A Gladfield family has made a generous gift of three parcels of land totalling 390 hectares to be added to Mount Dumaresq Conservation Park between Warwick and Cunninghams Gap.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) Deputy Director-General Ben Klaassen thanked the Brown family, represented by Frank and Pam Brown last Thursday 23 August and presented them with a plaque acknowledging the family’s land donation.
“The land on a spur of the Great Dividing Range will be managed by QPWS for conservation,” Mr Klaassen said.
“The donated land supports some great stands of white box eucalypts that are habitat for the endangered regent honeyeater.
“It also has a substantial tract of semi-evergreen vine thicket, which is a vegetation type that is considered ‘of concern’ and is not well represented within the existing protected area estate in south-east Queensland.
“The Brown family says this type of ecosystem is known locally as ‘Glengallan Scrub’.
“Queensland’s vine thickets are known to be home to a great variety of snails and insects. Protecting the vine thicket on the donated land will help preserve and maintain unique invertebrate biodiversity. The ecosystem is also home to many species of birds and skinks, and habitat for two rare plants.”
Mr Brown, a committed conservationist with over 50 years’ membership with the National Parks Association of Queensland, said the property was in very good condition, with only some parts of the property having been lightly grazed.
Mr Brown said the donated property had been in the family for three generations, with the original lot coming under the Brown family name in 1908.
The family had always tried to keep it in a natural state. The Browns said they offered the land with its interesting ecological composition, wildlife, steep catchment protection and scenic value “as a gift from our family to the people of Australia”.
