Editing Bunya Mountains National Park

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type                   = protected
| name                   = Bunya Mountains National Park
| state                  = qld<!-- If this field is empty, it should be completed. See infobox instructions for correct values. -->
| iucn_category          = II
| image                  = Araucaria bidwillii trees.jpg
| caption                = [[Araucaria bidwillii|Bunya pines]]
| image_alt              = 
| coordinates            = {{coord|26|47|58|S|151|32|13|E|display=inline,title}}
| force_national_map     = 
| relief                 = 
| pushpin_map_caption    = 
| pushpin_label_position = left
| map_alt                = 
| nearest_town_or_city   = [[Bell, Queensland]]
| area                   = 117<!-- If the area is greater than 100ha (1km2) a conversion template is not required. -->
| area_footnotes         = 
| established            = 1908
| established_footnotes  = 
| visitation_num         = 
| visitation_year        = 
| visitation_footnotes   = 
| managing_authorities   = Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
| url                    = http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/bunya-mountains/index.html
<!-- Deprecated parameters -->
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}}
'''Bunya Mountains''' is a national park in the [[South Burnett Region]], [[Queensland]], Australia.<ref>{{Cite QPN|44093|Bunya Mountains National Park|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

== Geography ==
The park includes much of the [[mountain range]] called the [[Bunya Mountains]]. The park encompasses the most westerly area of [[subtropical rainforest]] in southern Queensland and the largest population of [[bunya pine]]s remaining in the world.<ref name="xqnp" /> It is situated 63&nbsp;km northeast of [[Dalby, Queensland|Dalby]] or 58&nbsp;km southwest of [[Kingaroy, Queensland|Kingaroy]].

The park is known for its abundant wildlife, permanent waterfalls and its views. The mild climate of the range means morning and evening temperatures are low. The park is accessed by a steep and winding roads and is serviced with camping grounds, a network of walking tracks and several picnic grounds.

==History==
The [[Wakka Wakka]], [[Jarowair]] and [[Barrumgum]] tribes are the [[traditional owners]] of the Bunya Mountains and have inhabited and managed the mountains through traditional land-use management for thousands of years which included the cultural significant "Bunya Feasts" which would see thousands of people from surrounding tribes from Queensland and [[New South Wales]] come to the Bunya Mountains for these gatherings.<ref>Jerome, P., 2002. Boobarran Ngummin: the Bunya Mountains. [Opening address to the Bunya Symposium (2002: Griffith University).] [WWW Document]. URL http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=200302450;res=IELAPA {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116065549/http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary |date=16 November 2017 }} (accessed 3.31.14).</ref><ref name="markwell">Markwell Consulting, 2010. Bonye Buru Booburrgan Ngmmunge - Bunya Mountains Aboriginal Aspirations and Caring for Country Plan (Plan).</ref> The Bunya grasslands are unique relics of a much cooler climate and have existed since the last ice age, persisting due to regular burning by [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal people]]s over many thousands of years known as "[[fire-stick farming|fire farming]]".<ref name="pascoe">{{cite book|title=Dark emu|author1=Pascoe, Bruce|publisher=Broome, W.A. Magabala Books|isbn=978-1-922142-43-6|publication-date=2014}}</ref> Recent core samples confirmed that Indigenous fire management was occurring on the Bunya Mountains as far back as 9,000 years ago during the [[Holocene]] era. Evidence suggests fire farming created the largest estate management in the world of the vast state and territories of Australia, performed in [[Aboriginal ceremony|ceremonies]], for land control, food control and farming, and produce (native yams) harvesting by Aboriginal people for thousands of years.<ref name=pascoe/><ref>{{Citation|author1=Gammage, Bill|title=The biggest estate on earth : how Aborigines made Australia|publication-date=2011|publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=978-1-74237-748-3}}</ref> Fire management has enabled the grasslands to maintain their treeless characteristic, preventing rainforest and woodland species from becoming established.<ref>Moravek, S., Luly, J., Grindrod, J., Fairfax, R., 2013. The origin of grassy balds in the Bunya Mountains, southeastern Queensland, Australia. The Holocene 23, 305–315. doi:10.1177/0959683612460792.</ref> The balds are considered a cultural landscape and an enduring symbol of Indigenous land management which still hold significance to Indigenous people today.<ref name="markwell" />

The arrival of European settlers saw the removal of Indigenous communities off the Bunya Mountains ending active fire management by Indigenous people from 1860s onwards.<ref name="markwell" />

