Community & Business
22 February, 2025
Probe finds Arboretum trees were poisoned
DEAD or dying trees discovered within the heritage-listed Arboretum in Atherton last year were poisoned, the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation has confirmed.
The trees were spotted in the central area of the forest in September 2024 by a passerby and a member of the Friends of the Atherton Arboretum community group, who took photographs through the property fence and alerted the department.
“Results of samples taken from the Atherton Arboretum show the trees were poisoned,” a department spokesperson said last Thursday.
“Our investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact us on 1300 130 372. Information can be provided anonymously.”
The department executed a search warrant on the property in October 2024, after it was refused entry to the site. Plant and soil samples were taken for laboratory analysis, to determine if any offences had been committed under the Queensland Heritage Act 1992.
It had also issued a stop work order to the property owners to prevent any activities being carried out on the site “that would destroy or substantially reduce the cultural heritage significance of trees and other vegetation onsite”.
The stop work order has been extended until 25 February 2025, the spokesperson said.
The maximum penalty for breaching a stop order is $2.74 million for an individual or over $13 million for a corporation.
The Atherton Arboretum was entered into Queensland’s heritage register in August 2024 following a community campaign to preserve the former CSIRO site on Maude Street in Atherton. It was deemed a living collection of nearly 900 plantings, representing more than 400 plant species from the Wet Tropics region, some of which were classified as rare or endangered.
The site was sold privately in 2023, with a covenant clause included in the tender for sale that the arboretum was being assessed by the Queensland Heritage Council for heritage listing.
The department spokesperson said further information on the poison, the number and species of trees affected, and any action being taken, was not available as the investigation was still ongoing.
A spokesperson for the Friends of the Atherton Arboretum, Gemma Horner, said she wasn’t surprised at the results given the recent history of the site.
The Friends’ association was formed in September 2021, when it learned the Federal Government was selling the CSIRO site. Ms Horner was one of the authors of a proposal to list the property as a significant heritage site, following the Tablelands Regional Council decision not to support such an application.
The group had been active in alerting the department to activity they believed threatened the Arboretum, including the bulldozing of a stand of trees before the heritage listing was announced in June last year, and the suspected poisoned trees spotted in September 2024, after the listing was announced.
“We continue to keep an eye out,” Ms Horner said.
“I have to say, the Queensland Heritage Department is extremely responsive and takes action as quickly as possible.
“But I understand the constraints (the department) has in providing more detail, given it is a (potential) criminal case.
“All will come out eventually.”
