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 Sunrise@1770 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 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.
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.
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!
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 Sunrise@1770 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 rainforest fringe to encourage it to extend.
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.
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.
BLOG 30/01/2023
A new crayfish species in the Tenuibranchiurus genus has been found in an unlikely location on our Reedy Creek Reserve in Queensland. Only one of the species in this genus has been formally described, and to add to the mystery it is found significantly further south than Reedy Creek.
Read MoreBLOG 12/03/2020
Joining the Bush Heritage family at the beginning of December 2019 has already given me a swag load of stories that could have me yarning all day, so I’ll do my best to cover a snap shot of the highlights so far as Reserve Manager of Reedy Creek.
Read MoreBLOG 18/02/2019
Thanks to a renowned cockroach expert, we've gained some new insights into the Giant Burrowing Cockroaches found at our Reedy Creek Reserve in southern coastal Queensland.
Read MoreBLOG 19/10/2018
The dry winter experienced by much of Queensland, including Reedy Creek Reserve, has had at least one positive outcome - perfect conditions to stomp into the swamp. In this often-difficult-to-access country there were some woody weed outbreaks that we needed to address. This past September their time was up.
Read MoreBUSHTRACKS 11/04/2016
At Reedy Creek Reserve in Queensland, volunteer Gary Simpson is helping monitor and protect one of the world’s most beloved, and vulnerable species – the Loggerhead Turtle.
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