Barnard-Island-Group-Nationalpark
The Barnard Iceland Group National Park (English: Barnard Iceland Group National Park ) is a national park in northeastern Australian state of Queensland.
Location
It is located 1296 km northwest of Brisbane and 25 km south-east of Innisfail off the coast at Kurrimine Beach.
The park consists of two island groups, the North Barnard Islands and the islands Bresnahan, Hutchinson, Jessie, and Kent Lindquist and the South Barnard Islands and the islands Sisters and Stephens.
Landforms
The 5-10 km off-shore islands rise 19-95 m from the sea. The older North Barnard Islands consist of metamorphic rock, while the slightly younger South Barnard Islands are composed of volcanic tuff basalt deposits. The age of the islands is estimated to be 420 million years.
Flora and Fauna
All the islands are covered with dense rainforest. The larger the island, the greater the biodiversity in their rainforest. The shores are lined with mangrove forests. In particular, the South Barnard Islands are an important breeding area for seabirds, of which 23 species have been observed on and around the islands.
History
The islands belonged to the Aboriginesstamm of Mamo. In the 19th century a small fishing village on the island of Sisters was born. 1890 this settlement but was completely destroyed by a cyclone.
1897 a small lighthouse was built on Kent. Until 1918, this lighthouse was manned. Then, however, made a cyclone evacuation of the lighthouse keeper and his family needed. After the beacon was operated automatically.
Jessie, Bresnahan, Hutchinson, Sisters and Stephens 1936 were declared a national park. The islands and Kent Lindquist followed in 1994.
Accessibility and facilities
The islands can be reached from Kurrimine Beach by boat. The island Lindquist is a closed military zone and not allowed to enter. Camping is allowed on the islands and Kent Stephens, but there are no special facilities - except picnic tables - present. Access to the island Sisters is banned for reasons of bird protection in the period 1 September to 31 March, the limited to the island Stephens at this time on the strip of sand and the campground.