The release of Australias latest 'State of the Environment Report' reinforces the reason as to why Mount Glen Rock should not be developed into an Adventure Park.
This has been posted on the Care4esK Facebook page...
"Since the announcement of the Mount Glen Rock Adventure Park development by Somerset Regional Council (SRC), a recurring question has been posed within various community forums:
“What is so valuable about this rock?”
It is a good question.
Why is this great protruding lump covered in scrubby Eucalypt forest so important?
Perhaps the most pertinent answer to this question can be given in one word:
KOALAS
Officially listed as Endangered in February 2022 (previously listed as Vulnerable), these furry marsupials are regularly sighted on Mount Glen Rock and throughout the township.
So why have they chosen this area?
First and foremost is the presence of two key species of Eucalyptus, the Queensland Blue Gum and Gum-topped Box. These two species are identified as key food tree species in the Somerset region, and are dominant on the lower fertile slopes towards Sandy Creek.
Up toward the upper ridges and summit, Bloodwoods and Spotted Gums dominate which are both identified as secondary food tree species.
The Koala Crusaders webpage states...
‘Primary species contain all the essential nutrients balanced in such a way as to maintain optimal health.
Secondary species are usually found growing on marginal land where leaf nutrient levels and moisture content are lower’.
Furthermore, habitat modelling by the Queensland Government has this 200ha site as having 84% coverage of ‘very high’ or ‘high’ habitat suitability. This is a reduction of only 3% since European settlement.
This demonstrates that despite the landscape degradation and modification in the wider Somerset region, this patch of land has remained largely undisturbed.
Present along Sandy Creek are two particularly nasty exotic species:
Lantana and Cat’s Claw Creeper.
Here exists an opportunity for active regeneration.
These two species have the capacity to both degrade suitable Koala habitat, and restrict or impede their movement across the ground when they’re most vulnerable to predation.
Both Lantana and Cat’s Claw Creeper create dense, impenetrable thickets while reducing forest regeneration.
Cat’s Claw Creeper is also implicated in the death of trees and collapse of canopy through its ability to climb up trunks to the canopy branches, where the added weight can snap them.
Mature Queensland Blue Gums show a resilience to this through their smooth bark and regular bark shedding which impedes Cat’s Claw Creepers ability to fully strangle them.
This is a different story for young saplings however, which easily succumb to total Cat’s Claw Creeper suffocation.
Thus, these two exotic species degrade the refuge areas, have the potential to reduce the regeneration of food trees, and can increase the Koala’s vulnerability to predation by impeding ground movement.
All in all, it would seem that what Mount Glen Rock does not need, is more disturbance by humans. However, what Mount Glen Rock does need, is active protection and regeneration.
Koalas, other present Threatened species and Fauna in general need more areas of safety and refuge from human disturbance.
This is of particular importance in the Somerset region, with the same Queensland Government mapping showing Koala Core Habitat areas have reduced by 50-65% since European settlement.
The tourism values of bushland in optimal condition cannot be over-stated.
Tourists do not visit to see disease-ridden Koalas in weed-infested forest. They visit to see our Native Flora and Fauna in all their inherent glory.
The Somerset Regional Council has a tangible and golden opportunity to give full appreciation to the natural and cultural values of Mount Glen Rock"
With the release of Australia's latest 'State of the Environment Report' finding that much of our country's environment is in a poor and deteoriating state, we need to ask the Somerset Regional Council WHY they are choosing to degrade Mount Glen Rock with a mountain bike trail development?
WHY are they not instead protecting and preserving this beautiful natural asset just as it is?
PLEASE EMAIL the Somerset Regional Council and Councillors to request an honest answer to these 2 simple questions.
Request they provide a reasonable answer to explain WHY the desires of Mountain Bike Riders are far more important than the survival and protection of Endangered, Threatened, and all native species, and the environment of Mount Glen Rock.
ATTN:CEO Andrew Johnson mail@somerset.qld.gov.au
ATTN: Daniel Rowe mail@somerset.qld.gov.au
Councillors
glehmann@somerset.qld.gov.au
hbrieschke@somerset.qld.gov.au
cgaedtke@somerset.qld.gov.au
kisidro@somerset.qld.gov.au
bwhalley@somerset.qld.gov.au
schoat@somerset.qld.gov.au
jwendt@somerset.qld.gov.au
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Articles of Interest
1) On the State of the Environment Report...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-19/state-of-australian-environment-report/101247794
2) Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek National Press Conference addressing the State of the Environment Report...