Early days

Originally huge sand dunes occurred along the beaches and behind the headland, and littoral rainforest flourished west of the sand dunes. Unfortunately these dunes were flattened and the littoral rainforest was destroyed during the 1950s and 1960s by companies mining minerals such as rutile, zircon and ilmenite. When the sandmining had finished, the mining companies planted inappropriate plants such as the South African bitou bush.

The Fingal Head Dunecare and Reafforestation Group began in 1986 with Kate Piper and Jeff Farrar clearing bitou bush from the edges of the littoral rainforest remnant at the southern end of Lagoon Road in Fingal Head. Others joined them and they continued to clear bitou and other weeds, replanting the area with local native species. As littoral rainforest species were not available, the group started propagating local littoral rainforest trees in Kate's backyard.

In 1987 Jeff organised botanist Andrew Murray to identify plants in the Fingal Head area; he identified the rare and endangered species, Cryptocarya foetida. Kate and Jeff were encouraged by National Parks to identify, count and tag all these trees in the area. They counted 803. Soon after, a number of locals joined them in their fight against bitou.

In 1988-89 the group joined with other community groups to oppose the proposed Ocean Blue development of a hotel in the quarry on public open space. Volunteer numbers grew and the group became incorporated in 1990.

In 1992, Brian Mason, who was the Senior Agronomist of Queensland Beach Protection Authority stated:

"In 12 months, the Fingal group had planted probably more trees than any other tree planting organisation
in Australia. When you see the enormity of the problem and immensity of the task to restore the dunes,
it is a wonder it didn't stop them dead in their tracks."

This was also reported in 'Landcare – Communities Shaping the Land and the Future' by Andrew Campbell in 1994.

In 1991, group members built the first small nursery with a grant of $500 from the Soil Conservation Service, using recycled building materials. The nursery was extended in 1995 and in 2000 it was named the “Earl and Zelda Hayes Nursery” after two of the volunteers.

In the fight against bitou, the group first cut and pulled the bitou bush out. Later, spraying was undertaken by attaching the spray equipment to the end of fishing rods to reach the top of the bitou bushes. Then the more successful ‘Fingal Method’ was developed, which involved slashing the bitou bush and then spraying both the regrowth and the germinating seed some 4-5 months later. In 1994 a Down to Earth sponsored film called "Beating the Bitou" was made to showcase the Fingal method.

Check out the many news articles on the group over the years.
See the article written by Lee Scarlett (Coordinator of Fingal Head Dune Care & Reafforestation Group in 1993).
Read more about Lee Scarlett.

In 2001 the group was renamed ‘Fingal Head Coastcare’. Membership continued to grow and FHC still collects seeds, propagates local native species in the nursery and maintains the local forests, headland and dunes by removing weeds and regenerating areas.

Kate Piper (now McKenzie), with Jeff Farrar, founded the Fingal Head Dune Care and Reafforestation Group in 1986, which later became Fingal Head Coastcare. Since then Kate has been an active working member in leadership roles in the group. Kate has tertiary qualifications as well as extensive on ground experience. She has been our leading environmental educator imparting her botanical, ornithological and bush regeneration knowledge and skills to both Fingal Head Coastcare's members and the broader community. In 1992 Kate led the first Centrelink Skills Team of 10 participants and she initiated the Junior Landcare group at Fingal Head Public school in 1998. She has presented at many forums, including the first State Landcare Conference in 1994, NSW Parliament in 1996, local Landcare Conferences, community groups and many educational institutions. In 1998 Kate was appointed Tweed Coordinator for the Tweed/Brunswick Care Coordinating Committee Inc., and was the Tweed Landcare Coordinator for 10 years. She provided guidance, advice and assistance in the regeneration of native vegetation and weed control to farmers and rural landholders in the Tweed Valley. She recently retired from the Foreshore Reserve Technical Officer with the Gold Coast City Council. As well as an environmental educator she has been an environmental activist. In 1991 she was named one of the 'Four Women Warriors' in the famous Fingal Head Ocean Blue campaign and ever since she has been involved in many environmental campaigns frequently providing essential relevant botanical information. Kate is currently Vice President, a position she has held in the group for more than 30 years.

Jeff Farrar was a co-founder of the group with Kate Piper. He is a political and environmental activist and has been involved in campaigns since the 1960's. With a degree in Earth Science, Jeff wanted to restore and protect our beautiful and rare forest. After starting voluntary bush regeneration work in 1986 in the dunes at north Kingscliff, Jeff met with Kate and began working at Fingal Head on a weekly basis, removing bitou bush and collecting seeds to propagate into seedlings. Jeff was the first president of the Fingal Head Dunecare and Reafforestation Group. Jeff organised botanists Andrew Murray and Paul Flower to conduct surveys of our forests, which resulted in NSW Environment Planning Policy [SEPP] status. He was a member of the North Coast Environment Council, and worked with TBLALC, Land Council, and the media over many years. One of the major projects was opposing Ocean Blue plans for a massive resort development at Fingal.

