State: QLD | Hectares: 163 | IUCN Category: III | Partners: Noosa Shire Council, Environmental Protection Agency
More than 655 hectares of lush tropical rainforest bordering Noosa's Great Sandy National Park has been protected forever, with the addition in 2007 of three stunning new properties to the National Reserve System.
The three reserves are Riley's, which was purchased by Noosa Council with the help of $1.5 million from the Australian Government, and the Arthur Harrold and Bill Huxley Nature Refuges.
The extension of the Great Sandy National Park heralds a growing partnership with local government to build the National Reserve System.
"We're seeing a groundswell of conservation action like this across the country - local governments have harnessed almost $7 million from the Australian Government over the last decade to establish new reserves, investing a further $13 million of their own money," National Reseve System Program Director Peter Taylor says.
"Protecting Australia's beautiful and vulnerable landscapes is vital, but Australian and state governments cannot do it on their own. Some of our country's most precious land is managed by local governments, so councils like Noosa are increasingly crucial partners."
Noosa Shire Council Mayor, Bob Abbot, said it was help from the Australian Government's National Reserve System Program which made the purchase of Riley's possible.
"This is such a special stretch of land, spreading from the wetland shallows of Cooroibah Lake and Cooroibah Creek to the edges of Great Sandy National Park," Mr Abbott said.
"Riley's is a patchwork of rare and threatened eucalypt woodland, safeguarding habitat for threatened birds and animals like the red goshawk, water mouse and wallum sedge frog. Adding it to the National Reserve System, along with the Arthur Harrold and Bill Huxley Nature Refuges, will help keep this stretch of the Sunshine Coast green and full of life for generations to come."
The Arthur Harrold and Bill Huxley Nature Reserves were established by Noosa Council several years ago, and have been managed so well that they easily met the rigorous standards required to be counted as part of the National Reserve System.
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