Pandanusin grassland - click images to enlarge Grasslands surrounded Trinity Inlet according to someof the survey plans that were drawn up at the time of first settlement.Today we imagine that before the settlement of Cairns most of thevegetation present would have been rainforest because rainforests arewhat we see today in undeveloped areas. However 150 years ago there wasless rainforest and more vegetation of other types as a result ofaboriginal burning practices. There were also low lying areas whichhave since been drained or filled and which supported vegetation typesthat are no longer seen. Coastal grassland is one of the vegetationtypes that was originally present in the lowlands. Recently, I wasprivileged to visit a grassland near Weipa that may have been verysimilar to the grasslands that once surrounded Cairns. The grassland atWeipa was almost identical to a native grassland that I previouslysurveyed in the Tully River Valley and which now grows cane. Osbeckiasp? Coastal grasslands occur in places which are very flat and haveheavy clay soils. In the wet season, the grasslands are so swampy thattrees would be drowned. In the dry season, the dense clay quicklylooses its moisture and become a seasonal desert. Only grasses thriveas they can make do with the shallowest of root systems and theshortest of growing seasons. This type of country is often known asdebil-debil county after the head-sized lumps of earth that form underthe clumps of grass. In the wet season the earthworms have to come outof the ground or drown and they climb into the grass in large numbersand they make the mounds by depositing worm casts in the grass. Grasslands are special places. They are paradise for many types ofbirds including endangered species and song birds are always singing.Grasslands are also places where people can experience grand openspaces and scenic vistas. Walking through the grassland was not unpleasant, the grass is softedged and easily pushed through. Make sure to use a walking stick topart the grass in front of you and let the snakes get out of your way.The grasslands lie in a broad belt between the bush and the mangroves.In the grasslands at Weipa are some remarkablesmall hills. These hills are created entirely out of cockle shellswhich were eaten by the local aboriginal tribe and then discarded. Themound pictured is a small one, some mounds are truly impressive in sizeand support trees of bush tucker species such as peanut trees. Left: walking across the swamp, Centre:Can you see me standing on the top of the shell mound, Right:The surface of the shell mound. Grasslands are endangered in the Wet Tropic Bioregion and willprobably not survive the next decade. The last remaining grasslands inthe Wet Tropics are at Eubenangee Swamp and on the coastal flats nearIngham. The main treats to grasslands are weeds, development anddrainage on private land and for national parks, weeds such as Hymenachne. The main grass species is Ischaemum australe -"Large Bluegrass"