National Park Declaration Map

North Stradbroke Island National Park Declaration Map

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Native plants for Stradbroke Island gardens

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Stradbroke gardens
In this edition we have seen the difference 10 years of bush care can make and some weeds to watch out for.  Below is some advice as to suitable trees, ground cover and shrubs to plant in your Stradbroke garden. Suitable native trees Lophestemon confertus (box tree) - canopy tree for big gardens or pruningBanksia integrifolia – (coastal banksia) - attracts birds
Banksia aemula or serrata (wallum banksia) – attracts birdsElaeocarpus reticulatus (blue berry ash)Pandanus pedunculatus (pandanus/ screw palm)
Cupaniopsis anacardioides (tuckeroo)

Suitable ground cover Carpobrotus rossii (Pig face)Lomandra longifolia
Dianella caerula (edible purple fruit)Jasminum didymum – yellow flowersHibbertia scandens (yellow snake vine)Myoporum acuminatumViola banksii (native violet)

Suitable shrubs Banksia robur (swamp banskia)
Banksia oblongifolia (dwarf banksia)Melaleuca thymiIfolia (thyme honey myrtle) or nodosa (prickly leaved paperbark)
Melaleuca pachyphyllus (red flowering swamp bottl…
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Dugongs in Moreton Bay

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A shy creature, distantly related to the elephant, which communicates by chirps, whistles and barks –­ the dugong may be one of Moreton Bay’s least seen and most fascinating inhabitants. Approximately 1000 dugongs live in the warm waters of the sheltered and shallow bay. Globally, however, there are serious threats to this gentle animal’s survival. The World Conservation Union lists the dugong as vulnerable to extinction.

The name dugong derives from a Malay word meaning Lady of the Sea, yet elsewhere they are less-flatteringly referred to as Sea Cows, due to their diet of seagrass.

They are the only marine herbivorous sea mammals in the world and have been observed to suckle their young for up to five years, even though calves start eating seagrass at three months old.

Solitary animals, they travel alone or in pairs for most of their 70-year lifespan, although they have been seen in herds of 10 to 300.

Their distant relationship to the elephant goes some way to explaining the dugong…
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The Eighteen Mile Swamp

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Swamps fringe the Northern, Eastern and Southern shores of North Stradbroke Island. The Eighteen Mile Swamp, a great trough in the sand lying seaward of the huge dunes of the main sand mass is kept full of fresh water by seepage from the sand mass rather than surface run off. Straddie is the southernmost high dune sand mass in Australia and the second–largest sand island in the world after the World Heritage Listed Fraser Island. This swamp teems with life and interest and is so special that it is included within the Moreton Bay RAMSAR site, recognised as one of the world’s premier wetlands. It is in fact the longest wetland of its type in the world.

It is only this year that it has finally been given the highest form of regulatory protection available in Queensland by being declared National Park. The park has been named NAREE BUDJONG DJARA  by indigenous people on the island who are engaged in its joint management with the state. This level of protection has been a long time coming…
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