Watson River Nature Refuge officially declared by Australian and Queensland governments

The Queensland government’s Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation and the federal government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water have formally declared part of Corporate Carbon Group’s Watson River Station property a nature refuge.

Spanning 57,283 hectares and located 140 kilometres south-east of Weipa in Cape York, the refuge protects threatened species and regional ecosystems and provides important catchment protection for the Watson River.

Senator The Hon Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water said: “We know a lot of important species and ecosystems occur on private land, so initiatives like this are vital to turning around the decline of nature and also to reaching our target of 30 per cent of land protected by 2030.”

Queensland Minister for the Environment and Tourism, The Hon Andrew Powell MP said the declaration represented a landmark step in collaborative conservation.

“Nature refuges are a smart way to protect what makes Queensland so special while keeping the land productive - supporting grazing, tourism, and conservation side by side,” he noted.

The new nature refuge was made possible through a joint investment by the Queensland and Australian governments via the NatureAssist program, launched 2007 under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.