Girramay is a national park in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, 1269 km northwest of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The national park is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The park protects part of the coastline between the mouths of the

Tully River The Tully River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Tully River rises in the Cardwell Range, part of the Great Dividing Range on the northern boundary of the Kirrama State Fores ...

and Meunga Creek at

Rockingham Bay Rockingham Bay is a bay in Far North Queensland, Australia. The bay opens onto the Coral Sea, part of the South Pacific Ocean. Adjacent to the bay is the Girramay National Park, south of which is the town of Cardwell. Goold Island is a smal ...

. Waters adjacent to the park belong to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Flora

The coastal plain contains mangrove and freshwater swamps associated with the waterways of Murray River, Dallachy Creek and Wreck Creek. Other vegetation types include low coastal rainforest, eucalyptus forest, melaleuca woodland and sedge swamp. The Arenga palm grows here, one of only a few Australian mainland locations where this occurs. The

Red Beech Red beech is a common name applied to several species of trees: *'' Dillenia alata'', native to Northern Australia and New Guinea *'' Fuscospora fusca'', native to New Zealand *''Protorhus longifolia ''Protorhus longifolia'', the red beech, is ...

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

and

melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of '' Leptospermum''). They range in size ...

s are typically found in the park.

Fauna

The endangered

southern cassowary The southern cassowary (''Casuarius casuarius''), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf c ...

and mahogany glider are found in the park.

Saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been listed ...

s are found in the creeks. The park is part of the

Coastal Wet Tropics Important Bird Area The Coastal Wet Tropics Important Bird Area comprises a disjunct 521 km2 stretch of coastal and subcoastal land in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia. It extends from just south of Cairns in the north for about 150 km to Cardw ...

, identified as such by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because of its importance for the conservation of lowland

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...

birds. Common birds include the

black butcherbird The black butcherbird (''Melloria quoyi'', also known as ''Cracticus quoyi'') is a species of butcherbird in the family Artamidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry ...

and various

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...

s. The

orange-footed scrubfowl The orange-footed scrubfowl (''Megapodius reinwardt''), also known as orange-footed megapode or just scrubfowl is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae. This species comprises five subspecies found on many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islan ...

nests in the park. Their mounds, which can be up to three m high, are the largest of all mound-building birds in Australia.

Lace monitor The lace monitor or tree goanna (''Varanus varius'') is a member of the monitor lizard family native to eastern Australia. A large lizard, it can reach in total length and in weight. The lace monitor is considered to be a least-concern species ...

lizards can also be seen in Girramay National Park. Feral pigs and cattle have to be culled from the area.

History

The land was once home to the Girramay people. In 1848, explorer Edmund Kennedy and his party landed 35 km north of the park. He travelled south through the area now known as Girramay National Park in a failed attempt to find passage over the ranges behind the coast. The Edmund Kennedy National Park was established in 1977. It was expanded in 1980 by land donated by conservation activists Margaret and Arthur Thorsborne. In 2009, Edmund Kennedy National Park was, along with the Murray Upper National Park, subsumed into the Girramay National Park. In 2011,

Cyclone Yasi Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi () was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that made landfall in northern Queensland, Australia in early 2011, causing major damage to the affected areas. Originating as a tropical low near Fiji on 26 Jan ...

caused significant damage to the area.

Facilities

Camping is not permitted in the park. Picnic facilities including tables and toilets are available. A boardwalk through mangroves and another along Wreck Creek are graded as easy.

Access

The park can be reached by an entrance road four km north of

Cardwell Cardwell may refer to: Places Australia *Cardwell, Queensland United States *Cardwell, Missouri *Cardwell, Montana * Cardwell Hall, Kansas State University Canada *Cardwell Parish, New Brunswick People *Alvin B. Cardwell (1902–1992), America ...

on the Bruce Highway.

References

External links

Girramay National Park
- Department of Environment and Science {{National Parks of Queensland National parks of Far North Queensland Protected areas established in 1977 1977 establishments in Australia Important Bird Areas of Queensland de:Girramay-Nationalpark#Sektion Edmund Kennedy