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Tree planting at Galbraith Park; almost finished.
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Tuesday 8th July, 9.00 am to 12.00 pm
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Thursday 10th July, 9.00 am to 12.00 pm
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Where: Community Gardens side of Galbraith Park, Cannonvale. Follow the signs.
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Bring: Sun protective clothing, hat, water bottle and closed in shoes.
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Light morning tea provided.
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WCL would like to thank the Whitsunday Lions Club for their generous donation of $2000.00 to buy mulch for our revegetation sites.
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Beach Scrub Weed Whacking
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When: Tuesday 15th July. 9.00 to 12.00
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Where: Nelly Bay. Meet at the first car park via Trochus Street.
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What: Controlling lantana, mother of millions and other weeds that threaten this beautiful, endangered ecosystem.
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Bring: Sun protective clothing, hat, water bottle and closed in shoes.
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Morning Tea will be provided.
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This project has received funding from the Aurizon Community Giving Fund.
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Our beach scrubs provide habitat to wildlife, are beautiful in their own right, but also provide shelter to homes from significant weather events.
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National Tree Day
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When: Sunday 27th July, 9.00 to 12.00
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Where: Community Gardens side of Galbraith Park, Cannonvale. Follow the signs.
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Bring: Sun protective clothing, hat, water bottle and closed in shoes.
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Filby's motors will be supporting our volunteers on the day with a free sausage sizzle and other goodies.
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Landcare nursery open Saturday the 5th and 19th of July.
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Where: 33 Kelsey Creek Rd Proserpine
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When: 9 am to 12 noon Tuesday & Thursday, & 1st & 3rd Saturday each month.
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What: A huge range of local native plants grown from locally collected seed, at great prices from $3.50. EFTPOS available. Gift vouchers available for a gardener you know. Knowledgeable staff & volunteers are on hand for friendly advice.
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Nursery Volunteer activities
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Where: 33 Kelsey Creek Rd Proserpine
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When: Tuesday & Thursday mornings 9am to 12 noon.
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What: Plant propagation, native seed sowing & preparation, nursery maintenance tasks, plant propagation and a great morning tea with a fantastic bunch of volunteers.
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Please wear sun protection and closed-in shoes.
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Brushing Up On Grass Management
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The WCL team recently attended an Invasive Grasses Workshop hosted by Reef Catchments and delivered by Biosecurity Queensland. The workshop covered identification, management strategies and impacts of invasive grasses such as grader grass, giant rat’s tail grass, and gamba grass. Some of these are total landscape changers, especially if unmanaged, and when fire is involved. The WCL Team were also able to meet with the other members of the Central Qld Coast Landcare Network (Pioneer and Sarina), a rare opportunity. This training opportunity was possible due to the Mackay Whitsunday Streambank Stewardship Programme – funded by Reef Catchments through the Queensland Reef Water Quality Programme.
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What's showing: Hoya australis subsp. australis
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Description: A slender climbing plant which climbs with roots which arise directly from the stem (adventitious), with succulent foliage and clusters of white flowers.
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Distribution: North-eastern New South Wales to north-eastern Queensland and across the Top End to northern Western Australia. Also found on islands to the north. Open forest and vine thicket, mainly in rocky areas.
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Leaves: Thick, fleshy and glossy, with glands (colleters) on the upper surface of the midrib near the petiole. About 40-50 mm in diameter. The stems contain a white, milky sap.
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Flowers: Flowers occur in clusters of up to 40, each on a long pedicel (stalk) and about 20 mm in diameter. They are borne on the same stalk in successive seasons and are fragrant, white in colour with deep red markings in the centre. Do not cut the flowers, as this will stop flowering from this point on the stem.
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Fruit: Pods are long and slender, about 100 mm long containing numerous seeds 3-4mm long.
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Notes: This species is popular in cultivation, it needs good drainage and is well suited to growing in rockeries, containers and hanging baskets. It is tolerant of root constraint; it is thought to flower better when slightly root-bound. Flowering is best if good light is available but the plant will grow in reasonably heavy shade.
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Leaves and form in hanging basket. PHOTO: JS
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Flowers and visitors. PHOTO: JS
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What’s in a Name? Hoya, after Thomas Hoy, English gardener.
australis meaning southern, referring to the global distribution of the species.
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This species is a food plant for the larval stages of the Australian Crow and Eichhorn's Crow Butterflies. The moths pictured on the flower are Amata sp. possibly A. humeralis, feeding on the flower nectar. Interestingly, these moths belong to a family where mimicry of wasps, and of each other, is common, and they have been found to use warning colouration (yellow and black stripes) and also emit an untrasonic click to warn potential predators that they will not be good to eat.
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Galbraith Park Cannonvale: then and now, & why revegetate?
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WCL has been revegetating the riparian (creek bank) zone along Galbraith and Beames Creeks in Cannonvale since 2008. Recent discussions with Council about the future of Galbraith Park saw me looking for old aerial images of the area; I thought that members new and old might find the photos and the history of WCL's project there interesting.
