Booyong Flora Reserve is a 13 ha rainforest remnant of the Big Scrub that once covered the Northern Rivers, New South Wales plains between Lismore and Byron Bay. The rainforest here is “White Booyong Sub-alliance”, one of three major types found across the Big Scrub. The major tree species are White Booyong, Pepperberry, Myrtle Ebony, Red Cedar, Oliver’s Sassafras, Green-leaved Rose Walnut, Marara, Black Bean, White Beech, Koda, Black Apple, Giant Water Gum, and Small-leaved Fig. On the western track many of the trees are labelled, providing an insight to the richness of the flora. Care is needed here as the tracks are somewhat overgrown.
Another Byron Hinterland estate
Drive inland 30 minutes from Byron Bay township and you find yourself on winding roads through beautiful rainforest. This week’s Byron Bird Buddies survey was at another bush regeneration estate, reclaimed from land that had been cleared many years ago for dairying and growing bananas. The variety and quality of the new forest is impressive, the result of 30 plus years of toil. The estate abuts the Goonengerry national park and we were rewarded with the call of an Albert’s Lyrebird nearby.
Byron Hinterland rural estates
The Byron Bay rural, rainforest and mountain hinterlands provide refuge for the rich and famous as well as those seeking a gentle and grounded lifestyle. Amongst the rural properties many seek to restore and regenerate the original rainforest cover, most of which was removed for farming last century. Some estates are large with several hundred hectares replanted; some are managed by teams of gardeners. Others are smaller, created by the labor of nature enthusiasts. The Byron Bird Buddies survey a number of these estates to monitor their progress as they to return as havens for rainforest birds.