in high demand. By late 2012, the industry was recovering with smaller processing facilities at Crows Nest and Inglewood opening. In 2014, the Oakey Abattoir which is the fourth largest meat processing plant in Australia, launched an environmental initiative to extract green energy biogas from its waste water streams. It was the first ever use of a covered lagoon to treat effluent. Wine In the Southern Downs region surrounding Stanthorpe in an area called the Granite Belt there are now over sixty cellar doors, wineries, and vineyards. The industry first began as a table grape growing region that by the mid-1960s was starting to plant wine grape cultivars. This region has a subtropical highland climate atypical to the rest of Queensland due to its elevation. Altitudes from 680 m to over 1200 m above sea level make it ideally suited to premium wine production. Attractions The region is popular with tourists because of its many natural and heritage attractions, including the Goomburra State Forest, Cunninghams Gap, Spicers Gap and the Queen Mary Falls near Killarney in the Main Range National Park. Lake Broadwater is the only natural lake on the tablelands. The town of Jandowae gained fame after offering vacant blocks of land for just $1. This was done to encourage residents to settle in the small town which had less than 1,000 people in 2001. The Cobb & Co Museum has displays of horse-drawn vehicles and material on the history of the Darling Downs. The Jondaryan Woolshed is a heritage-listed shearing shed situated at a site where a tourist operator has collected numerous related structures. The region has also a small zoo, Darling Downs Zoo near Clifton. The region has uncovered important megafauna fossil finds. The rich discoveries have lent weight to the theory that humans were not a factor in the extinction of the ancient megafauna species. Many of the fossils in the region date to the Pleistocene and include species such as Diprotodon optatum, the largest-ever marsupial. In 2021, examination of a partial skull revealed a site on the Darling Downs was the location for a new species of Tomistominae crocodile, representing the largest extinct crocodile species ever discovered in Australia. The Darling Downs Golf Association has 21 affiliated golf clubs on the Darling Downs. Environment Before European settlement many areas on the Darling Downs were fertile wilderness. For example, around Ma Ma Creek, rich swampy wetlands