Friends of Nerang National Park

13/10/2026

01/10/2026

Have an interest in Ecological restoration?
We have a few spots left for our workshop with Rusty Linnane and we're opening it up to the public spaces are limited!

Join us for a Morning with Rusty Linnane for a ecological restoration workshop.

20/09/2026

Huge thanks to Andrew Dinwoodie and our volunteers who braved the bush to help deploy bioacoustic recorders on Saturday evening.

The Goal, to try to find and monitor our illusive Powerful Owls as part of the Birdlife Australia's Powerful Owl Project.

No Powls but we did hear a couple of Boobook the Powerful Owls smaller cousin and plenty of prey animals with multiple Brush-tailed Possums and Flying Foxes.

An evening highlight was a pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos giving us a flyover as we prepared to enter the park, Nerang is a special place indeed.

17/09/2026

Super short notice!
Andrew Dinwoodie from the Powerful Owl Project will be joining Friends of Nerang tomorrow evening Saturday 19th.

If you are in the neighbourhood tomorrow evening and want to learn about Birdlife's Powerful Owl Project and how Friends of Nerang National Park will be using technology to locate our elusive threatened forest owls like the Powerful Owl come join us.

Numbers extremely limited

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/citzen-science-with-the-powerful-owl-project-tickets-2001163642324

07/09/2026

Happy National threatened species day.

Historically september 7th marks the anniversary of the death of the last known Thylacine in 1963
And since 1993 has been a day to highlight and draw public attention to the vulnerable species in Australia and the people working to protect them.

As a Volunteer, a bush regenerator, citizen scientist, a naturalist and a student I'm privileged to experience the great diversity of species in our little little corner of paradise that is South East Queensland and rub shoulders with many of the amazing people working day and night to help keep them around.

To each of you a massive thank you!

These species pictured above represent just a fraction of the Threatened (or near threatened) species in Nerang National Park our volunteers strive to protect every month through volunteer bush regeneration and grass roots citizen science projects.

If you would like to get involved our next monthly Volunteer regen day is this sunday September 13th.
Details can be found in the events

04/08/2026

05/05/2026

Behind the scenes of our Cat’s Claw biocontrol program 🐞🌿

Cat’s claw creeper (Dolichandra unguis-cati) is one of the most aggressive invasive vines in our region, a fast-growing climber that can smother native vegetation, block sunlight, and take over entire ecosystems if left unmanaged.

Through our program, we breed leaf-mining jewel beetles (Hylaeogena jureceki), a species that naturally targets cat’s claw vine. These beetles play an important role in a holistic control approach, helping to weaken the vine by feeding on its leaves and reducing its ability to grow and spread. They were approved for release by the Australian Government after extensive testing to ensure they wouldn’t harm native species or crops.

While they don’t completely eliminate the plant, they make a real impact. By defoliating the vine and drawing nutrients from it, the beetles slow its growth, put strain on its tubers, and help prevent further spread, giving native plants a better chance to recover.

📸 In these photos, you’ll see some of the earliest stages of that process, including the beetles’ eggs.

Jewel beetles lay their eggs directly on cat’s claw leaves, often in small, raised circular casings. Once the larvae hatch, they begin mining through the leaf tissue, feeding from within and gradually weakening the plant.

Biocontrol is just one part of the solution and can be a great starting point for infestations. Manual removal and targeted chemical control remain the most effective ways to fully eliminate cat’s claw creeper in the long term. If you’re looking for advice or support, consider reaching out to your local environmental or Landcare group, or council programs such as Land for Wildlife.

By working with nature, not against it, we’re building a more sustainable way to manage invasive species and protect our local ecosystems for the future.

This project is supported by Seqwater and Healthy Land & Water.