Endangered pine forest regeneration zone to expand At Reflections Brunswick Heads

A regeneration zone for an endangered pine species at Reflections Brunswick Heads holiday park will be expanded as a part of a raft of measures designed to improve the park for guests and protect the land for the community and future generations of holidayers.  

Key measures of the investment at Brunswick Heads holiday park by Reflections - a Category 1 Crown land manager, certified social enterprise and the largest holiday park group in New South Wales – include: 

• The expansion of a dedicated regeneration zone for the Coastal Cypress Pines forest in the southern precinct. Reflections staff have been working for the past 18 months to collect seeds from the precinct which have been propagated at a local nursery resulting in a stock of over 1000 seedlings.  

• Upgrading access to Simpsons Creek to provide a safe and clear pathway using erosion control matting, with measures to further protect the surrounding mangroves. 

• Installing 10 tents on sites previously used for camping. While licenced to have 27 camp sites, Reflections has reduced the camping footprint to minimise impact, including restricting vehicles from the precinct. 

• The tents are installed on a timber deck using an “eco-anchor foundation system”, meaning there are no tent pegs or concrete footings, reducing impact on the ground and existing tree root systems. 

In addition, Reflections is moving ahead with its plans for a new playground in nearby Terrace Reserve, where it is actively consulting with the local community and school children to inform a final design for the new playground. 

Reflections CEO Nick Baker said every aspect of the design for the park’s southern precinct was carefully considered to minimise environmental impact according to the site’s Vegetation Management Plan. 

“Our team has worked with ecologists, landscape architects and arborists to ensure that we are not just protecting and preserving the land and the Coastal Cypress Pine forest but we’re actively planning for future regeneration, including planting new seedlings propagated from seeds which our staff have painstakingly collected,” Mr Baker said. 

“While we could have theoretically almost tripled the camping sites in this beautiful pocket of the park, we have chosen to have a far smaller number established in a way that removes the need for any set up of equipment, or cars, to protect the existing environment, while providing a guest experience which will include education about the unique nature of the location.” 

Arborist Andy Clark, who has worked on the project for five years, said the environmental enhancement work by Reflections was exciting considering the Coastal Cypress Pine Forest was a threatened area. 

“It’s exciting to see that Reflections with a few simple management practices can showcase how to retain an existing site usage of a holiday park for future visitors while protecting the trees and the environment which are important to the local community”.

To watch a short video on the Coastal Cypress Pines regeneration project, click here: https://youtu.be/e_RZx63TcAM