An unpleasant job for Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service workers, tasked with cleaning up buckets of faeces at an illegal campsite at Mapleton National Park.
The owner destroyed the place after being told to move on, leaving rubbish and his belongings strewn across the site.
Ranger in charge Donna Haslam says they asked the man to leave after a tip-off from the public led them to his camp on the Browns Creek Fire Management Trail.
“We found the illegal camp and it appeared the man had been living there for some time. We left a notice to comply to advise the man that he was illegally camping.
“When we returned to the campsite, we found he had abandoned and trashed it. He also left his unregistered vehicle behind.”
Ms Haslam says they also found buckets loaded with faeces and cigarette butts, along with plastic waste, broken bottles, chairs, car batteries and polystyrene boxes at the site.
“He also abandoned his barbecue, couch, gas bottles, fuel tanks, clothes, linen, a mattress and a bow and arrow.”
It took five rangers two days to clean up the illegal camp, which included two trips to the tip.
The abandoned vehicle will also have to be towed out of the park.
“It was one of our more unpleasant tasks, but we managed to keep a smile on our faces because we were making sure that area of the national park is clean again.”
“The QPWS thanks the people who reported what they thought was an illegal camp in the national park, and I remind people they can be issued with a Penalty Infringement Notice if they set up illegal camps.
Under the Nature Conservation (Protected Areas Management) regulations, the maximum penalty for littering in a national park and setting up an illegal camp in a national park is $2,875.
