Daisy Hill Conservation Park Brisbane

Daisy Hill Koala Bushland

The Queensland Government is developing the next stage of projects as part of its long-term plan to improve the management, use and enjoyment of the Daisy Hill Koala Bushland area. Photo credit: © Queensland Government

Photo credit: Anna Osetroff © Queensland Government

Nature, culture and history

Look for vulnerable glossy black-cockatoos in the casuarina trees.

Look for vulnerable glossy black-cockatoos in the casuarina trees.

Photo credit: © Matt Wright

Daisy Hill Conservation Park protects habitat for threatened koalas.

Daisy Hill Conservation Park protects habitat for threatened koalas.

Photo credit: Maxime Coquard, Queensland Government

Natural environment

Protecting the headwaters of Tingalpa Creek, Buhot Creek and their tributaries, the area’s riparian forest provides vital habitat for turtles, water rats, platypus, water dragons and frogs, including the vulnerable tusked frog.

Open eucalypt forests, melaleuca wetland and patches of lowland rainforest are home to possums, gliders, powerful owls, glossy black-cockatoos, swamp and red-necked wallabies, and a variety of reptiles and other birds.

As the name suggests, the KBCCA also protects important koala habitat. As you explore, look for tell-tale scratch marks left by resident koalas on their food trees—tallowwood, small-fruited grey gum, Queensland blue gum, red mahogany and Queensland white stringybark.

Koalas

In February 2022, the conservation status of the koala in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory was changed from vulnerable to endangered under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act 1992 and Australia’s main environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Koala populations elsewhere remain listed as vulnerable.

A species is classed as endangered if:

  • the wildlife has undergone or is suspected to have undergone a large reduction in numbers
  • it is likely that a large reduction in the wildlife’s numbers is imminent
  • the wildlife’s geographical distribution is precarious for the survival of the wildlife and restricted
  • the estimated total number of mature individuals is low, and it is likely the number will continue to decline at a high rate or continue to decline and its geographical distribution is precarious for the survival of the wildlife
  • the estimated total number of mature individuals is very low
  • the probability of the wildlife’s extinction in the wild is at least 20% in the near future.

For the koala, the change in status means an increased level of protection in Queensland, as well as New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in the broader context. In Queensland, the greatest concentration of koalas is in South East Queensland where they now compete for space with a rapidly growing human population. Land clearing, drought, disease, car strikes, and dog attacks have all impacted on koala populations in this area.

Find out more about living with koalas and koala conservation or to learn more about koalas, visit the Daisy Hill Koala Centre.

Photo of the daisy that gave Daisy Hill its name. Also known as Ipswich daisy, <em>Olearia nernstii</em>.Open larger image

The daisy that gave Daisy Hill its name. Also known as Ipswich daisy, Olearia nernstii.

Photo credit: © Glenn Leiper.

Forestry history

By the early 1900s, Daisy Hill was the name adopted for the prominent hill in the area and reportedly named after the local daisy, Olearia nernstii, that grew prolifically in the then timber reserve. Daisy Hill Conservation Park has a long forestry history. It was originally gazetted as a timber reserve in 1874, then as a State Forest in 1917 and in 1986, a State Forest Park. In 2000 the park was gazetted as a Forest Reserve and in 2006 a Conservation Park.

From the early 1900s, a forest overseer managed the forest so that logging caused minimal damage to surrounding timber. During the forestry years, timber logged from the forest was used for building houses, girders for bridges and sleepers for tram and railway lines. Ironbarks were felled to provide electric light poles while other timbers such as grey gum, tallow wood and stringybark were logged for house stumps, fence palings, shingles, and boat keels or used for burning in boilers and household stoves. The area was also used for beekeeping and grazing.

From the early 1920s a forest overseer was stationed on the reserve to control timber sales and maintain fire breaks. To keep a watch for approaching fires, timber boards were nailed to a tree in the forest to provide a good vantage point to view the smoke. Fire management became a big part of the forest overseer’s job and many fire breaks were built and maintained by hand. This was the practice used to prevent fires entering the forest area. In the 1930s, extra foresters were employed to assist the overseer in maintaining the firebreaks and many lived on-site during the week. In the 1950s, the Forest Service introduced prescribed burns, that is a regular, rotational burning program to avoid potential wildfires. In the 1960s prescribed burning of hardwood forest was accepted as a standard fire protection measure.

From the 1970s timber cutting was gradually phased out and a recreation area was opened in 1981. By 1986, the State Forest was declared a State Forest Park and logging was formally discontinued in 1992 when Daisy Hill State Forest Park became part of a Coordinated Conservation Area.

How trails got their names

Many of today’s trails in the park were built by the early foresters and some carry their names. Many of the locations have a historic link to early settlers in the area or to the early forestry days. Originally built as firebreaks to protect the timber in the reserve, every trail or break was dug and chipped by hand. The Chipline trail was constructed in the early 1900s, in fact the first 200m of Chipline trail appears on a Forestry map printed in 1917.

Two foresters, George Youles and Jim Alexander, lived in canvas tents not far from The Fiveways—adjacent the intersection of Old Hut break and Creek break and were responsible for building many of the park’s firebreaks. George Youles was employed from 1930 to 1934 as sub-foreman and lived in a tent at the headwaters of Buhot Creek. George was also responsible for checking that all timber removed from the forest was legal.

Jim Finch was a WWII return soldier who was one of several men employed during the 1930s by the Forest Service. Chipping firebreaks was his main job, and his aim was to chip ten chain lengths a day (about 200m). Today a mountain-bike trail carries his name.

Flying cloud trail is named after the ship that sailed from Cornwall in 1864 with the Dennis family. Jims trail was named in recognition of the volunteer coordinator of the Daisy Hill Trail Care. This group of volunteers are dedicated to maintaining and improving the trail network in the Daisy Hill. While Gillians trail is named after Gillian Duncan, a pioneer of best practice mountain-bike trail management in the 2000s.

Photo of James Dennis who sailed on the Flying Cloud from Cornwall and settled in the area now known as Daisy Hill.Open larger image

James Dennis sailed on the Flying Cloud from Cornwall and settled in the area now known as Daisy Hill.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Dennis Family.

Some names have other historic links. Dennis break and Dennis Road are named after the Dennis family who were the first European settlers in Daisy Hill arriving in 1870. Buhot Creek was named after John Buhot, a sugar boiler who arrived in Brisbane in 1862. Buhot is reputed to have made the first refined sugar in Brisbane Botanical Gardens.

Find more about the history of the Daisy Hill area.

Reference

Anderson, J; Jenkins, L; Loch, C; Thatcher, I and Wharton G 1995, ‘Cultural Heritage Study of Daisy Hill State Forest Park—A report for the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage’. Unpublished paper.

(Prepared by University of Queensland Students enrolled in History Department Course HT419)