The Guanaba Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) was dedicated in November 2000. At the foot of Mount Tamborine near the Queensland-New South Wales border, it covers 100 hectares of dense rainforest and vine thickets, eucalypt woodlands and picturesque creeks. Guanaba is part of the traditional lands of the Kombumerri people, who have inhabited the Gold Coast and its hinterland for at least 24,000 years. The Kombumerri are part of the Yugambir language region in the south-east Queensland, speaking many different dialects.
Guanaba is linked to the state-managed Tamborine National Park by a privately-owned vegetation corridor. IPA land management activities reflect this relationship and are undertaken with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service advice and assistance. These activities focus on conserving Guanaba's high levels of biodiversity through a weed removal program, and soil and catchment protection to prevent erosion on steep slopes.
Wild dogs and cane toads are the main feral animal threats to wildlife, and to gain a better understanding of the feral animal problem, the Ngarang-Wal Gold Coast Aboriginal Association work with local animal management specialists on a comprehensive feral animal survey and management strategy. Guanaba IPA is managed in line with the International Union for Conservation of Nature Category IV Habitat/Species Management Area – a Protected Area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention.
