Changes in island biota - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 212

Clearance of island vegetation
Destruction of vegetation occurred at some islands for firewood and in order to
clear land for planting, as several documentary sources indicate; that activity
took place since the period of earliest European settlement. As early as 1857, J. S.
V. Mein had cleared the centre of Green Island for firewood and for cultivation.
Another island to experience vegetation clearance was Dunk Island where, in
1908, E. J. Banfield (1913, pp12, 43) cleared and burned bloodwood forest in
order to prepare land for planting. Later, in 1939, further vegetation clearance
occurred at that island as Beach Oak was cut by the crews of trochus luggers in
order to supply firewood for their boiler s. 30 C learance of trees on Great Barrier
Reef islands also occurred using the method of ringbarking, as V. Grenning, the
Queensland Director of Forests, stated in 1951:
Ringbarking and other destruction on the islands not reserved and given the
protection of the National Parks Regulations has already caused some marring
of what otherwise must be one of the most beautiful spots in the world . 31
Another method of clearing island vegetation was using fire; in 1952, B.
E. Bailey, the Honorary Secretary of the Magnetic Island United Progress
Association, reported that Magnetic Island experienced 'continual burning off
by grass and bush fires', causing the destruction of flora, disturbance to fauna, soil
erosion, and sediment and nutrient runoff to the fringing reefs of the island . 32
Further destruction of vegetation was reported in 1954 at Henning and
Carlisle Islands, in the Whitsunday Group, where half of the Casuarina trees had
been destroyed at the northern beach of Henning Island, and other Casuarina
trees had been cut at Carlisle Island. One report, by F. O. Nixon, stated that at
Henning Island 'the wood had been stripped of bark and cut into billets, obviously
the work of a crew of a trochus shell boat, several of which are operating in that
area'. That destruction was regarded as serious as it would increase the erosion
of sand from the beach. Another report of the same year referred to the cutting
of Casuarina trees, at the northern tip of Henning Island, stating that all parts of
the trees that were large enough for firewood were removed . 33 Various sources,
therefore, indicate that ringbarking, the use of fire and timber-cutting caused the
destruction of vegetation at several islands of the Great Barrier Reef.
Vegetation has also been cleared from numerous islands of the Great Barrier
Reef as a result of the development of infrastructure, including tourist resorts,
airstrips and research stations. As previously acknowledged (in Chapter 12) ,
the development of infrastructure on islands reflected the expansion of tourism
in the Great Barrier Reef, especially since around 1930. The construction of
airstrips, which required substantial areas of relatively flat land, was one activity
that inevitably degraded island vegetation. An airstrip was constructed on
Lindeman Island in July 1946, requiring clearance of the trees. However, by 1957,
that airstrip was unserviceable and another was proposed for the island; National