Lot 114 Spurwood Road

PURCHASE OF LOT 114 SPURWOOD ROAD, COW BAY IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase Lot 114 Spurwood Road (RP 738161)

Area: 1.0 hectares

Location: Cow Bay, Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland

Vegetation type: Lowland tropical rainforest classified as Mesophyll vine forest on moderate to poorly-drained alluvial plains of moderate fertility. 

Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10a: Listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999.

Endangered Ecological Community: Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community is listed in the Endangered Category under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), Bennetts Tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus bennettianus)

Fundraising update for the 10th of November 2022.

Target to purchase and protect this property: $35,000

Amount raised: $

Remaining target: $

Tropical rainforest at Lot 114 Spurwood Road

To ensure the Threatened species found at Lot 114 Spurwood Road are managed appropriately we are purchasing Lot 114 Spurwood Road in Cow Bay. This will also help fulfil our vision for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. This requires the buyback of undeveloped freehold properties in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest and ensuring the land is included in the Daintree National Park (CYPAL) where it can be managed for its exceptional conservation values.

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase Lot 114 Spurwood Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Each $3.50 you donate will purchase and protect one sqm of the Lowland Daintree Rainforest. Please, donate now.

This freehold property deserves the same level of protection as the adjacent Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area so we will now purchase Lot 398 Maple Road and ensure it is managed for conservation. Its strategic location makes this an important acquisition as we work towards reversing the impacts of the subdivision created in 1982. 

Lot 114 Spurwood Road was excluded from inclusion in the Daintree National Park when it was declared in 1988. This freehold property shares a boundary with the Daintree National Park. We are purchasing this freehold property to ensure Lot 14 Spurwood Road at Cow Bay is managed for its exceptional conservation values and protected in the Daintree National Park (CYPAL). All we need is your help.

Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 114 Spurwood Road in the Daintree Rainforest. Every $3.50 you donate will help save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $35 you will help purchase ten square metres of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $70 will help purchase twenty square metres and $140 will help purchase forty square metres of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Lot 114 Spurwood Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

Endangered Southern Cassowary

We are focusing our efforts on Cow Bay as it has some of the highest levels of biodiversity in Australia and scientists have identified this area as providing an “Essential habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary”.

Many food plants for the Cassowary are present on Lot 114 Spurwood Road in the form of Laurels (Lauraceae), Mahogany (Meliaceae), and several species of Figs, Palms and fleshy Myrtaceous plants. Evidence of the Southern Cassowary using the property was confirmed by dung and Cassowaries are regularly sighted in the adjoining Daintree National Park estate.

With every property purchased in Cow Bay, we are consolidating the area of rainforest that is managed for conservation. This involves the removal of exotic plants and the restoration of the rainforest. Following the purchase of this property, we will begin the process for it to be transferred into the Daintree National Park (CYPAL) estate. In the last three years, the number of properties purchased in Cow Bay is 15. 

Lot 114 Spurwood Road at Cow Bay is 1 hectare in size and is completely covered by tropical rainforest. For the purchase and protection of Lot 114 Spurwood Road, we are raising $35,000. This is a cost of $3.50 per sqm. 

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase Lot 114 Spurwood Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Each $3.50 you donate will purchase and protect one sqm of the Lowland Daintree Rainforest. Please, donate now. 

Lot 114 provides habitat for the Southern Cassowary

BACKGROUND 

In 1982 the Queensland government approved a 1,136-lot rural residential subdivision in the Daintree. This resulted in two-thirds of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest being excluded from protection in the Daintree National Park and Wet Tropics World Heritage Area that was declared in 1988. Lot 114 Spurwood Road is one of these properties.

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests on Earth and provides a refuge for wildlife and ancient flowering plants. It holds exceptionally high biodiversity and conservation value and is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest remaining in Australia. With almost 200 undeveloped properties remaining in private ownership, the future of the Daintree is yet to be determined. Will it be increased development and urbanisation, or will it be the winding back of the disastrous subdivision to save the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. 

Bennetts Tree-kangaroo in the Daintree Rainforest. Photo by David White

Endangered Ecological Community

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest itself has now been identified as part of an Endangered Ecological Community. In November 2021 the Australian Government listed the lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community, in the Endangered Category under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The listing is effective as of Friday 26 November 2021 and includes the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, from near Ingham (just south of the Cardwell Range) in the south to north around Cape Tribulation. While now listed as Endangered the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is still not fully protected. The freehold properties in the Daintree lowland remain at risk from rural residential development. 

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests on Earth and provides a refuge for wildlife and ancient flowering plants. It holds exceptionally high biodiversity and conservation value and is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest remaining in Australia. With almost 200 undeveloped properties remaining in private ownership, the future of the Daintree is yet to be determined. Will it be increased development and urbanisation, or will it be the winding back of the disastrous subdivision to save the Daintree. 

STRONGER TOGETHER

The project to purchase and protect land in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is a partnership involving the Rainforest 4 Foundation, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, and fellow non-profit HalfCut. The Rainforest 4 Foundation and HalfCut raise funds together for the buyback of properties in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Thanks to HalfCut and their wonderful supporters for their significant contributions.