Community
15 March, 2026
War on weeds
BEACHSIDE forests will breathe easier following a blitz on invasive weeds and escaped garden plants and fruit trees at Mission Beach, Kurrimine Beach and Ingham’s Forrest Beach.
Littoral rainforest is critically endangered on the east coast of Australia and work is underway to better protect what is left in the Wet Tropics region.
Funded by not-for-profit organisation Terrain NRM through a project centred on the Wet Tropics region’s littoral rainforest, the project is supporting weed management in 122 hectares of national parkland at Kurrimine Beach by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, 22 hectares of council reserve at Clump Point in Mission Beach, by the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation which is working with Djiru people, and an 80-hectare strip of council reserve between the ocean and wetlands at Forrest Beach near Ingham.
At Forrest Beach, work crews from Hinchinbrook Shire Council have been removing weeds including lantana, prickly pear and guinea grass as well as garden plants, and cashew trees believed to have spread from an agricultural trial in the area back in the 1960s.
Terrain NRM’s Tony O’Malley urged people to be responsible with garden waste and to be on the lookout for plants that might be weeds at the edges of forests.
“It’s a tough gig for beachfront rainforest,” he said.
“On the seaside, weed seeds like pond apple get washed in on extreme tides. On the landside, there is often coastal development where people are introducing a host of exotic plants.”
The Forest Resilience project is funded by the Australian Government’s Saving Native Species program.
Fast facts: what is littoral rainforest?
It’s a critically endangered forest type that grows along coastlines by the sea.
It is home to 70+ threatened plants and animals and is particularly important for migratory butterflies and birds, including pied imperial pigeons.
It’s under pressure from coastal development, storm-tide erosion and sea-level rise. Weeds, including garden escapees, are an additional threat.
To learn more about littoral rainforest in the Wet Tropics region, download a new booklet from Terrain NRM’s website www.bit.ly/4aVWBgA
Read More: Mission Beach, Kurrimine Beach