With the release earlier this month of the Draft Master Plan for the proposed Sunshine Coast Ecological Park, community members were able to gain further insight into the magnitude of this visionary major regional project that promises to deliver significant environmental and social benefits through a transformative and evolving long-term restorative process.
With a substantial parcel of land totalling 65 hectares adjacent to the Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve already acquired and earmarked by Council, this ambitious future focussed ‘ecological wonderland’ represents ‘a once in a generation’ opportunity, however for this project to come to fruition additional external funding will need to be sourced.
Division 5 Councillor Winston Johnston said in order to bring the project up to the desired national and international standard would cost a large amount of money which Council does not have the capacity to fully fund.
“If achieved, without a doubt, this would become one of the most significant environmental and ecological projects in Australia. In reality, this will take a large amount of external State and Federal funding including the possibility of private and entrepreneurial backing,” said Cr Johnston.
Project advisory panel member Spencer Shaw said he agreed the proposed Sunshine Coast Ecological Park would certainly be a major infrastructure/ ecological restoration endeavour, however he believed Federal and State Ecological Restoration funding would be well spent to support the project.
Mr Shaw said the present Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve represented only a tiny remnant of less than 1% of the unique rainforest that once covered the plateau area of the southern end of (what we now call) the Blackall Range.
“For its size, this precious remnant preserves enormous ecological diversity, but this iconic rainforest is also under threat, due to its small size and isolation in the landscape. The proposed Sunshine Coast Ecological Park will be many things to many people, but personally I see this as a unique opportunity to not only double the size of this rainforest remnant, but also provide crucial connectivity to other remnant rainforests such as the Upper Mooloolah Nature Refuge and the Obi-Obi Creek corridor,” said Mr Shaw.
In addition, Mr Shaw said it was also valuable that the proposed ecological restoration works would be in a public space allowing community observation and participation that would hopefully also inspire others to preserve and restore more of the amazing ecological biodiversity that exists throughout South East Queensland.
Main image: Artist illustration of how the Maleny Eco Park treetop bridge may look.