New national park to protect nationally important wetlands in North Queensland

We welcome the Palaszczuk Government’s acquisition of The Lakes, a 35,300 hectare property west of Townsville for a proposed national park.

The pastoral station is in the Einasleigh Uplands and Gulf Plains, and hosts wetlands of national significance including Pelican Lake, Louisa Lake, Agnes Lake and the South Gregory River which flows into the Great Barrier Reef.

The Lakes is part of the traditional homelands of the Gudjala People and supports plains, woodlands, escarpments and unique high-altitude and hyper-saline wetlands.  

This is the first large acquisition made under the Palaszczuk Government’s ambitious Protected Area Strategy released in 2020.

Hannah Schuch said, “it’s fantastic that the Palaszczuk Government has purchased The Lakes to add to our protected area estate.

“Making The Lakes a national park means protecting key ecosystems in regions currently under protected. It means giving a fighting chance to endangered bird and mammal species and creating tourism opportunities for local communities.”

“This is a real change of gears for the Palaszczuk Government. This is what it will take to deliver the  Protected Area Strategy and protect nature for future generations. 

“Acquiring large intact landscapes is one of the ways the Palaszczuk Government will meet their 17% protected area target and create a world-class protected area network.

“Queensland is on the frontlines of the biodiversity crisis and new, better-managed protected areas are part of the solution.”

We congratulate the Queensland Government on working with The Nature Conservancy and The Wyss Foundation to secure the acquisition of such a significant landscape and look forward to its inclusion in the protected area estate.