We all admire the glittering beauty we see in butterflies, their wings a canvas for some of the most striking patterns in nature. Australia’s largest subtropical butterfly, the Richmond's Birdwing Butterfly, once abundant in Queensland, is threatened with extinction. This butterfly is one of 281 species of native vertebrates, including several hundred species of birds and reptiles that dominate the Curramore sanctuary in Southeast Queensland. The sanctuary was recently acquired by our client Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), whose aim is to protect and revegetate the area over the coming years and to return it to its native habitat.
Argon Law is privileged to participate in several projects with the objective of protecting and conserving the environment of our own magnificent region. This includes providing legal to support to some of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council’s environmental protection programs such as the Blue Heart Initiative and assisting Australian Wildlife Conservancy's extension of their local wildlife sanctuary.
Photo credit - Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, Liana Joseph, AWC
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Argon Law director, John Gallagher, said, “For the last 18 months we have worked with AWC’s legal counsel to assist with their most recent acquisition and expansion of their Curramore Wildlife Sanctuary in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. This work included assisting with contractual negotiations and due diligence enquiries leading to a boundary realignment to expand an already successful project.
“Australian Wildlife Conservancy is the largest private not-for-profit owner and manager of land for conservation in Australia. It does amazing work like this all around Australia, raising funds to purchase ecologically-significant parcels of land and then improving them to improve the plight of threatened wildlife.”
Queensland’s Minister for the Environment, The Honourable Meaghan Scanlon, said Queensland has the largest private protected area network in Australia by land area that protects a diversity of ecosystems. This increased by more than 40,971 hectares between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2020, and now covers about 8.24% of Queensland.
Senior Field Ecologist at AWC’s Curramore Wildlife Sanctuary, Andrew Howe, said the sanctuary is home to a high abundance and diversity of wildlife, including 11 threatened vertebrate species. It protects a range of vegetation types and forms an important corridor between neighbouring national parks and other private and public conservation areas.
Photo credit – Curramore Wildlife Sanctuary, Wayne Lawler AWC
At Curramore, AWC’s primary focus is to demonstrate an effective strategy for the large-scale control of lantana (and other weeds) within Southeast Queensland. At the time of purchase, more than half the land area of Curramore was infested with lantana, along with much of the remnant forest in the region. The forest was severely compromised, with lantana excluding almost all other vegetation and preventing recruitment to the canopy layer.
“Despite its relatively small size, Curramore is home to a remarkably high diversity of wildlife, thanks to its wide range of vegetation types and its connectivity to more extensive forest on adjacent land including the Maleny National Park,” Andrew Howe said.
“Since the acquisition, we have been able to observe Australia's second largest butterfly and threatened species - the Richmond's Birdwing Butterfly and the endangered Maleny Spiny Crayfish. We aim to revegetate this additional area of approx. 6.5 hectares, over the coming years and return it to native habitat.”
Argon Law director, John Gallagher, said he has been a fan of the AWC for a long time and acted for AWC when it bought its first block of land in the Mary River catchment in 2003.
“It is such a pleasure to be able to assist with the addition to the land they now own as part of a wildlife reserve,” he said
Sunshine Coast Council
Since 2016, we have assisted the Sunshine Coast Council with contracts and acquisitions for the Blue Heart initiative, which is aimed at improving the Maroochy River Catchment by establishing wetlands, enhancing protection from flooding and providing recreational parklands.
We are delighted to see this initiative is set to expand and receive a major funding boost as part of a newly minted Southeast Queensland City Deal, signed by three tiers of government. The office of the Federal Member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien states that this agreement provides funds for projects across 11 local government areas in Southeast Queensland. A $35.3 million investment in the Sunshine Coast Council’s Blue Heart is one of the projects listed. Many opportunities will emerge as the Blue Heart area transitions over time and Council hopes to work with landholders and local communities to explore new land-use options.
Photo credit - Maroochy Wetlands, Blue Heart, G.Hunter
Do you know that in 2019, the Queensland Government became the first state in Australia to create Special Wildlife Reserves? This is a new category of protected areas that provide national park-level protection for private land of exceptional natural and cultural value. These reserves are established by a voluntary conservation agreement between the Queensland Government and landholders. The protection of the area will mean that incompatible land uses, like mining and forestry, will not be permitted.
Argon Law also assists the Council to enter into Voluntary Conservation Agreements and conservation covenants with private land holders, which are designed to protect and enhance the ecological value of privately held land.
Another way council can support landholders to protect native plants and animals on their property is through Land for Wildlife, a free, voluntary conservation program. A great way council and our community are working together to deliver a healthy environment and liveable Sunshine Coast.
Land donations and bequests are one of the greatest gifts you can give to support conservation on the Sunshine Coast. Donations of land for conservation will help protect the region’s native bushland, plants and animals for future generations. Argon Law can help those who wish to leave a legacy (in the form of money or property) to the environment and the future preservation of the Sunshine Coast region.
Photo credit - Koala Yani
The Australian Koala Foundation
For the last four years, we have proudly adopted koala Yani, through the Australian Koala Foundation’s ‘Our Adopt a Koala’ programme. The Australian Koala Foundation is the principal non-profit, non-government organisation dedicated to the conservation and effective management of the wild koala and its habitat. This programme is an amazing and rewarding way for supporters to contribute to the mission to Save the Koala, a vulnerable species. Through adopting you get to know your beautiful, adopted koala while helping save wild Koalas and their vital habitat.
Yani’s keeper recently said, “Yani is well respected within the Koala colony and can still be found on the highest of branches within her exhibit. She enjoys interacting with her furry friends but seems to show a special interest in tranquillity and solitude.”
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