Protected areas, such as national parks, are critical to preserving our environment as they include protecting and managing lands to conserve natural and cultural values.
In Queensland, protected areas are established in classes under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and include state lands managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships, such as:
- national parks (scientific, Aboriginal land, Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal land)
- conservation parks
- resource reserves nature refuges
- special wildlife reserves
- coordinated conservation areas.
Protected areas increased by more than 616,711 hectares (0.36%) between July 2020 and June 2024.
Queensland’s protected area system is:
- 66% public protected areas (national parks, conservation parks and resources reserves)
- 34% private protected areas (special wildlife reserves and nature refuges), the largest private protected area network in Australia
As of 30 June 2024, Queensland’s terrestrial protected area system covered more than 14.88 million hectares (8.6% of Queensland’s total land area).
Non-tenured protected areas
Nature refuges, special wildlife reserves and coordinated conservation areas are referred to as non-tenured protected areas. They are privately owned and are not open to the public.
As of 30 June 2024, Queensland’s private protected area network includes 574 nature refuges and one special wildlife reserve. The network covers over 4.99 million hectares, 2.89% of Queensland’s land area.
In 2024, the Queensland Government reached an agreement with Bush Heritage Australia to safeguard Edgbaston Reserve, near Longreach, as a special wildlife reserve. Bush Heritage Australia owns the property. It is the second in Queensland to be declared a special wildlife reserve (late 2024), providing it with national park-level protection.
Edgbaston Reserve is home to the most significant natural springs for global biodiversity in the Great Artesian Basin and one of the most important worldwide. Its declaration as a special wildlife reserve follows the Queensland Government’s landmark establishment of Pullen Pullen Special Wildlife Reserve in 2020, Australia’s first special wildlife reserve.
State forest
During 2023-24, the government added 13,000 hectares of state forest to the protected area estate (national park and conservation park). The dedication is part of the government’s commitment to transfer 20,000 hectares of state forest to the protected areas estate under the Native Timber Action Plan.
Aboriginal land
On Cape York Peninsula, 2.65 million hectares of land is jointly managed in partnership with First Nations peoples. Across Queensland, this joint management increases to 2.76 million hectares when we include national parks (Aboriginal land) and Indigenous Joint Management Areas.
On 23 June 2023, the department and Waanyi Native Title Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (Waanyi PBC) signed the Proposed Boodjamulla National Park (Aboriginal land) ILUA, Perpetual Lease, Cooperative Management Agreement and Protocols at a historic handback ceremony at Parliament House, Brisbane.
These agreements deliver the first national park (Aboriginal land) and the first leaseback arrangement in Queensland. Over 79,707 hectares of Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park was granted to the Waanyi Native Title Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and dedicated as Boodjamulla National Park (Aboriginal land).
Within Queensland’s protected areas, both cultural and environmental values are protected. The department is committed to partnering with First Nations peoples to ensure cultural values and heritage are better understood and protected.
Visitors to Queensland national parks
In the year ending September 2024, there were 3.2 million domestic overnight visitors to Queensland national parks, reflecting a 7.6% increase since 2022.
Queensland’s protected national parks areas saw a stable (-0.9%) interest from domestic day-trippers over the past three years, with 2.4 million visitors
In addition, over one million international visitors who had a stopover in Queensland went to a national park sometime during their trip to Australia for the year ending September 2024.
Data for 2020 and 2021 have not been included in trend analysis due to the likely impacts COVID-19 restrictions would have had on visitation numbers across all visitor types.
