Nature, culture and history
Natural environment
Pine Ridge Conservation Park contains several different vegetation types:
- Eucalypt open forest on sand ridges — the canopy is dominated by pink bloodwood (known traditionally as bunau), with some Moreton Bay ash, coast cypress pine and brush box. The understorey shrubs include wattles and casuarinas.
- Melaleuca tall open forest on sand plains — the canopy is dominated by broad-leaved paperbark with some swamp mahogany. The ground layer is largely made up of herbs and sedges.
- Wet and dry coastal heath on sand plains — prominent species of this highly diverse vegetation type include dwarf banksia, weeping baeckea, wallum boronia, tea-trees and grasstrees.
- Banksia woodland on dunes and sand plains — the gnarled form of the wallum banksia dominates the canopy with an understorey of wattles, tea-trees and grasstrees.
Culture and history
Pine Ridge is culturally, economically and historically important to the Kombumerri-Ngarangwal people who have lived in the area for thousands of years and, to this day, maintain strong connections to country. The diverse flora and fauna of the coastal lowlands provided a rich bounty of food and other resources. Shell heaps (middens) are reminders of many meals of shellfish, especially kinyingurra (oyster). Middens are irreplaceable examples of Aboriginal culture. Please show respect by leaving sites undisturbed.
Last updated 21 July 2010