South Endeavour Trust

Myrtle Creek

Myrtle Creek is a 150ha reserve in the Bungawalbin swamp area on the NSW North Coast around 55km north north east of Grafton. The land is flat and swampy, averaging around 10m above sea level. Myrtle Creek forms the western and southern boundaries of the reserve. There is one major billabong in entirely original condition. Sadly land like Myrtle Creek is now very rare, most of it having been drained for agriculture or urban development. As a consequence both the flora and fauna of the reserve have outstanding biodiversity values.

The whole of the reserve is occupied by three EPBC listed Threatened Ecological Communities: Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forest of New South Wales and South East Queensland; Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia; and Subtropical eucalypt floodplain forest and woodland of the New South Wales North Coast and South East Queensland bioregions.

As regards fauna, the reserve helps protect one of the few remaining populations of the endangered north coast emu, as well as four nationally listed species (EPBC listed) and a further 11 NSW listed species. The four EPBC listed species are: Koala, Grey-headed Flying-Fox , Yellow-bellied Glider and the Giant Barred Frog.

Myrtle Creek – Species of conservation significance

Scientific Name	Common Name	EPBC status	NSW status
Phascolarctos cinereus	Koala	Endangered	Endangered
Pteropus poliocephalus	Grey-headed Flying-fox	Vulnerable	Vulnerable
Petaurus australis	Yellow-bellied Glider	Vulnerable	Vulnerable
Mixophyes iteratus	Giant Barred Frog	Endangered	Endangered
Dromalus novahollandiae	Emu		Endangered population
Hieraaetus morphnoides	Little Eagle		Vulnerable
Glossopsitta pusila	Little Lorikeet		Vulnerable
Ninox connivens	Barking Owl		Vulnerable
Petaurus norfolcencis	Squirrel Glider		Vulnerable
Aepyprymnus rufescens	Rufous Bettong		Vulnerable
Saccolaimus flaviventris	Yellow-bellied Sheath-tailed Bat		Vulnerable
Miniopterus australis	Eastern Bent-wing Bat		Vulnerable
Miniopterus orianae oceanensis	Large Bent-wing Bat		Vulnerable
Micronomous norfolkensis	Eastern Coastal Free-tailed Bat		Vulnerable
Chalinolobus nigrogriseus	Hoary Wattled Bat		Vulnerable
Nyctiphilus bifax	Eastern Long-eared Bat		Vulnerable

Over recent years Myrtle Creek has been subject to a series of exceptional climatic events. The whole of reserve was impacted by a huge mega fire during the 2019 bushfire emergency. Usually being a swamp, the fire frequency at Myrtle Creek is very low. However, the extraordinary drought conditions of 2019 left it in a condition where it would burn. This was followed by three very wet years culminating in the whole of reserve going underwater during the 2022 Lismore flood. Today the reserve is pretty much back to where it was before the 2019 drought. However, with climate change predicted to lead to further extreme events, we may well be testing the resilience of nature to its limits.