Avoid Island Nature Refuge
Our unique eco-haven for species, science and students
QTFN manages Avoid Island, a unique hub for conservation, scientific research and unforgettable experiences.
Rugged and remote, the island is the only privately owned and permanent nature refuge in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. We work with fantastic partners to provide a sanctuary for vulnerable flatback turtle (Natator depressus), and six distinct regional ecosystems.
The island provides a weed-free and protected home for approximately 15 hectares of the endangered coastal vine thicket community, of which there is only 2,000 hectares in all of Queensland.
For birds, it offers a unique combination of fruit-rich coastal scrub, open Eucalypt woodland, mangrove and tidal flats. Surveys suggest at least 84 species of birds use the island – both migratory and resident shorebirds – including at least two pairs of the vulnerable beach-stone curlew (Esacus magnirostris) and returning critically endangered eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis). It is also a predator-free haven for the vulnerable death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus), with surveys suggesting some of the highest population densities of the snake on the central Queensland coast.
Make your impact
- Providing a safe nesting area for flatback turtles and other species, including threatened birds, with ongoing monitoring.
- Conducting surveys to identify and document birdlife.
- Building the island’s resilience with weed removal, ecological burns, and threatened species management plans with the support of a Department of Environment and Science Community Sustainability Action grant.
- Working with the Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation to develop a two ways land management plan for the island and jointly deliver education and threatened species outcomes as part of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Reef Islands Initiative.
- Providing exciting opportunities for eco-volunteering (weed removal and beach clean-ups), participation in turtle research, cross-cultural experiences with Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation, as well as corporate retreats with a difference.
- Transforming the island into a thrilling outdoor classroom where students learn alongside professional scientists.
- The island provides nesting habitat for around 25-30% of the eastern Queensland flatback turtle population.
- Avoid Island flatback turtles lay close to 10,000 eggs each nesting season, with an 80 to 90% hatching success rate thanks to the protected environment.
- Avoid Island provides the only nesting beaches that are free from light pollution and predators. This means the hatchlings at Avoid Island have the best chance of survival before they reach the ocean.
- After nine seasons, researchers have tagged most turtles that return every year to nest, with new females arriving every year.
- Volunteers have powered a massive reduction in the extent and density of invasive weeds over seven hectares of the island – preserving prime turtle nesting habitat and protecting a precious ecosystem. Target weeds included the invasive Mossman River grass (Cenchrus echinatus) and lantana (Lantana camara).
- Bird surveys on the island have documented almost 90 species of birds from a range of unique ecological guilds, including the woodland bird community, a diverse array of frugivorous rainforest pigeons and doves, and migratory shore birds.
“We have one major goal – looking after Country. Everything comes off that and is connected to that. There is so much knowledge to be shared from both sides – western science and traditional science.”
Samarla Deshong, Director, Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation
- Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation
- Queensland Department of Environment and Science
- Mackay and District Turtle Watch
- BirdLife Mackay
- Griffith University
- University of Queensland
- Wonder of Science
Action & Insight
A Turtle Sanctuary at Avoid Island
Over each summer from November to March, it’s turtle season at our Avoid Island Nature Refuge. Avoid Island is located 100 km southeast of Mackay, in the salt waters of Koinmerburra Country. As one of the three largest Flatback turtle (Natator depressus) rookeries in the southern Great Barrier Reef, our team aim to survey and […]
Avoid Island Hits 90 Bird Species
The Queensland’s Trust for Nature’s Long Term holdings property, Avoid Island, recently hit an important milestone: our bird list officially hit 90 species. Our team conduct regular maintenance, research and educational trips throughout the year to this privately owned and protected island and all bird sightings are recorded and documented as part of regular surveying. It […]
September is Biodiversity Month
September: A whole month dedicated to our primary goal of biodiversity. After all, biodiversity is our business and what better way to promote this national event than a month long celebration of its importance. Biodiversity represents all living things on our planet and they exist at differing scales: regional diversity, ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity. It is […]
Our work
- Providing a safe nesting area for flatback turtles and other species, including threatened birds, with ongoing monitoring.
- Conducting surveys to identify and document birdlife.
- Building the island’s resilience with weed removal, ecological burns, and threatened species management plans with the support of a Department of Environment and Science Community Sustainability Action grant.
- Working with the Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation to develop a two ways land management plan for the island and jointly deliver education and threatened species outcomes as part of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Reef Islands Initiative.
- Providing exciting opportunities for eco-volunteering (weed removal and beach clean-ups), participation in turtle research, cross-cultural experiences with Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation, as well as corporate retreats with a difference.
- Transforming the island into a thrilling outdoor classroom where students learn alongside professional scientists.
Our impact
- The island provides nesting habitat for around 25-30% of the eastern Queensland flatback turtle population.
- Avoid Island flatback turtles lay close to 10,000 eggs each nesting season, with an 80 to 90% hatching success rate thanks to the protected environment.
- Avoid Island provides the only nesting beaches that are free from light pollution and predators. This means the hatchlings at Avoid Island have the best chance of survival before they reach the ocean.
- After nine seasons, researchers have tagged most turtles that return every year to nest, with new females arriving every year.
- Volunteers have powered a massive reduction in the extent and density of invasive weeds over seven hectares of the island – preserving prime turtle nesting habitat and protecting a precious ecosystem. Target weeds included the invasive Mossman River grass (Cenchrus echinatus) and lantana (Lantana camara).
- Bird surveys on the island have documented almost 90 species of birds from a range of unique ecological guilds, including the woodland bird community, a diverse array of frugivorous rainforest pigeons and doves, and migratory shore birds.
“We have one major goal – looking after Country. Everything comes off that and is connected to that. There is so much knowledge to be shared from both sides – western science and traditional science.”
Samarla Deshong, Director, Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation
Who’s involved
- Koinmerburra Aboriginal Corporation
- Great Barrier Reef Foundation
- Queensland Department of Environment and Science
- Mackay and District Turtle Watch
- BirdLife Mackay
- Griffith University
- University of Queensland
- Wonder of Science
Action & insight
Action & Insight
A Turtle Sanctuary at Avoid Island
Over each summer from November to March, it’s turtle season at our Avoid Island Nature Refuge. Avoid Island is located 100 km southeast of Mackay, in the salt waters of Koinmerburra Country. As one of the three largest Flatback turtle (Natator depressus) rookeries in the southern Great Barrier Reef, our team aim to survey and […]
Avoid Island Hits 90 Bird Species
The Queensland’s Trust for Nature’s Long Term holdings property, Avoid Island, recently hit an important milestone: our bird list officially hit 90 species. Our team conduct regular maintenance, research and educational trips throughout the year to this privately owned and protected island and all bird sightings are recorded and documented as part of regular surveying. It […]
September is Biodiversity Month
September: A whole month dedicated to our primary goal of biodiversity. After all, biodiversity is our business and what better way to promote this national event than a month long celebration of its importance. Biodiversity represents all living things on our planet and they exist at differing scales: regional diversity, ecosystem diversity, species diversity and genetic diversity. It is […]