Lee Scarlett (dec.) was an active member and key driver of our group as Project Manager, Vice-President and President. He was an environmental educator and efficient, enthusiastic leader, motivator and organiser. Lee initiated the Fingal to Sydney CoastWalk in 1988 to raise awareness of the threat of development on the NSW Coast, including the Fingal Peninsula. A group of people walked from Fingal Headland to Sydney over six weeks, with other activists joining along the way. This resulted the first coastal development policy in Australia. Lee developed the Fingal Method of effective bitou bush control, and initiated the construction of the nursery and purchase of equipment. He moved out of the area in 2002, and was awarded Life Membership of FHC for his contribution. One of the tracks in our forest will be called “Lee Scarlett Walk”.

Note: Lee was a singer-songwriter, and has recorded a song 'The Caves of Fingal'.

Kieran Kinny is a professional bush regenerator, who joined the group in 2007. He kick-started the headland restoration project to re-establish the Themeda Grassland ecological community. Kieran has a Certificate III Conservation & Land Management (Natural Areas Restoration) and a Certificate II Horticulture. He has worked as a supervisor of Volunteer BushCare / CoastCare Groups, a Seed Technical Officer, a Conservation & Land Management Tutor, and was guest speaker for Catchment Management Authority Coastcare Volunteers Forum, Wollongong in 2011 on “Restore Fingal Head Maritime Themeda Grasslands”.

Olga Vidler (dec.) was Honorary Secretary of the Fingal Head Progress Association (1976-1998), and played a leading role in mobilising community support for preserving Fingal Head as a historic coastal village (against attempts by developers to convert it into an international tourist resort). Olga assisted and supported the establishment of the Fingal Head Dune Care and Reafforestation Group to rehabilitate large areas of mined sand dunes. She played an important research and liaison role in the preparation and presentation of more than 27 major submissions to local government and state (NSW) government authorities on a range of local conservation and rehabilitation issues.

Elizabeth Allan (dec.) worked with Olga Vidler on a presentation at an Adelaide conference. Elizabeth was a great people person and good at finding creative practical solutions to problems. She loved helping around the nursery and was generally supportive to all.

Brian Mason (dec.) was a Tweed local who spent his early life managing a range of agricultural projects. With his degree in agronomy he worked with the Queensland Beach Protection Authority, where he ran the research station and nursery on South Stradbroke Island. Much of his research was on revegetating and restoring areas that had been sand mined or overrun by Bitou Bush and other invasive weeds. Some of his sand fertiliser trials were ground-breaking. He was undoubtedly the finest authority in these areas in the country. Brian later became involved with the Fingal Head Dune Care and Reafforestation Group. His knowledge and advice proved invaluable to a small group undertaking a project that, in essence, had not really been seriously attempted before, ie putting back littoral rainforest that had been totally removed. Brian's knowledge of all areas of plant propagation, weed control and planting practices provided the basis of all the methodology adopted at Fingal.

Bruce Graham (dec.) was a local high school teacher librarian. He started the Fingal Defenders and launched the Ocean Blue Campaign in 1988, and facilitated a group solution to the threat of alienation of public land. He later worked with FHC. Bruce wrote ‘Tweed Volcanic Region – 360 Million Years Ago to the Present Day’, and ‘The Green Coast – The Natural Environment of the Tweed-Moreton Bioregion'.

Zelda and Earl Hayes (dec.) joined the group in the 1990s. Earl was a retired engineer who was very capable, practical and a meticulous organiser. Earl took the initiative in getting the FHC nursery built and set up, and he developed techniques for best practice in revegetation. Earl spent 1,000 hours supervising the Justice Department’s Community Service clients in the first 12 months of the program (1993). Our nursery is named “The Earl and Zelda Hayes Nursery”. Zelda joined the group in the 1990s. She was treasurer of the group, and took on the role of nurturing the group and group members as well as participating in all activities.

Joan Mitchell (dec.) was a very active and significant member of FHC from 2004 until her passing in 2022. She was a revered and feared treasurer for 16 years. She attended work sessions twice a week, rarely missing a work day in 17 years and made herself available for all extra activities. She tackled every work task, no matter how hard or unpleasant and persisted until it was done. Her quick wit and dry humour was appreciated by all, and many difficult situations were diffused with her humorous quips. She was rarely ruffled, considered things carefully and fairly, and could always see both sides of an argument. Her opinions were well considered, carefully thought through, highly regarded and frequently sought. We were honoured and fortunate to have had her working with us.

Sue Pearce was a valued member of FHC for 10 years until she moved from the Tweed in 2013. She held the position of honorary secretary for 6 years, honorary treasurer for 3 years and held both the secretary and treasurer role in 2005. She was Nursery Manager for 6 years and with a Certificate II in Bush Regeneration, experience as a professional bush regenerator, a background in horticulture and extensive botanical knowledge, she educated members on best practice and techniques in both plant propagation and bush regeneration. Sue was a perfectionist and ensured everything was done correctly. We missed Sue when she left.

John Gillieatt was the Nursery Manager in the 1990s. John had previously worked in the state herbarium in Brisbane, and was very knowledgeable in botany.