Reedy Creek

Established:
2004

Area:
475 ha

Location:
130km north-west
of Bundaberg

Traditional Owners:
Bailai, Gooreng Gooreng,
Gurang & Taribelang Bunda peoples

Reedy Creek Reserve, home to an intact patch of endangered Queensland coastal forest, has some very special neighbours.

One of them, the Loggerhead Turtle, is among the biggest marine turtles on earth, and regularly comes in from the Coral Sea to nest on nearby beaches that Bush Heritage manages. Another is the rare Grey Goshawk, which has been spotted within the reserve.

The most recent arrivals are people who've joined a nearby residential project that underpins our conservation work here. Called [email protected], it's part of a 600-hectare coastal strip bought by Michael Myer in the 1990s.

A quarter of the land was kept for housing and shared areas of native vegetation, the rest was donated to Bush Heritage to protect as a nature reserve. Residents pay a levy that funds management work – a superb example of how humans can help our non-human neighbours.

What Reedy Creek Reserve protects

This reserve protects a very rare thing – intact Queensland coastal and riparian forest. Elsewhere it's been dramatically cleared for development. These significant species and communities are found on the reserve and adjacent foreshore that we help manage:

Animals: Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Beach Stone-curlew, Grey Goshawk, Barking Owl, Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Northern Brown Bandicoot, Little Red Flying Fox, Giant Burrowing Cockroach and marine turtles (Loggerhead Turtle, Flatback Turtle, Green Turtle).

Plants: Lobelia Nummularia, Broad-leaved Paperbark, Silver-leafed Paperbark, Swamp Mahogany, Ribbon Fan Palm, Pink Bloodwood, Moreton Bay Ash, Wallum Banksia.

Vegetation communities: Mixed vine forest (endangered), Melaleuca, Red Gum and Brushbox forest, Corymbia and eucalypt forests.

Visiting Reedy Creek

Reedy Creek is open to visitors and includes a short but spectacular walk that will take you into the heart of a very special paperbark forest, rarely seen in such pristine condition. Come and take a look around! More on visiting Reedy Creek.

What we’re doing

As well as paying an annual environmental levy to look after the reserve, residents also have to meet strict environmental guidelines, including using local native plants in their allotments.

‘The people who live at the neighbouring residential development [email protected] play an essential role in the protection and restoration of this reserve.'
– Reedy Creek's Reserve Manager, Mat McLean

As this reserve abuts a residential area, fire management is a priority for ecological and safety reasons.

We work with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to monitor and protect the nesting sites of the local Loggerhead and Flatback turtles on adjacent beaches. Some residents also help with turtle nest monitoring.

Eggs, which females lay in nests dug into sand, are highly vulnerable to predation by foxes, so we undertake regular fox control.

Revegetation work has been carried out on the foreshore to stabilise the dunes and protect nesting turtles from light pollution. Further reveg work is happening in cleared areas using endemic tree stock. We're also carefully managing areas of rare vine thicket rainforest and planting on the fridges of the rainforest area to encourge it to extend.

Giant Cockroaches

Cockroach expert Dr Harley Rose from the University of Sydney, has revealed that Reedy Creek has some very rare Giant Burrowing Cockroaches. We think this species is endemic to a small area and might even be restricted to 10-12 kilometres of the coastline near Reedy Creek.

A Giant Burrowing Cockroach at Reedy Creek. Photo Steve Heggie.

Cultural values

This reserve contains cultural heritage materials of interest to Aboriginal people. When Michael Myer bought the land he gifted an additional parcel of land to the Traditional Owners.

Species on Reedy Creek

Grass trees

Owls of Australia

Goannas (Monitor Lizards)

Tawny Frogmouth

Gliders

Giant Burrowing Cockroaches