Cooloola Coastcare

About Cooloola

Contact

What we do

Management Committee

Cooloola Region

Catchment

Location

The Cooloola Coast is located in Queensland just north of the Sunshine Coast and just south of K'gari (Fraser Island). It is home to around 5000 residents who live in three small communities, Cooloola Cove, Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay. These towns are surrounded by pristine National Park, state forest and the inland and coastal waters are a marine park.

Environmental Significance

The Cooloola Coast is recognised as a natural environment of international significance with the following accreditation:

It is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list;

Part of a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance (992);

Located within the UNESCO Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve;

Part of the Great Sandy Marine Park and

The non-urban is predominantly taken up by the Cooloola Recreation Area, Great Sandy National Park - Cooloola Region and allocated state land.

The beach at Inskip Point and the sand island off its point are critical high tide roosts for endangered and migratory shorebirds listed under a range of important agreements, including bilateral migratory bird agreements with Japan (JAMBA), China (CAMBA) and the Republic of Korea (ROKAMBA).

Australia is also a partner in the East Asian - Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) and migratory birds travel through and roost in Cooloola.

Wildlife

It is home to many endangered, threatened and vulnerable species including:

Humpback dolphins
Dugongs
migratory seabirds on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
Marine turtles
Water Mouse
Grey Nurse Shark breeding ground (Wolf Rock)

It also has rich biodiversity on land and in the catchment, estuaries and marine environments. It is part of the Wallum freshwater biogeographic province.

See also the Great Sandy Marine Park Regional Profile: Southern Great Sandy Strait - Environmental Values

It is a popular tourist location with 3 small communities: