Wild Queensland nut trees are vital to the future of a $500 million a year industry but they are officially vulnerable to extinction, with less than three per cent of the remaining range fully protected in national parks or nature reserves, according to new analysis by WWF- Australia.<\/p>\n
More widely known as the macadamia nut, the two edible species of wild Queensland nut trees are only found in sub-tropical rainforests stretching from Bundaberg in south-east Queensland to Lismore in northern NSW, an area which has seen rapid development in recent decades.<\/p>\n
Analysis by WWF-Australia and Spatial Ecology Laboratory at the University of Queensland has found just 1.3 per cent of the remaining distribution of the smooth Queensland nut (Macadamia integrifolia) and only 2.1 per cent of the rough shelled Queensland nut (Macadamia tetraphylla) is protected inside national parks and nature reserves.<\/p>\n
Only about 1000 smooth-shelled and less then 2000 rough-shelled Queensland nut trees remain alive in the wild after 200 years of logging, clearing and development in these now heavily populated regions.<\/p>\n
"The Queensland nut is Australia’s only crop developed from a wild native species and the source of a lucrative $500 million industry," Dr Taylor said.<\/p>\n
"But despite its strategic economic value and cultural significance, little is being done to bring its remaining natural habitat into nature reserves."<\/p>\n
Cultivated Queensland nut trees, even those grown in Australia, all derive from as few as six wild specimens collected from Australia and bred in Hawaii last century.<\/p>\n
Without genes for resistance to pests and diseases from wild populations, the narrow gene pool of cultivated trees puts Queensland nut production worldwide at risk of a pest or disease outbreak.<\/p>\n
"In 2008 the state government committed to add 4.3 million hectares to the Queensland national parks system by 2020. The Queensland nut is one clear example of the real economic benefits that could result from meeting this promise," Dr Taylor said. <\/p>\n
More information<\/p>\n
Dr Martin Taylor, WWF-Australia Protected Areas Policy Manager, 0406 384 289 <\/p>\n
Charlie Stevens, WWF-Australia Media Manager- Qld, 0424 649 689 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wild Queensland nut trees are vital to the future of a $500 million a year industry but they are officially vulnerable to extinction, with less than three per cent of the remaining range fully protected in national parks or nature reserves, according to new analysis by WWF- Australia. More widely known as the macadamia nut, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4259,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-574004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574004\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}