4WD wash-downs needed to protect K'gari, traditional owners say
Traditional owners say washing cars as a condition of entry to K'gari is one measure that could help to preserve the island's World Heritage status.
The Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation's (BAC) K'gari Biosecurity Strategy, launched earlier this year, was recognised with an award by environmental peak body Landcare Australia on Saturday.
Chantel Van Wamelen accepted the First Nations Landcare Collaboration Award. (Supplied: Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation)
BAC director Chris Royan said urgent action was needed to stop invasive species reaching the shores of K'gari.
"We're a World Heritage-listed place and, goodness me, they all like to use the name when it suits them," she said.
"You can't keep on bringing the pests over or it's going to not be the World Heritage-listed largest sand island in the world anymore."
Conserving K'gari
K'gari was recognised as a World Heritage site in 1992, with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) citing the island's unique rainforest ecosystem.
But last year the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found K'gari's World Heritage value was "deteriorating".
K'gari is protected under the UNESCO World Heritage List for its ecological and cultural significance. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram)
The IUCN report said "overtourism" was behind a range of threats, including the introduction of about 200 invasive species.
Tilapia, an invasive fish species from Africa, was discovered at K'gari's Kingfisher Bay Resort in 2023, and last year, experts warned of the spread of yellow crazy ants from colonies found at one of the mainland gateways to the island.
The tilapia discovery led the BAC to apply for a $390,000 commonwealth grant to develop the biosecurity strategy.
Tilapia is one of the world's most invasive fish species. (Supplied: DAF)
Released in May this year, the strategy's aim is to stop the spread of invasive species through a 20-year biosecurity plan.
It sought to install the BAC as a "backbone organisation" overseeing state and local government bodies responsible for K'gari's biosecurity.
Visitor education programs and vehicle inspections are among the priority actions aimed at protecting around 70 threatened animal and plant species.
Sue Sargent (right) collaborated with BAC ranger Chantel Van Wamelen on the strategy. (Supplied: Sue Sargent)
Natural Integrity Alliance for K'gari chair Sue Sargent consulted on the strategy and said K'gari had "incredibly low funding" due to the lack of a governing body overseeing the management of the island.
Ms Sargent said the perception of K'gari as a tourist destination overshadowed its significance to First Nations people.
Butchulla dancers celebrated the renaming of Fraser Island to K'gari in 2023. (ABC Wide Bay: Pat Heagney)
"The island is culturally and spiritually significant, but it is also a designated World Heritage property and that means it's of global significance," she said.
"So it's incumbent on all of us to help protect it."
'Ridiculous' visitor numbers
A 2025 report submitted to the Queensland government by a World Heritage advisory committee suggested K'gari could be receiving up to 1 million visitors a year.
The report said increasing visitor numbers in the coming decade, including those drawn by the 2032 Olympics, could put the island's status at risk
None of the thousands of vehicles that cross to K'gari every year are subjected to biosecurity checks. (ABC News: Lucy Stone)
Ms Royan said visitor numbers to K'gari had become "ridiculous", adding that tourists "aren't educated" about the risk of introducing invasive plants and animals.
"We want to see [vehicle] wash-downs, we want to see people not bringing foreign things to the island," she said.
A Queensland University of Technology analysis found the strategy would cost between $500,000 and $2.5 million per year in state and federal government funding.
Sniffer dogs inspected cars heading to K'gari in a 2025 trial of the biosecurity strategy. (ABC Wide Bay: Lucy Loram)
The upper range would include vehicle checkpoints with washdown facilities and detector dogs.
The Wet Tropics Authority, the body overseeing Queensland's Daintree Rainforest, received $6 million in additional funding in the 2025-26 federal budget to eradicate yellow crazy ants.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority received $18.9 million for its crown-of-thorns starfish control program.
Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the government had no plans to establish a dedicated statutory authority to manage K'gari's world-heritage values.
"While there are currently no plans to introduce mandatory biosecurity checkpoints, we are committed to protecting Fraser Island-K'gari to ensure it can be enjoyed by future generations and continues to welcome visitors from around the world," he said.
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