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I stumbled across a website which has a public archive of Australian aerial photographic images: Geosciences Australia: historical aerial photography. Going down this rabbit hole, I discovered that after World War II, there must have been planes with large-format surveillance cameras and pilots with time on their hands, as there are a huge number of continuous west-to-east aerial photo transects covering much of the east coast of Queensland.
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With a little digging, an aerial image of what is now Cannonvale was available from 1945, with fabulously high resolution. A little zoom and crop, and the familiar outlines of Beames creek (left) and Galbraith Creek, (right) are clearly visible, surrounded by cane fields. A house with some Mango trees is visible at the site we planted out in May 2025.
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The next image is from 1960, the main change visible is slightly increased tree cover in the riparian zone, as some natural regeneration has occurred along the creek banks and at the base of the northern hill slope.
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In 1972, you can see the regenerating areas have been cleared again, as the cane fields have expanded. Some trees may have been lost due to category 3 Tropical Cyclone Ada, which did significant damage when it made landfall in the Whitsundays on January 17th, 1970. Trees which have matured in the company of other trees are made more vulnerable to wind damage when their neighbours are removed, as they lose the shelter and support that they have grown up with. The quarry has also started operating on Galbraith Creek to the south.
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By 1980, most of the land is under cane and there is a new access road and what looks like an orchard next to the house. The quarry has expanded as new resorts and marinas are being constructed on the mainland and islands.
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By 1989, there is a new road and new buildings (possibly what is now Whitsunday Food Services) near where Galbraith Park Drive is now. While the surviving trees along the creek have matured and their canopies have spread, there is very little riparian vegetation left. The quarry upstream has also expanded significantly.
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These changes would have affected water quality in the creek and Pioneer Bay. The riparian tree canopy and understorey creek bank vegetation reduces droplet erosion and bank erosion. They also reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients flowing into and down the creek during heavy rain and flooding. Lack of shade on watercourses affects dissolved oxygen levels in the water: cooler water holds more dissolved oxygen, so shallow water exposed to the sun gets hot and deoxygenated, especially at times of low flow. This affects both the health of aquatic life, and of the waterway overall.
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While washed out gravel and stones are visible, clay particles wash away easily and often go unnoticed. It is these finest sediment particles that damage water quality: fine clay particles take days or even weeks to settle. While they are suspended, they reduce underwater light levels; affecting the ability of aquatic plants (both freshwater and marine) to photosynthesise, reducing plant growth and dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Clay particles are electrically charged; they attract and bind to other charged particles. This includes many man-made chemicals such as herbicides and chemical fertilisers, enabling them to be carried away from the source before the particles settle to the seafloor as mud. The mud can be a problem in itself; it smothers and buries attached marine life such as seagrasses and corals.
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Flushes of nutrient-laden sediment after rain feed blooms of microscopic algae in waterways and in the inshore marine environment. Man-made fertilisers are made to be available for plant growth, but in waterways this can be too much of a good thing. Algal blooms can make survival difficult for all but the toughest aquatic life (e.g. cane toad tadpoles and filamentous (slimy) algae). Blooms of single-celled microscopic algae multiply rapidly, then die when the nutrients run out. The mass decomposition can result in low oxygen levels and fish kills in enclosed water bodies and shallow inshore waters. In the sea, excess nutrients increase the growth of attached macro-algae (seaweeds) which directly compete with marine plants such as seagrasses, and attached invertebrates such as corals, for growing space and light.
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Herbicides can also bind to fine clay particles and be carried downstream in floods, eventually settling to the seafloor as sediment. Seagrasses and mangroves are related to land plants and, like them, are sensitive to herbicides. Long-lasting herbicides can accumulate in marine sediments and be re-suspended in storm events, making the impacts on seagrasses chronic.
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The land which became 'Galbraith Park' & surrounds in 1945
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PHOTO: Geosciences Australia
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1960: a little natural riparian regeneration. PHOTO: Geosciences Australia
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1972: Cane growing expands again.
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PHOTO: Geosciences Australia
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1980: very little riparian vegetation remains.
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PHOTO: Geosciences Australia
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1989: Still farmland, but the road which will become Galbraith Park Drive has appeared. PHOTO: Geosciences Australia
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As the human population grows and more land in Cannonvalley is cleared and developed, the small patches and strips of remaining natural vegetation in the landscape, often left along roads, creeks and areas prone to flooding, become critically important as 'wildlife corridors'. These areas of vegetation provide food sources and shelter for animals as they move across the landscape, enabling animals to move between different populations to breed. This mixing is vital in maintaining healthy genetics and viable populations of our local species. The revegetation project in Galbraith Park aims to improve creek water quality, provide habitat and refuges for urban wildlife and also provide accessible natural areas for the community to enjoy.
