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, near the town of Agnes Water, protects a very rare thing – intact Queensland coastal and riparian forest that has, elsewhere, been dramatically cleared for development.

The reserve was originally donated to us in the 1990s by Michael Myer. It was part of a 600-hectare coastal strip, a quarter of which was kept for the [email protected] beach front eco-estate and the rest donated to us as a nature reserve.

The land boasts rare vine-forest communities, riparian melaleuca forests and corymbia woodlands.

Reedy Creek itself forms a complex bird, freshwater fish and amphibian habitat that supports a diverse range of species, including the vulnerable Grey Goshawk. The reserve also provides a buffer for the adjacent coastal foreshore, which is an important nesting site for marine turtles.

What Reedy Creek Reserve protects

These significant species and communities are found on the reserve and adjacent foreshore:

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 the Paperbark Forest Walk

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

Visiting the Paperbark Forest Boardwalk >>

What we’re doing

The main threats here are weeds escaping from residential areas or brought in by visitors, feral animals (including foxes that prey on turtle nests) and erosion of sandy soils.

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

Thankfully, the neighbouring [email protected] development was done to strict environmental standards, including using local native plants in their allotments.

Revegetation work has been carried out on the foreshore to stabilise the dunes. 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 encourage 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

Owls of Australia

Grass trees

Tawny Frogmouth

Gliders

Goannas (Monitor Lizards)

Giant Burrowing Cockroaches