Girramay National Park

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox Australian place Girramay is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,269 km northwest of Brisbane. The national park is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

The park protects part of the coastline between the mouths of the Tully River and Meunga Creek at Rockingham Bay.<ref name="naq">Template:Cite book</ref> Waters adjacent to the park belong to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Flora

The coastal plain contains mangrove and freshwater swamps associated with the waterways of Murray River, Dallachy Creek and Wreck Creek.<ref name="naq"/> Other vegetation types include low coastal rainforest, eucalyptus forest, melaleuca woodland and sedge swamp.<ref name="qheknp">Template:Cite web</ref> The Arenga palm grows here, one of only a few Australian mainland locations where this occurs.<ref name="naq"/> The Red Beech, pandanus and melaleucas are typically found in the park.<ref name="nch">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Fauna

The endangered southern cassowary and mahogany glider are found in the park.<ref name="qheknp"/> Saltwater crocodiles are found in the creeks.<ref name="naq"/> The park is part of the Coastal Wet Tropics Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for the conservation of lowland tropical rainforest birds.<ref>BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Coastal Wet Tropics. Downloaded from Template:Cite web on 2011-12-16.</ref> Common birds include the black butcherbird and various honeyeaters. The orange-footed scrubfowl nests in the park. Their mounds, which can be up to three m high, are the largest of all mound-building birds in Australia.<ref name="naq"/> Lace monitor lizards can also be seen in Girramay National Park.<ref name="qheknp"/>

Feral pigs and cattle have to be culled from the area.

History

The land was once home to the Girramay people.<ref name="nch"/> In 1848, explorer Edmund Kennedy and his party landed 35 km north of the park. He travelled south through the area now known as Girramay National Park in a failed attempt to find passage over the ranges behind the coast.<ref name="nch"/>

The Edmund Kennedy National Park was established in 1977. It was expanded in 1980 by land donated by conservation activists Margaret and Arthur Thorsborne.

In 2009, Edmund Kennedy National Park was, along with the Murray Upper National Park, subsumed into the Girramay National Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2011, Cyclone Yasi caused significant damage to the area.

Facilities

Camping is not permitted in the park.<ref name="naq"/> Picnic facilities including tables and toilets are available. A boardwalk through mangroves and another along Wreck Creek are graded as easy.<ref name="about">Template:Cite web</ref>

Access

The park can be reached by an entrance road four km north of Cardwell on the Bruce Highway.<ref name="naq"/>

See also

• Protected areas of Queensland

External links

• Girramay National Park - Department of Environment and Science