kgari

Fraser Island view of sawn logs

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Fraser Island was World Heritage-listed by UNESCO in 1992 in recognition of its natural values. The official citation pays tribute to the island's "exceptional natural beauty" and refers to "over 250km of sandy beaches with long, uninterrupted sweeps of ocean beach, with more than 40km of strikingly colored sand cliffs, as well as spectacular dune blowouts and ocean surf beaches; tall rainforests growing on low nutrient sands; perched dune lakes including both clear "white water" lakes and dark "black water" lakes; banksia woodlands, heath, patterned swampy fens and sheltered mangrove areas in a spectacular "mosaic landscape." Fraser Island provides a globally significant example of geological processes and biological evolution, including complex coastal dune formations that are still evolving; an array of lakes that is exceptional in terms of number, diversity, age, and the evidence of dynamic and developmental stages; and outstanding examples of ecosystems that have developed in response to maritime conditions and poor soils in coastal dune formations. The Butchulla people are the indigenous people of Fraser Island. The documented early history of the people of Fraser Island is incomplete and open to debate and discussion. Aboriginal people closely guard many of their traditions, legends, and laws and after European settlement, much of the evidence of the Fraser Island people's way of life was destroyed either intentionally or through ignorance. European involvement on Fraser Island may go back as far as a voyage by Portuguese explorer de Menonca around 1521. Clay pipes found in middens at Indian Head are thought to be evidence of undocumented visits by Dutch navigators in the 17 Century. In 1836 Captain James Fraser on the brig 'Stirling Castle' was wrecked at Swain's Reef, north of Fraser Island. The survivors traveled south in a lifeboat and eventually found themselves marooned on Fraser Island. Of them, only Eliza Fraser, the wife of Captain Fraser, lived to return to the mainland and the island was subsequently named after her. Logging was started on Fraser Island in 1863 by ‘Yankee Jack Piggott. The first trees taken by the loggers were the kauri pine, hoop pine, and cypress pine. In 1925 the satiny became the European Historyajor timber logged on the island after it was found to be resistant to marine borers and became popular for use in marine conditions around the world. Satinays logged heavily in the Pile Valley area, were used in the construction of the Suez Canal and to rebuild the London Docks after World War II. Central Station, a former logging camp, is now a Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger information station and interpretive center. Source: www.fraserisland.net/fraser-island-history/european-history