During the 1860s the park was logged for [[Toona ciliata|red cedar]], [[Araucaria bidwillii|bunya pine]] and [[Araucaria cunninghamii|hoop pine]]<ref name="xqnp">{{cite book |title=Explore Queensland's National Parks |year=2008 |publisher=Explore Australia Publishing |location=Prahran, Victoria |isbn=978-1-74117-245-4 |pages=42 }}</ref> and the Aboriginal people were pushed out.<ref name="discover">{{cite book |title=Discover Australia's National Parks |last=Hema Maps |year=1997 |publisher=[[Random House]] Australia |location=[[Milsons Point, New South Wales]] |isbn=1-875992-47-2 |pages=162 }}</ref>  European settlers began to visit the area and enjoy the scenery in the same decade.<ref name="nch">{{cite web |url=http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/bunya-mountains/culture.html |title=Bunya Mountains National Park: Nature, culture and history |date=6 August 2010 |publisher=Department of Environment and Resource Management |access-date=4 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127142403/http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/bunya-mountains/culture.html |archive-date=27 November 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The Bunya Sawmill opened in  1883.<ref name="naq"/> As the {{cvt|9,112|ha|adj=on}} national park was declared in 1908, it makes it the second oldest [[national park]] in Queensland.<ref name="naq"/> A further addition to the park was donated by [[Wilfred Adams Russell|WA Russell MLA]]  in 1927.<ref>{{cite web |title=Russell Park |url=http://bunyamountains.com/russell-park |publisher=bunyamountains.com |access-date=2 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725135017/http://bunyamountains.com/russell-park |archive-date=25 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Timber was still removed from the national park until about 1917.<ref name="nch"/> The last [[sawmill]] on the mountains closed in 1945.<ref>Department of Environment. (1996). ''Bunya Mountains National Park Visitor Information'' State of Queensland.</ref>

The first walking tracks were constructed in 1939.<ref name="nch"/> Carbine's chute was the first of many trenches built to assist the removal of logs off the mountains.<ref name="nch"/> It can be accessed by a 1.5&nbsp;km track from Munros camp. The last sawmill in the area was at Wengenville, which closed in 1961. In a successful attempt to reduce the splintering and damage to logs from falling down the steep trenches the owner of the Wengenville sawmill, Lars Anderson, used a combination of tramway, winches, winders and [[flying fox]]es to transport logs.<ref name="nch"/>

==Flora==
[[File:BunyaMtns-NE.jpg|thumb|400px|Looking north-east from [[Bunya Mountains]] over [[South Burnett]] and [[Kingaroy]] regions.]]
Some of the parks [[Araucaria bidwillii|bunya pines]] are estimated to be up to 600 years old and 25&nbsp;metres high. The forests contain stinging nettles, wild raspberry, many vines and pockets of ferns. Other trees species in the park include [[white beech]] and [[silky oak]]s.<ref name="naq">{{cite book |title=Natural Areas of Queensland |last=Shilton |first=Peter |year=2005 |publisher=Goldpress |location=Mount Gravatt, Queensland |isbn=0-9758275-0-2 |pages=211–214 }}<!--|access-date=10 July 2011--></ref> [[Xanthorrhoea|Grass tree]]s on Mount Kiangarow grow nearly 5&nbsp;m tall and some are least several hundred years old.<ref name="nch"/>

Scattered throughout the mountain forests are many [[glade (geography)|natural clearings]] known as 'grassy balds'.  These clearings are typically a few hectares in area and are caused by [[wildfire|bushfires]] and geological conditions.  Where there a slabs of unfractured [[basalt]] soil formation and root penetration is impossible, leaving a patch in the forest. There are about 100 balds, although those caused by fire are steadily being lost due to a lack of recent fires.<ref name="awalk" />  The grassy balds have a higher [[biodiversity]] than the dense rainforests, because they are home to birds and rodents not found elsewhere in the forest.

==Fauna==
[[File:Myrmecia flavicoma at Bunya Mountains National Park.jpg|thumb|300px|A ''myrmecia flavicoma'' in the park]]
[[File:BunyaMtns-SW.jpg|thumb|400px|Looking south-east from Mount Kiangarow in the [[Bunya Mountains]] over the [[Darling Downs]]]]
The park is home to more than 200 [[frog]]s and [[reptile]]s as well as [[marsupial]]s such as [[pademelon]]s, [[rock wallaby|rock wallabies]], [[swamp wallaby|swamp wallabies]] and an endemic subspecies of [[ringtail possum]] found only on the mountain peaks. Reptile species include the [[blue-tongued skink]], [[Egernia major|land mullet]], [[Morelia spilota variegata|carpet snake]], [[red bellied black snake]] and [[brown tree snake]].<ref name="naq"/>

