August 15, 2014
The Palms, a tiny national park about 8km east of Cooyar that’s small in size but big in nature, now has new signs to help visitors learn about its history.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington unveiled the signs at a community barbecue on Thursday alongside descendants of Cooyar landholder Charles Boldery.
“In 1927 Mr Boldery donated a portion of his property at the head of the Brisbane River to the then Rosalie Shire Council as a reserve,” Mrs Frecklington said.
“He wanted this small patch of the area’s original sub-tropical rainforest and vine scrub to be protected for the public’s future enjoyment.”
Mrs Frecklington said the area was originally named Boldery Park and quickly became a popular spot for visitors.
With some adjacent blocks, it was gazetted as The Palms National Park in 1950.
“Today, visitors can set off from the Boldery Day Use Area to explore the palm-filled rainforest and look for some of the 90 bird species that use the park,” Mrs Frecklington said.
She said Charles Boldery’s descendants had maintained their connection to the park and had helped the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to develop new interpretive signs which explain the park’s origins and conservation values.
QPWS Regional Director Glenn Redenbach thanked Charles Boldery’s grandson, David Matthews, for providing historic photographs and information for the signs.
“Mr Boldery did a fine thing donating this land so we can stroll through the piccabeen palms and enjoy an example of the forest that once covered much of this area,” Mr Redenbach said.
“Visitors can also see bunya and hoop pines, towering figs and eucalypts, and see and hear a wealth of wildlife such as rose-crowned fruit doves, green catbirds and yellow robins.”
He said the park had an extremely high diversity of plant and animal life and was safe habitat for a colony of grey-headed flying-foxes.
The Palms is a popular stop-off for people travelling to the Bunya Mountains.
More information about the park can be found on the Department Of National Parks website.
