details

Statement of Significance

The rich, fertile soil, temperate climate and the interest of many of its citizens in things botanical, has resulted in Toowoomba Region’s ability to grow a wide range of indigenous and non-indigenous plants. In 1860, the area was the first to hold an Agricultural Show in Queensland – 15 years before Brisbane. Walter Hill, the then Government Botanist and first curator of the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, travelled to Toowoomba to advise with the design and planning of Queen's Park and street plantings in Toowoomba. He subsequently imported many tree species from Europe, Asia and other parts of the world to be planted there. Hill Street in Toowoomba is named in his honour. The town attracts many visitors in September for its famous Carnival of Flowers, where people come from near and far to enjoy Toowoomba’s many parks and gardens.
The area that is now Queen’s Park and the Toowoomba Botanic Gardens (26.3 ha) was gazetted as a public reserve in 1869 and the Botanic Gardens were established in the 1870s as a place for botanic research and as a regional adjunct to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (established in 1855). The then Mayor William Groom obtained £500 from the colonial government in 1874 to establish the botanic gardens. Walter Hill assisted with its designing and planning. Many of the trees planted in Queen's Park were imported by him from throughout the world. The far sightedness and work of the early planners has provided Toowoomba with a wonderful green area close to the centre of the city. The young trees planted in 1875 now form broad avenues of mature shady trees throughout the park. Queen's Park, and its superb floral presentations and leafy environment, are one of the central features of Toowoomba’s Spring Carnival of Flowers, an annual event held in September each year.
This tree was planted by Richard St. Barbe Baker on his visit to Toowoomba. St. Barbe Baker was known as 'The Man of the Trees'. He founded the international movement 'The Men of the Trees', a large scale tree planting and nurturing movement across the world.

This beautiful young Bunya Pine makes a significant contribution to the landscape of this historic park. It is associated with St. Barbe Baker, 'The Man of the Trees' who planted it in 1980 to commemorate his visit to Toowoomba.
The tree is located in the centre of the upper (eastern) part of the park.

Notes

Richard St. Barbe Baker ('The Man of the Trees') was a very well known person who started life as a forester in the United Kingdom. He travelled extensively all of his life and died in Canada, aged 91, a few years after planting this tree. Whilst working as a forester in Kenya he recognised the degradation caused by over clearing and started a movement called The Men Of The Trees among the local tribesmen to plant and nurture trees. The Men of the Trees became worldwide. There is an active branch in Brisbane today. Richard St. Barbe Baker's philosophy, activities and teachings founded today's large scale tree planting and nurturing movement which has had a profoundly beneficial effect across the world, especially in poorer and more arid countries including Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent and China. J. Swarbrick attended the planting of this tree and clearly remembers the occasion and that a young coniferous tree was planted in this section of Queen's Park. He believes that the tree was a bunya pine although records show it to be a kauri pine. There is a young bunya pine of the right size and age in this part of Queen's Park but no kauri pine of the right size and age, indicating that the tree that Richard St. Barbe Baker planted was this bunya pine.’