The mountains are part of the Bunya Mountains and Yarraman [[Important Bird Area]] which contains what is thought to be the largest population of the [[black-breasted button-quail]].  In the park, 120 species of bird have been recorded. Significant species include the [[wedge-tailed eagle]], [[peregrine falcon]], [[grey goshawk]], [[brown cuckoo-dove]], [[rose robin]], [[eastern yellow robin]], [[large-billed gerygone]], and [[Australian golden whistler]].<ref name="awalk">''A Walk in the Park: Queensland''. by Stapleton, Jane and Penny, Roger. [[ABC Audio]]. 2007.</ref>  The Bunya Mountains support the most westerly populations of many rainforest dwelling species, including [[green catbird]]s, [[regent bowerbird]]s, [[paradise riflebird]]s, [[eastern whipbird]]s, [[noisy pitta]]s and the [[Australian logrunner]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |title=IBA: Bunya Mountains & Yarraman |access-date=2011-06-08 |work=Birdata |publisher=Birds Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706102341/http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |archive-date=6 July 2011 |df=dmy }}</ref> Some of the more commonly seen species include [[pied currawong]]s, [[laughing kookaburra]]s, [[Australian king parrot]]s, [[crimson rosella]]s, [[sulphur-crested cockatoo]]s, [[red-browed finch]]es, [[white-browed scrubwren]]s, [[satin bowerbird]]s, [[wonga pigeon]]s and [[Australian brush-turkey|brush turkey]]s.<ref name="naq"/>

==Waterfalls==
The park contains a number of waterfalls including [[Tim Shea Falls]] and [[Mcgrory Falls]].

== Management ==

The national park is currently managed by the department of national parks, recreation, sports and racing (NPRSR),<ref name="Queensland Government 2012">Queensland Government, 2012. Bunya Mountains National Park Management Statement 2012 (Management Plan). Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing.</ref> There has been an integrated program of burning the unique grassland ''balds'' by Queensland Parks and Wildlife in the Bunya Mountains since the late 1990s with 27% of unburnt balds being burnt for the first time in many years. There have been difficulties in recovering a number of balds which have well established forest canopies due to decades of non-burning, these balds may be too far gone to recover. Some balds which have had significant forest species invasion have had mechanical removal and coppicing of trees to aid recovery of the balds through burning <ref>Fairfax, R., Fensham, R., Butler, D., Quinn, K., Sigley, B., Holman, J., 2009. Effects of multiple fires on tree invasion in montane grasslands. Landsc. Ecol. 24, 1363–1373. doi:10.1007/s10980-009-9388-y</ref><ref>Fensham, R., Fairfax, R., 1996. The Disappearing Grassy Balds of the Bunya Mountains, South-Eastern Queensland. Aust. J. Bot. 44, 543–558.
</ref><ref>Fensham, R.J., Fairfax, R.J., 2006. Can burning restrict eucalypt invasion on grassy balds? Austral Ecol. 31, 317–325. doi:10.1111/j.1442-9993.2006.01560.x</ref>
.<ref>Butler, D.W., Fairfax, R.J., Fensham, R.J., 2006. Impacts of tree invasion on floristic composition of subtropical grasslands on the Bunya Mountains, Australia. Aust. J. Bot. 54, 261–270.</ref> Proactive fire management is a priority within the current management plan for the Bunya Mountains National Park with additional importance given to partnerships with traditional owners using traditional fire techniques in restoring and maintaining the grasslands. Australian Government initiatives such as the ‘Working on Country’ Program has been active on the mountain since 2009 allowing greater conservation action through additional rangers and resources being used to enable recovery of this unique threatened grassland landscape.<ref name="markwell" /><ref name="Queensland Government 2012"/><ref>Calland, D., 2012. Natural and cultural resource management - The aspirations of the traditional custodians of the Bunya Mountains. EMR Proj. Summ.</ref>

==Facilities==
There is a visitor information centre and campgrounds at Dandabah.<ref name="naq"/> Other campgrounds are provided at Burton's Well and Westcott.  There are a number of well-developed walking tracks, some with lookouts.  Picnic facilities are provided at all campgrounds, as well as Cherry Plain.<ref name="naq"/>

==Access==
Roads from [[Toowoomba]], [[Kingaroy, Queensland|Kingaroy]], [[Dalby, Queensland|Dalby]] and [[Nanango, Queensland|Nanango]] all lead up the mountains.  Steep grades mean travelling with caravans and trailers is not recommended.<ref name="naq"/> Smaller caravans can access the mountains via [[Maidenwell, Queensland|Maidenwell]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Queensland}}
* [[Protected areas of Queensland]]
* [[List of tramways in Queensland]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Wikivoyage-inline}}

{{Darling Downs}}
{{National Parks of Queensland}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:National parks of Queensland]]
[[Category:Darling Downs]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1908]]
[[Category:1908 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Queensland]]