As Pilbeam Drive reopens in time for the school holidays, it’s a great opportunity to get to the top of Mount Archer and complete missions from the Rockhampton Region Nature Play Passport!
The Nature Play Passport is your ticket to animal-inspired, bug-filled, and eye-spy adventures and has ten missions – one of which can be completed by visiting Fraser Park.
Council’s Environment Spokesperson, Councillor Drew Wickerson, said the Rockhampton Region Nature Play Passport is a fantastic way to get kids excited about exploring the world around them.
“The physical passport is also accompanied by an online interface which provides access to over 500 outdoor play missions.
“The missions in the passport include things like heading to a local waterhole, enjoying a picnic, taking a hike, and catching a fish.
“It is also filled with fun facts about the natural world, such as how to count the growth rings on a tree, and the best places to find birds, water-bugs, and barramundi.
Cr Wickerson also said keen eyed horticulturists should keep a look out for the range of native plants growing across Fraser Park thanks to Rockhampton Regional Council’s Bringing Nature Back Program.
“We had over 100 people sign up to be part of workshops that took place in March, and I would encourage everyone to keep their eyes peeled for these fantastic native plants.
“There are a range of important reasons for us to use native flora.
“Native plants have adapted to the temperatures, low fertile soils, and other conditions of this area, making them resilient and more likely to survive in the long term compared to non-native species.
“There are animals that rely on this vegetation for food, habitat, and even as protection from predators.
“The plants also have a range of uses that are particularly important to the Darumbal people, the traditional owners of the land that Fraser Park sits on.
“Look out for Forest she-oak (Allocasuarina torulosa), a particular favourite of black cockatoos, and Grass Trees (Xanthorrhoea latifolia) which can live for more than 400 years.
“We also managed to transplant a number of cycads into Fraser Park that would otherwise have been damaged by the project work. These cycads were looked after by Council’s nursery, and replanted as part of the bush regeneration project.”
The is offered in partnership with Nature Play QLD and the Queensland Government. The Rockhampton Region Nature Play Passport is free and available from Council’s Customer Service Centres and Libraries.
The Fraser Park workshops were organised by Rockhampton Regional Council’s Environmental Sustainability Team in partnership with Capricornia Catchments Inc., Native Plants Capricornia, Birdlife Capricornia, and Darumbal elders.
The workshops are part of a broader Council initiative, ‘Bringing Nature Back’, which designed to support and encourage residents to take an active role in looking after our local environment, and is partly funded by the Australian Government.
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