• Ankida
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  Ankida
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  Marsh land

Ankida — “Where Heaven and Earth Meet”

In 2009 and 2010 ARCS was gifted ‘Ankida’ (ancient Sumerian meaning ‘Where Heaven and Earth Meet’). This was the name Geoffrey and Shirley Miller gave to this land that captured their hearts more than 40 years ago. They loved, protected, and nurtured this wild rugged land, hoping passionately it would always remain safe. And so it shall. They turned to us to help make their hopes and dreams come true. We will protect it, lovingly, forever ....

	Aerial photo with Ankida property boundaries
Geoffrey and Shirley Miller, our two ARC Angels who gifted Ankida to ARCS, the valley in 2009 and the plateau in 2010.	Click on the map to enlarge ... click again to close

Ankida is a 205-hectare property of exceptional beauty and diversity where:

• Waterfall Creek spills over precipitous cliffs in a majestic waterfall - the “Horseshoe Falls”;
• beautiful escarpment and gorge scenery to the north and west delights the eye,
• diverse tall forests inspire — rainforests, wet sclerophyll rainforests, rare montane paperbark swamps fed by springs and soaks;
• sheer cliffs are bedecked with orchids and other rare treasures;
• air currents and updrafts are perfect for peregrine falcons to soar;
• other nooks and large hollow-bearing trees give safe harbor to species at the edge of extinction.

Ecosystem, plant and fungi diversity are high with 626 plant species in 124 different families found so far. This number will grow. Mycologists say it’s “Russula Heaven” (So many fungi species, and so plentiful. We even call a bush track ‘Fungi Lane’.).

We protect Ankida to keep it safe. It is a Nature Refuge under state legislation and protected by the strictest conservation covenant possible under local law. This is registered on the land Title. Our Management Plan maps out how we take care of it. Our research uncovers yet more mysteries and guides what we do. Our volunteers help remove the weeds and pests that wreak such havoc on life’s creatures that need this home.

If you would like to enjoy and help protect this heritage please register to help us or donate to keep this very special place safe (to donate button).

Looking north from the top of Horseshoe Falls over the Waterfall Creek valley and beyond

The view from the western escarpment of Ankida, looking over Numinbah Valley to Lamington Plateau.

Horseshoe Falls from the valley

A fern, Vittaria elongata (likely to move into the genus Haplopteris) on a mossy fallen log. Its distribution is really disjunct in Australia, reflecting just how relict it is now.

ARCS members on the track to Horseshoe Falls

The Brown Cuckoo-Dove belongs to a very old lineage of birds originating before the dinosaurs became extinct, and is one of the earliest birds in the world within the order Columbiformes (pigeons and doves) to have become arboreal to reach a new food niche of fleshy fruits. This was a major evolutionary leap that has rarely been reversed — maybe an evolutionary dead end so even more important to protect whilst we have them.

The Wonga Pigeon (Leucosarcia melanoleuca.) is considered ancestral to most of the ground-doves of the Indo-Pacific region. Its numbers are building after tens of thousands were shot for ‘tucker’ in the 1800s and illegal hunting and habitat clearing still continues today. Eight species of pigeons and doves occur on Ankida.

The “King” of all the parrots — the Australian King Parrot (Alisteris scapularis)

Ankida is home for the Peregrine Falcon: The Sumerians symbolized their ‘Goddess of the Heavens’, Inanna, as the ‘falcon of the gods’. This is the offspring of maybe one of only 24-35 breeding pairs in the whole of southeast Queensland. Dynasties of peregrines can occupy good cliff sites for 20,000 years. They have large home territories so nest sites are scarce — separated by at least 40 km. All the more reason to protect this very special place.

Russula neerimea is very uncommon in Queensland. Notice the soldier fly (Stratiomyidae) which lays its eggs in the cap and stands guard until they hatch.

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