From May 26 to 27, FINIA members participated in their annual two-day Field Trip to K’gari.

Aunty Joyce Bonner from the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) welcomed participants to Butchulla Country before members visited Eurong Nursery to discuss QPWS nursery upgrades and the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation bushfire restoration project.

The next stop on the itinerary was Happy Valley to check out FIDO and Happy Valley Community Association’s weed management. Members noted the reduction in Abrus from various on-site activities. Following lunch, Fraser Coast Regional Council officers briefed members on the K’gari Waste Management Strategy (under development).

BAC Rangers Blayde Foley and Tahlia Burns discussed their role in the Australian Rivers Institute project, monitoring fish in K’gari’s wetlands.

Checking in at Dilli Village, field trip participants completed the day with a presentation from Don and Lesley Bradley on Sandy Cape’s loggerhead monitoring program. Some fascinating satellite tracking results also highlighted where male and female green turtles go when they aren’t breeding or nesting in the Wide Bay.

Day 2 started at 6:30 am, looking for evidence of threatened Mur’rindum (Black-breasted button-quail) near Dilli Village. Members then undertook a 2-hour marine debris clean-up, removing over 110Kg of plastic off K’gari’s 75 Mile Beach before Hana Robinson from K’gari Fraser Island Adventures and Leesa from Dilli Village ‘Talked Rubbish’ as they shared their experiences of the SEQ flood event.

Finally, members met with the BAC’s Tilly Davis and DAF’s Geoff Pegg on the Markwell’s Break Road to receive an update on Myrtle rust and the impacts of the bushfires.

Thank you to Kingfisher Bay Resort for sponsoring barge fares, Dilli Village for assistance with accommodation, and to all our enthusiastic participants and presenters.

Article contributed by Sue Sargent, FINIA – the Natural Integrity Alliance for K’gari