Boondall Wetlands

Boondall Wetlands is located 15 kilometres north of Brisbane's CBD. The wetlands lie on the edge of Moreton Bay between Nudgee Beach, Boondall and Shorncliffe and include approximately 1150 hectares of tidal flats, mangroves, saltmarshes, melaleuca wetlands, grasslands and open forest.

Visit Boondall Wetlands to:

• visit the Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre
• go for walk or a bike ride along the tracks or mangrove boardwalks
• kayak or canoe (on high tide) to view the majestic mangrove-lined creeks
• visit the Nurri Millen Totem Trail
• volunteer at the environment centre
• go birdwatching and find out more about our migratory shorebirds
• enjoy a picnic at either Nudgee Beach picnic area (barbecues, tables, playground and toilets available) or the environment centre picnic area (tables, toilets and drinking water).

Walking track information and track map

The Boondall Wetlands offer a variety of walking tracks and a bikeway for cycling and walking. 

To see a map of the wetlands, track locations, grading and length of the tracks, download the:

• Boondall Wetlands track map (PDF - 5.7Mb)
• Boondall Wetlands track map (Word - 1.2Mb). 

Flora and fauna

The reserve supports various vegetation communities including eucalyptus and melaleuca woodlands, remnant rainforests, ironbark forests, casuarina forests, grasslands, tidal mudflats, mangroves, swamplands, hypersaline flats and salt marshes.

Wetlands perform important functions such as helping to reduce erosion, improving water quality through filtration and providing vital habitat and food sources for wildlife.

Boondall Wetlands has a diversity of wildlife, including flying foxes, possums, squirrel gliders, frogs, reptiles and butterflies which can all be found within the reserve.

Boondall birds

These wetlands are home to a wide variety of native bird life inhabiting its tidal flats, mangroves and open forests. The Boondall wetlands offer habitats for over 190 species of birds. Including:

• black-shouldered and brahminy kites, Australian kestrels and ospreys
• whimbrels, godwits, plovers, tattlers, sandpipers and curlews on the mudlfats
• ducks, egrets, herons and cormorants foraging within the wetlands
• kingfishers in the mangrove forest
• rainbow bee-eaters on the mangrove boardwalk.

Check the Boondall wetlands birds list (Word - 28kb).

Find out more about our shorebirds.

Migratory shorebirds

Migratory shorebirds feed on the food-rich mud flats and roost in the salt marshes and mangroves along the shore. Each spring they fly to Moreton Bay from as far as Siberia, China, Japan, Mongolia and Alaska. The Boondall Wetlands have ties with the Yatsu-Higata Tidelands of Japan as part of the Narashino Agreement. Large numbers of international migratory shorebirds travel between the City of Narashino, Japan and Moreton Bay each year. They reside in Boondall Wetlands between September and March each year.

History

Indigenous Australians have lived at Boondall Wetlands for a long time and continue to have links with this land. The wetlands contained campsites and ceremonial grounds where food, fibre, medicines and other resources were gathered.

In 1863, the Catholic Church acquired 3000 acres of Nudgee lands. They cut timber, grew small crops and grazed cattle. Brisbane City Council acquired this land in the 1960s. In the 1970s and 80s the wetlands were planned for development. Public concern resulted in the creation of the Boondall Wetlands Reserve in 1990. The Environment Centre was opened in 1996.

As Moreton Bay Marine Park is listed as a Wetland of International Importance, we need to help look after it.