A remnant Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in Iluka, New South Wales

Images supplied by Iluka resident

Coastal Cypress Pine, Callitris columellaris distribution on Lot 99 Hickey Street, Iluka, which is currently the subject of a development application for subdivision into 162 residential lots:

Image supplied by Dr. Miles Holmes, PhD (Anthropology) University of Queensland,

Honorary Research Fellow University of Queensland

This forest appears to meet the requirements for being classified as an Endangered Ecological Community (EEC), in that even small patches that have been disturbed in the past by clearing, or fire are still considered to be important remnants of Coastal Cypress Pine Forest and meet the criteria of being an EEC [NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion, 2009].

However, the developer of record Stevens Holdings Pty Ltd (trading as Stevens Group) is thought to be resistant to the possibility that this mapping represents a viable remnant forest which would meet the requirements for such a classification.

Environmentally conscious village residents are concerned about the fate of this small forest on Lot 99 as it is to be clear felled to make way for residential land parcels.

These are excerpts from advice given to the NSW Government in 2008 concerning Coastal Cypress Pine forests on the NSW North Coast:

Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion is the name given to the ecological community dominated by Coastal Cypress Pine, Callitris columellaris, found typically on coastal sand plains, north from the Angourie area on the far north coast of NSW. The community typically has a closed to open canopy of C. columellaris, which may be mixed with eucalypts, wattles, banksias and/or rainforest trees, and an open to sparse understorey of shrubs, sedges and herbs. Structural forms of the community include woodland, open forest and closed forest, although the tree stratum may be very sparse, absent, or comprised only of dead trees in stands affected by partial clearing, tree senescence or fire…..

The species composition of a site will be influenced by the size of the site, recent rainfall or drought condition and by its disturbance (including fire) history. The number of species, and the above ground relative abundance of species will change with time since fire, and may also change in response to changes in fire regime (including changes in fire frequency). At any one time, above ground individuals of some species may be absent, but the species may be represented below ground in the soil seed banks or as dormant structures such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, rootstocks or lignotubers. The list of species given above is of vascular plant species; the community also includes micro-organisms, fungi, cryptogamic plants and a diverse fauna, both vertebrate and invertebrate…..

Based on detailed field inspections, the total distribution of Coastal Cypress Pine Forest covers approximately 150 ha (A. Benwell, unpubl. data), and is certainly less than 200 ha. Coastal Cypress Pine Forest is currently known from 15-20 localities, most of which are patches no larger than 10 ha. Stands of the community have been mapped in Bundjalung, Yuraygir and Broadwater National Parks (Griffith 1983, 1984, 1985) and Billinudgel Nature Reserve (Benwell 1998), accounting for about half of the total known occurrence. The remaining stands occur primarily on private land or road easements. All known occurrences of the community are within a total extent of occurrence of 2500 –3000 km2. These estimates indicate that the community has a highly restricted distribution……

Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion is eligible to be listed as an Endangered Ecological Community as, in the opinion of the Scientific Committee, it is facing a very high risk of extinction in New South Wales in the near future…. [Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion - endangered ecological community listing NSW Scientific Committee - final determination, October 2008]

Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion - endangered ecological community listing NSW...

This flora species list is compiled from notes supplied by John Edwards (Clarence Environment Centre) & M.L. de Lepervanche and shows that the lot contains at least 28 of the 50 indicative species found in a Coastal Pine Forest Endangered Ecological Community (EEC):

Coastal Pine EEC indicative species	* = species identified
Abildgaardia vaginata
Acacia aulacocarpa
Acacia disparrima subsp. disparrima	*
Acacia ulicifolia
Acianthus caudatus
Acianthus exsertus	*
Acronychia imperforata	*
Acrotriche aggregata
Allocasuarina littoralis	*
Alyxia ruscifolia
Araucaria cunninghamii
Aristida spp.
Astroloma humifusum
Austromyrtus dulcis	*
Baloskion tetraphyllum subsp. meiostachyum
Banksia integrifolia subsp. Integrifolia	*
Banksia serrata	*
Bulboschoenus barbata
Callitris columellaris	*
Chiloglottis sp.
Commelina cyanea	*
Corymbia intermedia	*
Cyclophyllum longipetalum
Cymbopogon refractus var. refractus
Cyperus stradbrokensis	*
Dianella caerulea	*
Eragrostis brownii	*
Eucalyptus pilularis
Eucalyptus resinifera subsp. hemilampra
Eucalyptus signata
Euroschinus falcata	*
Halfordia kendack
Hoya australis subsp. australis	*
Imperata cylindrica var. major	*
Leptospermum polygalifolium	*
Leucopogon ericoides
Leucopogon leptospermoides	*
Leucopogon margarodes
Lomandra longifolia	*
Monotoca elliptica	*
Notelaea longifolia	*
Oxylobium robustum
Paspalidium distans	*
Persoonia stradbrokensis	*
Platycerium bifurcatum	*
Pomax umbellata	*
Pteridium esculentum	*
Pterostylis nutans	*
Pterostylis pedunculata	*
Zieria smithii

Examples of 24 of the 28 Coastal Pine EEC indicative species which are known to grow on Lot 99:

 Acacia disparrima 

 Acronychia imperforata

 Allocasuarina littoralis

 Austromyrtus dulcis

 Banksia integrifolia

 Banksia serrata

 Commelina cyanea

 Corymbia intermedia

Dianella caerulea

Eragrostis brownii 

Euroschinus falcata

Hoya australis

Imperata cylindric

Leptospermum polygalifolium

Leucopogon leptospermoides

Lomandra longifolia

Monotoca elliptica

Notelaea longifolia

Pteridium esculentum

Pterostylis nutans

 Pomax umbellata

 Platycerium bifurcatum

 Persoonia stradbrokensis

Paspalidium distans

Photographs courtesy of John Edwards