Returning a Pasture to the Forest It Was Always Meant to Be
In partnership with the Queensland Trust for Nature, 1,000 native trees were established at Woodstock Farm, Tamborine — reintroducing the vegetation communities of an endangered ecosystem type that has lost more than seventy percent of its pre-clearing extent across South East Queensland.
Queensland Trust for Nature (QTFN) — Conservation Partnership
Native stock sourced and coordinated by QTFN · Wildscapes delivering site preparation, installation and establishment
Regional Ecosystems RE 12.3.7 and RE 12.3.16
RE 12.3.16 listed Endangered under the Vegetation Management Act 1999
Open Pasture on Land That Once Carried Endangered Vine Forest
Woodstock Farm sits in the Tamborine area of the Gold Coast hinterland — a landscape that historically supported two significant vegetation communities. The riparian flats carried RE 12.3.7, a fringing woodland of Queensland Blue Gum and River She-oak. The alluvial soils beyond supported RE 12.3.16 — a complex notophyll vine forest now listed as Endangered under Queensland's Vegetation Management Act.
Less than 4,000 hectares of RE 12.3.16 remains across South East Queensland today, down from 14,000 hectares before clearing. What was once continuous alluvial vine forest across the hinterland lowlands exists now in fragments — on private land, managed by landholders who have chosen to hold and restore it rather than graze it out entirely.
Woodstock Farm is one of those properties. QTFN identified the open pasture areas as suitable for structured revegetation back toward the vegetation communities the land historically carried.
Dense Pasture, Compacted Soil, and a Narrow Establishment Window
Establishing native trees into existing pasture is not a matter of digging holes and planting. The pasture itself is the problem — dense introduced grasses compete aggressively with new stock for moisture and light. In the first six months, that competition is the primary driver of early mortality.
The planting zones presented compacted soils under long-term pasture management, with a dense grass and broadleaf weed layer that needed reducing before planting could be effective. The challenge was suppressing that competition without soil disturbance that would trigger weed germination ahead of planting.
All works were delivered within a defined window in coordination with QTFN's planting schedule — sequencing had to satisfy both the ecological requirements of site preparation and the logistical requirements of a 1,000-tree program timetable.
Prepare the Ground. Plant to Survive. Support the Establishment.
The program ran April through June 2024 in three staged phases — each sequenced to give the planted stock the best possible conditions for early establishment.
Before works
Overgrown pasture — dense grass and weed layer across planting zones
After brushcutting and preparation
Zones cleared, competition suppressed, ground prepared for planting
1,000 trees planted out
Native trees established across prepared zones under reduced competitive pressure
From Pasture to the Beginning of a Forest
The physical transformation at completion of the establishment phase was the beginning of a much longer ecological process. What changed immediately was the condition of the ground and the trajectory of the site.
1,000 native trees established across previously open pasture zones
Grass competition within planting zones reduced, improving early survival conditions
Defined vegetation structure reintroduced — canopy and mid-storey species in the ground
Site access improved through controlled biomass reduction prior to planting
Endangered ecosystem communities — RE 12.3.16 and RE 12.3.7 — reintroduced to historically cleared land
QTFN conservation objectives advanced through structured, documented delivery
What takes longer is the ecology catching up. These trees will not form a functioning vine forest canopy in a season or even a decade. But the trajectory has shifted — and the species now in the ground are the structural foundation of a community that, under consistent management, will develop the layering, complexity, and ecological function of the vegetation communities this land once carried.
That is what restoration at this scale looks like. Not a finished product — a planted direction.
Pasture grass seedbanks are persistent. Continued follow-up management during the first 12–24 months is the most critical factor in early canopy survival. The establishment phase delivered by Wildscapes built the foundation. Sustained management under QTFN stewardship determines what grows from it.