One of Magnetic Island's most exposed beach foreshore areas: between Coconuts and the old helipad at Nelly Bay has just had several hundred beach-stabilising and shade making trees shrubs and grasses planted during a busy morning of volunteer activity organised by Townsville City Council and Greening Australia.

The morning concluded a series of four very successful community plantings at the Island's four populated bays in which a total of about 800 plants have been established.

TCC's Manager of Environmental Services, Greg Bruce was on hand at the planting and told Magnetic Times, "The main thing about the plantings here is the shade they will create. We will be encouraging people walking along to Coconuts to use the shade which will be made by the trees which have been propagated from seed-stock collected on Magnetic Island"

The major species planted include: casuarina and small beach almonds as well as beach spinafex and crinum lillies.


A very exposed section of the forseshore

The site has a history of instability as far as cyclones are concerned. Retired Island Council Acting Foreman at the time of cyclone Althea, Rex Millet, who was also on hand for the planting, told Magnetic Times that after cyclone Althea (which devastated the Island in 1971) the road between the helipad and Coconuts was covered with over a foot (30cm) of sand which had to be cleared with great difficulty before emergency and other service supplies could be transported between the bays.


All of the new plants received barrow-loads
of mulch to help them become established


Council staff and volunteers worked side by side

Island soil scientist and planting volunteer, Alistair Spain told Magnetic Times, "The trees being planted include hardy casuarinas which have evolved to tolerate foreshore conditions. The (present) mature casuarinas might hang on for years but continue to develop dead branches and are not reproducing themselves." Alistair was particularly pleased to see that the replacement trees, "are of local provenance".

Alistair also showed why the casuarinas are so successful as a front line species able to fight beach erosion and survive in very salty and infertile sand. Their secret is a bacteria known as Frankia which attaches itself to the casurina's roots and induces the tree to produce a strange fist-sized nodule in which the bacteria breeds up in the billions. In return for the accommodation the bacteria "fix" nitrogen from the air and feed it to the casuarina as an in-built fertiliser. "A healthy mature tree would have hundreds of these nodes attached to its roots," he said.


A Frankia bacteria nodule which fixes
nitrogen for the hardy casuarinas

Greg Bruce told Magnetic Times, "The work has originated from requests coming from Islanders who wanted to see trees and plants lost during cyclone Tessi replaced as well as improving the natural values of the Island"