Lying in the Blackall Range in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Kondalilla's rainforest is a haven for native flora and fauna – and takes its name from an impressive 90-metre waterfall.
Kondalilla is just one of the national parks – along with Mapleton Falls and Mapleton – and other small reserves that protect the Blackall Range, providing essential habitats for various species of spectacular birds and fasciinating wildlife.
Walking through these verdant rainforests will give you the opportunity to see an array of wildlife such as possums, wallabies, goannas, frogs, echidna, plenty of birds and more besides. At least 107 bird species live in the Blackall Range. These include the Australian peregrine falcon and the wompoo fruit-dove, whose booming call reaches the ground from its feeding sites among the treetops.
Other native animals recorded in the ranges of Australia's Nature Coast include 70 species of reptiles and 32 species of frogs including the endangered southern dayfrog and southern gastric brooding frog, plus the threatened pouched frog.
The landscape was created by volcanoes and sculpted by water over millions of years. Rich basalt soils, the result of volcanic activity around 30 million years ago, support warm subtropical rainforest. Tall open forests grow on poorer quality soils derived from a violent period of eruptions that began 235 million years ago. Along the edge of the escarpment, waterfalls cascade all year round – thundering and spectacular during the summer rainy season, dying to a gentle trickle in the drier winter month
Plant and animal diversity is high, but habitat clearing and loss of vegetation along the range has threatened some species. Natural corridors of vegetation linking larger reserves are essential to minimise isolation of species and to maximise the genetic breeding pool, helping to avoid local extinction. Some species that occur only in this local area are rare or vulnerable to extinction, however research and recovery plans are in place to give these species a chance to recover.
You can easily explore the park on its network of short walking trails and a 56-kilometre long distance trail..
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