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WCL began the process of revegetating the banks of Galbraith and Beames Creeks in Galbraith Park in 2008, with the support of Whitsunday Regional Council (WRC). Most of the riparian vegetation had been cleared, parts of the site had been used to stockpile building and municipal waste, and the land and creeks had been extensively re-profiled after this was removed. What was left was a few remnant trees, but mainly bare soil, which was rapidly colonised by invasive weeds. The soil profiles had been significantly disturbed and in some places concealed scattered pieces of non-biodegradable rubbish.
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So began the process of revegetation of the creek banks by WCL staff and volunteers, supported by Whitsunday Regional Council and numerous grants, mainly from State and Federal Governments. The work continues to this day. In the next newsletter, watch it transform into what we have now: in the meantime, go take a walk in the park if you haven't been there, it is remarkable how well nature can recover with just a little help.
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Galbraith Creek looking north before planting, 21-07-2008 PHOTO: Dave Pepplinkhouse
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Before planting: Beames Creek in 2010, looking south. PHOTO: Scott Hardy
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Nutrients, Catchments & Reefs, A guide to nutrients in your landscape, Kelley R, Barnett B, Bainbridge Z, Brodie J, & Pearson R, Catchment to Reef Program, CRC Reef & Rainforest Research Centres, 2006.
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Article by Jacquie Sheils
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Weed hall of fame: Roystonea regia
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Common names: Cuban Royal Palm
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Description: Solitary palm to 30m, with obvious rings from leaf scars, often bulging in the middle and narrowing toward the prominent green crown shaft (a series of tightly packed specialised tubular leaf bases.
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Leaves: Feathery pinnate dark green and spirally arranged above crown shaft, 3-6m long, with narrow pointed leaflets arranged at different angles.
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Flowers: Numerous, white, cup shaped 3-7mm, borne on large broom-like sprays up to 1m long at the base of the crown shaft.
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Fruit/ seeds: Succulent oval drupes, 10mm long, red turning purplish-black on maturity, containing one shiny brown 'seed'.
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Spread by: Birds, flying foxes, garden waste and water.
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Invades: Wetlands, creek banks and Melaleuca forests.
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Genus name Roystonea named in honour of General Roy Stone (1836-1905), an American army engineer who worked in Puerto Rico. Species epithet regia means 'royal', a reference to the palm's majestic appearance.
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Full grown Royal palms are a job for the arborists: they can do a lot of damage coming down if things go wrong.
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After removal, there can be mass germination of palm seedlings, these can be usually be pulled out by hand or dug out when the soil is soft.
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Form, leaves & flower sprays.
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PHOTO: Timothy A. Gonsalves
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Crown Shaft. PHOTO: S. K. Siddartthan
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Successful weed control relies on follow up after the initial efforts. This means looking for and removing any seedlings.
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Large patches of palm seedlings growing in non-cropping areas can be sprayed with Glyphosate (360g/L) under APVMA permit 11463.
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When using any herbicide you must always ensure that you follow the manufacturer's instructions for safe handling and usage and wear the correct PPE.
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Mackay Regional Pest Management Group (2018) Weeds of the Mackay Whitsunday Region, Second Edition.
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"The Tree" by C.J Dennis, 1934
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I planted here, to-day, a strong young tree.
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Rich soil it has, and sun, and space to grow;
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And who, I wonder, in the years to be
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Will seek its bough's soft shade; for well I know
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Long ere this slender plant grows full and round
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He who now tends it shall be sleeping sound.
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What manner of a man will sit to view
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This now familiar scene when those shades spread?
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Will he be thankful that he never knew
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These days of strange, uncomprehended dread?
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Or will he, gazing back, find cause to sigh
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For olden peace, for happier days gone by?
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I planted here, to-day, a strong young hope
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That, when this tree's green banners be unfurled,
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There shall come singing down this verdant slope
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Some wiser mortal of a wiser world.
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And if he bless the man who set the tree,
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And be content, so mayhap, shall I be.
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How you can help:
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If you're interested in doing your bit for the local
environment and socialising with like‐minded people, we have volunteer activities on Tuesday & Thursday mornings and more. Contact us!
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WCL is a community not‐for‐profit. We rely on donations to assist with our projects such as revegetation.
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WCL is registered charity; donations of $2 or more
are tax deductible.
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To donate, please contact us or go to the
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CONTACT
CONTACT US FOR INFORMATION ON
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- Natural Resource Management
- Land Management Plans
- Native Plants
- Environmental Weeds
- Volunteer Activities
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WCL TEAM
Coordinator & Secretary: Christine Peterson
Admin/Finance: Leigh Donkers
Field Staff: Kayla Simpson, Juhani Sarkkinen, Enrico Bottero
Nursery Manager: Nicole Murphy
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Management Committee:
Jacquie Sheils, Chair & Newsletter Editor
Jim Dickens, Treasurer
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Christine Peterson (Secretary)
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Bill Blair (Canegrowers Proserpine)
Dale Mengel
John Casey
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Thank you to our supporters:
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