Although it may not look much to the untrained eye, the Cambooya Grassland Reserve, nestled to the north of the town between Toowoomba Karara Road and Railway Parade contains native grassland which is becoming increasingly rare in the Darling Downs.

We need to better protect and manage our native grasslands – that was the clear message of the recent grassland tour hosted by Pittsworth Landcare, which attracted 28 interested landholders and scientists.

One such area visited on the tour earlier this month was the Cambooya Grassland Reserve, where Cambooya Landcare chair Kate Reardon-Smith outlined the reserve’s history and management efforts and problems.

One such area visited on the tour earlier this month was University of Queensland botanist Jen Silcock said the small reserve, even though it looked unremarkable and had infestations of introduced weeds, actually protected dozens of native species.

The group also went to McEwan State Forest, eight kilometres north of Pittsworth, where the inter-relationship between grass species and woodland was evident.

In her introductory presentation, Dr Silcock said only one per cent remained of Darling Downs grasslands, which were glowingly described as wonderful pastures by early European explorers and settlers.

Allan Cunningham, for example, wrote in his 1827 journal of ‘extensive tracts of timberless lands… not wanting in water’.

Almost 200 years later, virtually all those native grasslands have been destroyed by agricultural, transport and residential developments, and by altered fire regimes and introduced species.

Only small fragments remain, unconnected, along roadsides and on poorly managed reserves.

Dr Silcock outlined a number of best grassland management practices for landholders and councils, including non-disturbance of soils, restricted grazing and introduced weed control.

Up to 70 animal species on the Darling Downs are listed as threatened or endangered, perhaps destined to share the same extinction fate as the paradise parrot and Darling Downs hopping mouse.

Numerous plant species are similarly threatened, including the pretty daisy Picris evae and the showy austral cornflower Rhaponticum australe.

Dr Silcock said the cornflower had disappeared from almost half of the dozen sites she’s been monitoring over the past 15 years.

The tour was coordinated by Southern Queensland Landscapes with funding support from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 16 March 2023.