Beekeeping in State forests and national parks

Issued: 19 Jul 2018

Thousands of apiary sites are permitted on Queensland’s State forests. The Queensland Government has no plans to discontinue beekeepers’ access to these sites. Beekeeping on State forests is enshrined in Queensland legislation.

Currently in Queensland, 1089 apiary sites are also permitted on a number of former State forests and reserves that are now national parks.

The reason that commercial beekeeping is currently allowed on most of these national parks is because those parks used to be State forests, and they transitioned under the South East Queensland Forest Agreement in the mid 2000s.

At that time, beekeepers were advised those national park sites would be unavailable from 2024.

National parks are required to be managed to provide, to the greatest possible extent, for the permanent preservation of their natural condition and the protection of their cultural resources and values.

The Queensland Government is still in discussions with the state’s beekeeping industry and conservation groups about the future of beekeeping in national parks.