The Coombabah Lake Conservation Park is a conservation park that is an Important Wetland in Australia, located in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

region of

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. Th ...

, Australia. Part of the

Coomera River The Coomera River is a perennial river located in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region local government areas and covers an area of . Course and features Rising in Lam ...

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

, Lake Coombabah is a tidal

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

at the mouth of Coombabah Creek. The Coombabah wetlands are significant because they are the most southerly lake and coastal swampland representatives in the bioregion, and because the area provides significant wildlife value and refuge habitat. The conservation area includes tidal marshlands and mangroves along part of the lakes edge. The Melaleuca boardwalk allows viewing of the wildlife. The mangroves are home to frogs, crabs and fish that attract native and migratory birds. There are guided bushwalking and canoeing activities as part of community conservation and environmental workshops to promote local conservation.

Location and features

Situated near the suburb of , from the coast and northwest of , the lake borders the Ivan Gibbs Wetland Reserve, is classified as a Fish Habitat Area within the

Moreton Bay Marine Park The Moreton Bay Marine Park was established in 1992 to protect ecologically significant habitats in Moreton Bay. The marine park extends from Caloundra south to the southern tip of South Stradbroke Island. The marine park's border extends up to ...

and serves as an important wildlife corridor between the Nerang State Forest and the coast. The lake is fed by Coombabah Creek which rises to the west in the Nerang Forest Reserve. The Ivan Gibbs Wetlands Reserve and Lakeside Country Club golf course are both located to the south of the lake. Houses in

Helensvale Helensvale is a suburb of the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. In the , Helensvale had a population of 16,862 people. Geography Helensvale is bounded by the Pacific Motorway to the west, by the Coomera River to the north, by S ...

have been built a short distance from the lake's western shore. The Park safeguards close to 1200 hectares of wetland, eucalypt forest,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

habitat and

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

and acts as habitat for migratory birds. It has many endangered species of animals including

grey-headed flying fox The grey-headed flying fox (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') is a megabat native to Australia. The species shares mainland Australia with three other members of the genus ''Pteropus'': the little red '' P. scapulatus'', spectacled '' P. conspicill ...

koalas The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

powerful owl The powerful owl (''Ninox strenua''), a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is the largest owl on the continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range, rarely more than inland. The IUCNRed List ...

and various internationally protected migratory birds.

References

External links

Gold Coast City Council Fishing PlatformPictures- National Library of AustraliaEstuary Assessment Framework for Non-Pristine Estuaries: Coombabah Lake
Conservation parks of Queensland Wetlands of Queensland Coombabah Lake Geography of Gold Coast, Queensland DIWA-listed wetlands {{Queensland-protected-area-stub

Location and features

See also

References

External links