Education

The Australian Native Woodland Reserve (ANWaR) provides an excellent educational resource to both USQ and the wider community. Over 500 native plant specimens have been planted in three different woodland areas. The idea was to replicate three local habitats for both teaching purposes and as a storehouse of interesting plant communities and rare plant species occurring in the region. The three habitats chosen were:

1.   Red Gum-Ironbark Open Woodland - containing already established Forest Red Gums (Eucalyptus tereticornis) and Rough-barked Apple (Angophora floribunda). Some of the main additions have been Narrow-leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra), Black Wattle (Acacia concurrens), and Green Wattle (Acacia decurrens).

2.   Dry Stringybark Woodland - this area has tree species such as Red Stringybark (Eucalyptus resinifera), Spotted Gum (Eucalyptus maculata), Bastard Tallowwood (Eucalyptus planchoniana) and Bailey's Stringybark (Eucalyptus baileyana). The understorey consists of native grass such as Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra), shrubs such as Silver Wattle (Acacia podalyriifolia), Austral Indigo (Indigofera australis), Slender Rice flower (Pimelea linifolia) and a number of Banksia species.

3.   Darling Downs Mountain Coolibah Open Woodland - this area has dominant tree species of Mountain Coolibah (Eucalyptus orgadophila), Poplar Box (Eucalyptus populnea) and River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and an diverse understorey including Wild Apricot (Pittosporum phylliraeoides), Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla), Wilga (Geijera parviflora) and the rare native thistle species, Stemmacantha australis.