Coochin hills grevillea

Article and images by Michael Mills, community conservation officer, Sunshine Coast Council

The Coochin hills grevillea (Grevillea hodgei) is listed Critically Endangered under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and has a small distribution area of known plants in the greater Beerwah area… and that’s it. The main population occurring in the Coochin Twins national park area, the core population, is protected.

There are a number of threatening processes that have left the species in a precarious situation. Whilst the main population is found in national park, in the event of disease, fire or other natural disaster, the species would decline drastically. In addition grevilleas, particularly the shrubbier species, have become a common species to plant in gardens and park areas; largely these are species from outside southeast Queensland and Sunshine Coast. These species have the ability to cross breed with the Coochin hills grevillea, which will slowly lead to the species declining over time.