Logging

Logging began around 1863 and lasted until 1991 when the practice was banned and the Island became a World Heritage Area. Logging occurred despite the relative isolation of the Island from markets and the need to ship logs to saw mills on the mainland at Maryborough. Clearly, the forests were a high quality timber resource. By 1971 the timber industry was still removing 22,000 m³ /year.

The legacy of this logging is:

• A network of logging roads and old railway sites
• Loss of many big trees

Wildfires

Fires are common on K'gari and many species are tolerant of, or adapted to, fires. Wildfires have burned through eucalypt forests and heaths but only rarely penetrated moister lower slope areas. However, severe wildfires are a significant threat to the wildlife on the Island.

The former Queensland Forestry Department sought to manage fire regimes in production areas by building fire breaks and undertaking prescribed burning to exclude wildfires.

Fire was also used after logging to promote eucalypt seedling regeneration. The prescribed burning in forests was carried out regularly but this has become more irregular since logging ceased.

Today, cooler, cultural burns are being adopted in line with Butchulla cultural practices in the past.

Mining

Mining was carried out between the 1950s and 1976 in an area of about 400 hain hind dunes on the east coast including an area close to Dilli Village.

Mining was done to extract heavy minerals (rutile, ilmenite, titanium dioxide). Sand mining destroys the soil and disturbs the dune system that supports the growth of forests and vegetation. Destruction of the habitat also contributes to the loss of fauna in the area. Rehabilitation of the mined area ceased in 1978. It is unknown how long itwill take for these areas to recover.

More information: Wardell-Johnson, G., Schoeman, D. Schlacher, T., Wardell-Johnson, A., Weston, M., Shimizu, Y., and Conroy, G. (2015). Re-framing values for a World Heritage future: what type of icon will K'gari-Fraser Island become? Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 22, pp. 124-148.