Paradise Preserved : A History of Forestry on Fraser Island by Robert Onfray

Paperback, 366 pages, $39.95

ISBN 9781923568051

Mid-October 2025 release

For over a century, Fraser Island’s majestic forests provided the timber that helped build Queensland — and shaped the lives of those who lived and worked beneath its towering satinays and blackbutts trees.

Paradise Preserved uncovers the untold story of forestry on the world’s largest sand island. From Aboriginal timber workers and pioneering foresters to tramways, sawmills, and silviculture trials, Robert Onfray reveals how 120 years of forest management created a legacy still etched in the landscape today.

Drawing on archival records, personal experience, and eyewitness accounts, Onfray challenges the long-held myth that forestry destroyed Fraser Island. Instead, he shows how careful stewardship sustained its forests, so much so that the island achieved World Heritage status just months after logging ceased.

Blending history, politics, and human stories, Paradise Preserved is essential reading for anyone who cares about Fraser Island, forestry, and the future of Australia’s natural heritage.

“Despite allegations of environmental damage, Fraser Island’s forests remained in such splendid condition that they earned World Heritage status — proof of over a century of careful stewardship.”

“The fact that environmental activists regarded the island as worthy of preservation as a national park after a century of forestry operations is the greatest tribute the industry could receive.”

 

“Tourists stand in awe of the towering satinay and brush box trees, yet few know their history — or that the forests they walk through were once actively managed for timber production.”

“Locking away the island’s forests with minimal management has inevitably led to poorer outcomes for native flora and fauna.”

“This book aims to tell the story of Fraser Island’s forestry legacy before it vanishes.”

Robert Onfray worked for 33 years as a professional forester, land manager, and later oversaw land access in Queensland’s mining industry. Now retired, he devotes his time to historical research and writing, while also publishing monthly blogs on land management issues across Australia and sharing historical stories gathered during three years of travel around the country.

His first book, Fires, Farms and Forests: a human history of Surrey Hills, north-west Tasmania (2020), explores the environmental and cultural history of a remarkable Tasmanian landscape. It traces how Aboriginal fire shaped native grasslands from rainforests, the challenges faced by the Van Diemen’s Land Company in establishing European farming after settlement, the rise of a pulp and paper industry built on the estate’s timber resources, and the enduring struggle to balance industry, ecosystems, and community life.

Robert spent his later school years in Maryborough, where he first developed a connection with Fraser Island. In the early 1980s, he worked on the island as a forestry student, staying at Central Station and exploring remote areas rarely seen by visitors. Those experiences inspired his lifelong fascination with the island’s history and forests.