Mary's giant figs under threat

Anne-Louise Brown | 27th October 2009

Dozens of 500-year-old fig trees will be killed if the proposed dam at Traveston Crossing goes ahead, said Steve Burgess of the Save the Mary River Coordinating Group.

It was recently discovered several of the giant trees were missed in surveys conducted for the dam's environmental impact statement.

A number of smaller fig trees, which are an important source of food and habitat, were also missed.

“We decided to check the accuracy of the surveys. After ground-truthing approximately 40Ha, which is about 1% of the total EIS survey area, we discovered just how dense the populations of native sandpaper figs along the creeks in the dam footprint are,” Mr Burgess said.

“More worrying is that in the small area surveyed, we also found many individuals of the large strangler fig species which were not reported in the EIS.

“All these figs form critical habitat for many species of animals, especially the endangered Coxons Fig-Parrot.”

One of the giant figs is located on the property of Mary Valley farmer Doug Haigh, who was in awe of its size and beauty.

“Leonardo Da Vinci painted The Last Supper in 1498 depicting the last meal of Christ. That's roughly when the fig on my property began its life,” Mr Haigh said.

“I hope the federal government stops this project.

“I hate to think that my special tree may soon too have its last supper.”

An arborist and climbing team travelled to the Mary Valley last week to accurately determine their age, height and value.

“Very few people will ever see trees of this size and age,” said arborist Bill Wilcock.

“In Brisbane there are some very large figs in the CBD. These are of immense value, priceless in many people's eyes, however, they are barely half the age and size of these Mary Valley giants.”

Federal environment minister Peter Garrett is expected to make a decision whether the dam project will proceed within weeks.