Fraser Island

Fraser Island (Butchulla: K'gari) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser Coast Region local government area. The world heritage listing includes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland.Fraser Island, and some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great

Fraser Island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants. The island is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is protected as part of the Great Sandy National Park, and is a popular tourism destination.The island has been inhabited for as long as 5,000 years. Explorer James Cook sailed by the island in May 1770. Matthew Flinders landed near the most northern point of the island in 1802. The traditional Butchulla name is K'gari or Gari. For a short period the island was known as Great Sandy Island before becoming Fraser Island, named after James Fraser who died there after become shipwrecked on a nearby reef. In 1992, Fraser Island was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2021, the listing was updated to add the traditional Butchulla Aboriginal name of K'gari as well as the island's official name of Fraser Island. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Fraser Island was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Natural attraction".

The earliest known name of the island is "K'gari" in the Butchulla (Badjala) language (pronounced "gurri"). It comes from a creation story- according to the Butchulla Dreaming story, the creator being Beiral sent his messenger Yendingie to create land and sea for the people. His helper, a "beautiful white spirit called Princess K’gari", worked hard to create the shores and the land, but afterwards persuaded Yedingie to let stay on their beautiful creation. In order to stay, she had to be changed into an island, so Yedingie created lakes, vegetation, animals and people to keep her company. She remains today, happy "in, and as a 'paradise'".After European colonisation, it was called Great Sandy Island then Fraser Island from 1842, after James Fraser who was shipwrecked nearby. The island has also been referred to as Thoorgine, or Thoorgine Island.In 2011, the Indigenous names of K'gari and Gari were entered as an alternative names for the island in the Queensland Place Names register.In 2017, the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service began referring to the Fraser Island section of Great Sandy National Park as the K'gari (Fraser Island) section, in recognition of the Butchulla name.In September 2021, the World Heritage Area within Great Sandy National Park, along with the surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland, had been renamed K’gari, the original Butchulla people’s name for the island. The move was celebrated at a ceremony with Elders and representatives of the Butchulla people on Fraser Island. The name change had been formally adopted at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, and is a major milestone in a long running campaign by the region's traditional owners.

Fraser Island is separated from the mainland by Great Sandy Strait. The southern tip, near Tin Can Bay, is situated to the north of Inskip Peninsula. The most northern point of the island is Sandy Cape where the Sandy Cape Light operated from 1870 to 1994. The establishment of the lighthouse was the first permanent European settlement on the island. The nearest large town to the island is Hervey Bay, while Maryborough and Bundaberg are also close by. The bay on the north east coast is called Marloo Bay and on the north west coast is Platypus Bay. The most westerly place on the island is Moon Point.The island is divided into two localities: the eponymous Fraser Island locality consisting of most of the land on the island and the locality of Eurong on the east coast of the island.

Eli Creek is the largest freshwater creek on the east coast of Fraser Island with a flow of 80 million litres per day. Eli Creek has its own unique and varied wild life. Coongul Creek, on the west coast, has a flow rate of four to five million litres per hour. Some of the swamps on the island are fens, particularly near Moon Point. That was only discovered in 1996, when a group of experts who had attended a Ramsar conference in Brisbane flew over the island and conducted an aerial survey. From above, they noticed the distinct patterns of potholed peat devoid of trees. That was the first instance of fens being found in Australia and in a sub-tropical region, although more were subsequently discovered on the adjacent Cooloola coast.

Fraser Island has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen: Aw); it is generally warm and not subject to extremes in temperature due to the moderating influence of the ocean. Temperatures rarely rise above 33 °C (91 °F) or drop below 7 °C (45 °F) and humidity is consistently high. Rainfall is heaviest during the summer and early autumn, and the annual average is 1,251 mm (49.25 in). Cyclones can be a threat; Cyclone Hamish brushed the island as a category 5 in March 2009, while Cyclone Oswald in January 2013 was significantly weaker at a Category 1. Both storms however caused severe beach erosion, particularly on the island's northern tip. The average annual temperature of the sea ranges from 22 °C (72 °F) between July and September to 27 °C (81 °F) between January and March.

The flora of Fraser Island is diverse. More than 865 species of plants grow on the island. It is the only place on earth where tall rainforest grows in sand. The island contains the largest extent of wallum heath remnants in Queensland. In Pile Valley, 1,000-year-old rough-barked satinays are found. Despite being logged the kauri pines dominate in some areas. Scribbly gums, red gums, piccabeen palms, blue quandong, brush box and pandanus all grow on the island. Along the coast, the foredunes are dominated by salt-tolerant species which includes pigface, goats foot vine and beach spinifex. Spinifex sericeus is an important foundation species. Decayed matter from this dune grass breaks down in the sand, providing vital nutrients for other plant species, such as the beach oak. The rare Angiopteris evecta, a species of fern that has the largest fronds in the world, grows on the island. The southwest coast is dominated by mangroves. Persoonia prostrata was a shrub native to the island which is now extinct. As one travels from east to west across Fraser Island, the dune age increases. This leads to the progressive maturing of vegetation in the same direction, except for some areas along the western coast where soil leaching has decreased the nutrient soil layer to a depth beyond the reach of plant roots. Each lake on the island is surrounded by concentric vegetation zones. Typically these zones range from rushes in the shallows, then a mix of pioneer species on the beaches, through to sedges, heath, paperbarks, shrubs and finally eucalypt or banksia woodlands.

Fraser Island is part of the local government area Fraser Coast Region, which was created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released in July 2007. Before the local government reorganisation, the island was split up evenly between the City of Hervey Bay (northern part) and the City of Maryborough (southern part). In 1971, the northern half of Fraser Island was declared a national park. Now almost all of the island is included in the Great Sandy National Park, which is administered by Queensland's Environmental Protection Agency. This was extended in 1992 when heritage listing was granted. Except for a few small urban areas the island is protected by a Wild Rivers declaration.Domestic dogs are not permitted on Fraser Island and fines can be given for non-compliance. The ban, first applied in 1981, is imposed so that the island's dingo population is not exposed to diseases.In 2010, the management of the park, particularly the treatment of dingoes by the Department of Environment and Resource Management was called into question by Glen Elmes in the Queensland Parliament. Camp grounds are sometimes closed so as to reduce human contact with dingo populations.

Fraser Island has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

North end of island: Sandy Cape Light Protected Area: SS MarlooThe island was placed on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007.

Fraser Island is one of Queensland's most popular islands for tourists, who can reach the island by ferry from Hervey Bay or Rainbow Beach, which takes approximately 50-minutes. Estimates of the number of visitors to the island each year range from 350,000 to 500,000. The chance of seeing a dingo in its natural setting is one of the main reasons people visit the island. The use of boardwalks and marked tracks by visitors is encouraged to reduce erosion.Urinating tourists have created environmental problems in Fraser Island lakes and on coastal dunes. The foredunes are used as a toilet by bush campers, who are estimated to number 90,000 each year. Many of the perched lakes have no outflow or inflow which exacerbates the problem. Water quality in some lakes is being affected by storm water run-off from dune roads, and by swimmers' use of sunscreen. In April 2009, a vehicle overturned on the beach after being hit by a wave. Two backpackers were killed in the accident. Following the incident speed limits on the beach were reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, and from 40 km/h to 30 km/h inland. Everyone who hires a vehicle on the island from an organisation accredited by the Fraser Coast 4WD Operators Association must attend a one-hour-long briefing on vehicle safety. "Central Station", which was formerly the hub of the forestry industry when there was logging on Fraser Island, is now a popular tourist destination. Some of the rarest ferns grow in the rainforest near the location.