Springbrook National Park is World Heritage listed and, with the surrounding plateau, is home to an enormous array of unique Australian plants and animals. Many of these are legislatively protected and some occur nowhere else in the world.
What are the threats?
- Inappropriate land use and development have encroached upon sensitive wildlife habitat
- Increased traffic is killing or injuring native animals, including koalas
- Vegetation removal is encouraging weed species
What happened in the ‘No Way, Cable Way’ campaign?
In 1996, the Naturelink cableway was proposed. Gecko coordinated a campaign to present expert information on the negative environmental impacts and to lobby for the project to be withdrawn. Public opposition arose from across Australia and from overseas visitors. A lengthy Environmental Impact Assessment revealed the proposal would be too environmentally damaging. The Queensland government rejected the Naturelink proposal.
What’s happening now?
Ill-considered projects continue to be proposed, including mass-tourism projects, a new cableway proposal, increased commercial activities, increased tourism, and road widening.
