Latest Mackay Seaport News

Signs complete first stage of conservation trail project

Originally published on 9 November 2005

Mackay Port Authority environmental manager Scott Keane and trail designer Lawrence Smith with the new interpretive signs erected on the Kommo Toera Trail today.

The final installation of detailed interpretive signs has enabled the Mackay Port Authority (MPA) to complete the first stage of the Kommo Toera Trail water walk project through the port's conservation wetlands at Slade Point.

The 700 metre trail combines a pathway and boardwalk system that winds through the melaleuca conservation forest off Keeleys Road. The trail gives visitors a first hand insight into the biodiversity of the area's coastal flora and fauna.

These seasonal wetlands support an extensive range of native plants and animals from weeping paperbark trees to an abundance of seasonal water birds.

Mackay Port Authority environmental manager Scott Keane said the new interpretive signs would compliment a detailed brochure that contains a map of the trail and points of interest.

The trail has been very popular with local schools that have used the pathway through the wetlands as part of their studies on the local environment and heritage of the area, Mr Keane said.

The interpretive signs give school groups and visitors an opportunity to enjoy a walk along the trail without having to reply on other materials. They can really get an appreciation of the site's history, environment and the species that live here.

There's very little opportunity for people to learn how the site developed over time and the species and diversity of the area – the signs provide them with the information in an easy to understand manner.

The trail already has gained international notoriety with a visit by a group of American marine studies students from Stanford University.

Group leader Professor Ove Heogh-Guldberg described the trail as active learning.

We can't teach this in a lecture theatre, he said.

Mr Keane said the second stage of the water walk project was on the drawing board and would be linked to future development at the seaport. A quarter of the port's land has been set aside for conservation purposes.

The Kommo Toera Trail project was an initiative of the Mackay Port Authority and Mackay's traditional owners, the Yuibera People and jointly funded by the MPA, State Government, Mackay Tourism and Development Bureau and the Heartland Community Development Employment Program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.