section of Lamington National Park, part of the Gondwana World Heritage Rainforests area.
- Expanding this work to other areas within Lamington, Mt Barney, and Main Range National Parks.
The second phase focuses on:
- Continuing to restore critically endangered lowland subtropical rainforest in Lamington National Park.
- Repairing and erecting fencing to prevent cattle intrusions.
Measuring success
The recovery work assists natural regeneration, protects threatened species and threatened ecological communities, and improves the ecological integrity of this part of the Gondwana World Heritage Rainforests area.
To date, the program has restored and protected habitat for more than 20 state and nationally-listed threatened species and restored areas within an EPBC-listed critically endangered ecological community.
In total, over 200 hectares of habitat - including high conservation communities such as lowland subtropical rainforest - and 7km of boundary and internal fencing have been resourced by this program.
Why this project is important
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The areas affected by bushfires form part of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area. The area consists of several vegetation communities including EPB-listed critically endangered lowland subtropical rainforest. The areas provide habitat for several listed plant and animal species such as the Fleay’s Barred Frog, the Giant Barred Frog, and Onion Cedar. Without intervention, weed growth in the area would overwhelm and inhibit re-sprouting and germinating native species. |
Project snapshot
| Project name: | Bushfire recovery project: emergency pest post mitigation & habitat protection project |
| t managers: | Suzi Moore, Healthy Land & Water |
| Catchment: | South East Queensland |
| Timing: | 2020 – June 2022 |
| Budget: | $1mil |
| Partnerships: | This recovery project forms part of a broader program of funding that the Australian Government created after the 2019 bushfires in response to the tragic bushfires of 2019 as part of this broader strategy to promote on-ground interventions and recovery activities. |
| Related project: |
What's next
There is huge potential to build on the successful work.
Project collaborators
This 10-million program was created by the government in response to the tragic bushfires of 2019 and includes several projects all over the country that the government approved and funded as part of this broader strategy to promote on-ground interventions and recovery activities.
This recovery project is made possible by the support from the Australian Government's Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program.
