Isabel Jordan Bushland Reserve - Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, Sunshine Coast & Hinterland Inc, working for habitat and wildlife ...

Isabel Jordan
        Bushland Reserve
Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, Sunshine
Coast & Hinterland Inc, working for habitat and wildlife
                 protection since 1963

Who was Isabel
Jordan?
Isabel Jordan (1922-2004)
 …a Quiet Achiever
working tirelessly for the
environment and the
community, sitting in the
Gallery during Council
meetings, and writing a
barrage of letters to the
Town Clerk…part of her
success, Isabel said, ‘was
because I can talk under
wet cement’.

A lifetime of community service
 Born in 1922 and after many challenging life experiences, Helen Isabel Jordan
  and her husband Frank moved to Caloundra in the 1970s. Isabel, as she was
  known, joined WPSQ in 1978 and served as Treasurer, President and Vice-
  President. She became a member of the Sunshine Coast Environment Council
  and the Golden Beach Progress Association, and in 1981 was an inaugural
  member of the Landsborough Shire (later Caloundra & District) Action Group.
 On Frank’s illness, she became a founding member of the Caloundra Hospital
  Improvement Committee at a time when the hospital had just seven beds.
  Isabel helped organise 10,500 signatures on a petition to improve facilities at the
  Hospital, and subsequently contributed as a member of the Caloundra Hospital
  Auxiliary Group.
 Volunteer work continued with Meals on Wheels for 15 years, and at the
  Endeavour Foundation opportunity shop for 14 years.
 Isabel was a member of the community-based Bicentennial Committee and an
  active contributor to the Caloundra Friends of the Library and the Library’s
  Learning Cooperative.
 The Isabel Jordan Bushland Reserve was named in 2008 in her honour by
  Caloundra City Council.

State & National awards &
A Caloundra City Icon
 1994: Caloundra City Council Citizen of the Year Award, and the Premier’s
  Award
 1995: Sunshine Coast Environment Award
 1998: Honorary Life Membership of WPSQ
 2000: Queensland Health Certificate of Appreciation (in acknowledgement
  of her valuable contribution as a volunteer)
 2001: Commonwealth Recognition Award for Senior Australians
  (recognising the significant contribution of Isabel Jordan to the community
  of the Sunshine Coast)
 2001: International Year of the Volunteer Volunteer’s Award (from
  Queensland Health for her contribution to the District Health Service)
 2001: A Caloundra City Icon (for outstanding service to the community of
  the City of Caloundra).

What and where is
the reserve?
                     The Isabel Jordan Bushland Reserve is Lot
                      687, administered for the State by trustee
                      Sunshine Coast Council as an Environment
                      Reserve under the Sunshine Coast
                      Environment and Liveability Strategy 2017.
                     The 4-hectare reserve lies either side of
                      Pathfinder Drive at the entrance to the
                      Caloundra Airport and the Queensland Air
                      Museum, and extends west towards
                      Bunnings.
                     The western path provides access to the
                      delicate wetland ferns, orchids and lilies
                      found growing in the paperbark
                      understorey, and weeping leptospermums
                      under the eucalypt canopy on the
                      ridgeline.
                     The eastern section is accessed via the
                      pathway linking Caloundra and Little
                      Mountain, and is a blaze of colour during
                      the wildflower season in
                      August/September.

Lot 687

Lot 340 connects to the Isabel Jordan
Bushland Reserve

A variety of ecosystems

The environmental values of the Reserve
 Both Lot 687 and the adjacent Lot 340 are identified by the State as ‘Bioregional
  corridors’ of ‘Regional significance’ and are defined as ‘Remnant’ containing
  ‘Essential habitat’ and ‘Special Biodiversity Values’. The SEQ Regional Plan 2017 defines
  Lot 687 as ‘Regionally significant greenspace, Essential habitat and High ecological
  value wetland’ and habitat for State Endangered, Vulnerable, Near-threatened
  species.
 Both Lots form part of a wetland drainage system that connects to the Pumicestone
  Passage, filtering water and providing a corridor for wildlife.
 The Reserve and Lot 340 are habitat for the Vulnerable Wallum Froglet (Crinia tinnula)
  & Wallum Rocketfrog (Litoria freycinetia), and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo.
 92 species of birds have been recorded in Lot 687 and surrounds. (Dept Env & Science
  WildNet data)
 40 species of wildflowers were recorded in 2020. (WPSQ records)
 There are no options for viable offsetting considering the features of the Reserve and its
  connectivity.
 The Reserve is a welcome buffer of greenery alongside busy Caloundra Road and
  airport and air museum, and a vital bushland remnant in the context of rapid
  development on the Sunshine Coast.

Walks in Spring: WPSQ contributes its botanical expertise
to Council’s annual Sunshine Coast Wildflower Festivals

Wallum Boronia: found with up to 40 other
flowering species along the eastern pathway in
Isabel Jordan Bushland Reserve

The Showy Parrot Pea:
just one of the yellows

The Native Iris: blooming in Spring close to
Pathfinder Drive

The future of the Isabel Jordan
Bushland Reserve
 Queensland Air Museum (QAM) has been seeking to expand into the
  western section of the Reserve to increase its holding and display space,
  car parking and visibility.
 WPSQ believes there are alternatives to achieving these goals that do not
  impact on the Reserve or the connecting Lot 340, and could be considered
  under the revised Caloundra Airport Master Plan:
     Re-planning the existing QAM layout
     Working with the adjacent Air Cadets & Westpac helicopter base towards
      sharing space (opening up recruiting of new volunteers to the Museum), or
      re-allocating these functions to other areas within the airport
     Using the adjacent already cleared area
     Adopting highly visible signage (and perhaps an aircraft on a stand) at the
      junction of Caloundra Road and Pathfinder Drive.

Isabel Jordan Bushland Reserve: An
environmentally vital and irreplaceable habitat and a
place for human refreshment on Caloundra’s doorstep

sunshine@wildlife.org.au
        June 2021