The Department of Environment and Science (DES) is adding 3,400 hectares of the former Glen Rock State Forest to the new 2,890-hectare Main Range Conservation Park, south of Gatton.
Announcing the measure in Parliament, Minister for the Environment, Meaghan Scanlon said the dedication of the former State Forest would result in two key conservation areas in the region linked for the first time.
“It will protect the habitat of the glossy-black cockatoo, brush-tailed rock wallaby and the powerful owl (pictured),” Ms Scanlon said.
“It follows the handback of more than 160,000 hectares of land to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people in the State’s far north earlier this year, plus another 4,400 hectares across the State also being protected,” she said.
Ms Scanlon said Glen Rock’s rivers and creeks supported key riparian habitat and were part of an important aquifer recharge area for the Lockyer Creek system, a tributary of the Brisbane River.
“Following the transfer, the former State Forest land will combine with the Main Range National Park to host more than 41,000 hectares of continuous protected area, ranging from the NSW border, north along the Great Dividing Range,” she said.
“It’s the type of work that builds on our $60 million commitment to expand Queensland’s protected areas, and adds to our record $1.4 billion budget for the environment and COVID-19 economic recovery.”
The property was formerly one of the largest cattle grazing areas in South East Queensland before it was bought by the Government in 1995.
More recently, Glen Rock State Forest has been used for a wide variety of purposes including beekeeping, research projects, camping, bushwalking and horse-riding.
“My Department is now working with the Yuggera Ugarapul people to identify key values of the Glen Rock and the Main Range area to determine future management requirements that will best address threats to the environmental and cultural values of the land,” Ms Scanlon said.
