WPSQ CASSOWARY COAST-HINCHINBROOK BRANCH
ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015
Branch members,walking the Kennedy track on the anniversary of Kennedy’s
landing in 1848 (24th May) pause for a snap at our sign commemorating the builders of the track.

Funds donated by Australian Geographic are creating a range of signs for our revegetation projects, highlighting the important restoration of coastal woodland for many endangered species including the Mahogany Glider.

With HQ Plantations support, we have secured an Everyone’s Environment Grant (State Government) to create an important landscape link for the Glider. This project involves enhancing a north –south link by planting key Glider tree species at Glenbora waterhole and its associated drainage line into Baird’s creek. This should facilitate the movement of gliders from the isolated northern pockets to the bigger areas and populations of the Cardwell region to the south.

Wildlife Queensland’s current fundraiser “Bridging the gap” will hopefully add an essential road crossing to this link. We are very grateful and encouraged by the degree of support that the recovery of the glider and its woodland habitat is receiving. The Glenbora-Baird’s creek project also includes our partnership
with the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, for whom the waterhole is culturally very significant, and the local Primary schools whose environmental education resource will be restored.

Planting with Murray Upper students at the reveg site .
This year the revegetation site at Murray Upper was completed by community
plantouts and supported in its maintenance by sharing a ‘Work for the dole’
team with the local Council and by a Green Army team shared by Girringun.

The branch has also contributed to the production of two important documentary films. “Fifty years of counting” celebrates the longest bird count in Australia, begun by Margaret and Arthur Thorsborne in 1965 of the Torres Strait Pigeon.

The second is an oral history of aspects of Ninney Rise , Bingil Bay, as the home of John Busst and centre for the early Save the Reef campaign in the
1970’s. These documentaries will be launched later in the year.

Our branch works actively with the community through the weekly newspaper column “Wildwatch”; our blogs and Facebook; Display stalls, like this one earlier in the year ; and signage— four Trees of Life signs, each providing information about particular trees and birds in our area.