PURCHASE OF LOT 26 RONALD ROAD, IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Action: Purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road (RP733653)
Area: 2.093 hectares
Location: Forest Creek, Queensland
Vegetation type: Lowland Tropical Rainforest (remnant and regrowth)
Endangered Ecological Community: Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community is listed in the Endangered Category under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), China Camp Laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis), Cyclophyllum costatum (no common name), Gray’s Walnut (Endiandra grayi), Noah’s Walnut (Endiandra microneura), Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata)
Fundraising update for the 26th of May 2023
All donations to this project will now be matched - dollar for dollar. This is a fantastic opportunity to double the impact of your gift.
Target to purchase and protect this property: $209,300
Amount raised: 26,905
Remaining target: $182,395
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest.
Lot 26 Ronald Road
Many people believe the Daintree Rainforest is fully protected however many freehold properties were excluded from inclusion in the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area when it was declared in 1988. Over time these properties are being developed for housing. This degrades the iconic Daintree Rainforest and damaged the habitat of threatened species of plants and animals.
Lot 26 Ronald Road (RP733653) is a freehold property of 2.093 hectares located at Forest Creek where the endangered Southern Cassowary and the rare Bennetts Tree-Kangaroo have recently been sighted.
We need your help! The Douglas Shire Council has this property zoned as being suitable for rural residential development. To prevent this from occurring we will purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road and ensure the tropical rainforest is managed for conservation.
The rainforest on Lot 26 Ronald Road deserves the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area.
This is why we urgently need your help to purchase this at-risk property.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
View over Lot 26 to the Alexander Range
Lot 26 Ronald Road was offered for sale on the open market and could have been sold to someone wishing to develop the property.
That's why we took action and exchanged a contract of sale and paid a deposit. Now we have the urgent task of raising $209,300 by the 30th of June 2023.
The rainforest on Lot 26 Ronald Road deserves the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
View from Lot 26 Ronald Road
The purchase of Lot 26 Ronald Road will prevent the development of the property and fragmentation of the landscape. Fragmentation occurs when forests are reduced in the area through deforestation, road building, or other developments, dividing the forest into smaller blocks and creating what is known as the edge effect. The impacts of the edge effect have been thoroughly documented over several decades and show the significant detrimental effects on biodiversity.
We have purchased 27 properties in the Daintree lowlands over the last 3 years - all funded by donations from the public. Through this process, we are reversing the negative impacts of the subdivision of the Daintree in the 1980s that created 1,136 freehold properties.
To purchase and protect Lot 26 Ronald Road we need to raise $209,300. The property is 20,930 sqm in size and the price is $10 per sqm.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
The endangered Southern Cassowary
The acquisition of Lot 26 Ronald Road will help to fulfil our vision for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest which requires the buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties so they can be managed for their exceptional conservation values. Buying this property will be a fantastic outcome for conservation as it shares a boundary with another property purchased for conservation in 2022 and is located only a few hundred metres from the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. Following the purchase of this property, and its restoration we will begin the process for it to be assessed for inclusion in the national park.
The rainforest on Lot 26 Ronald Road deserves the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
Fan Palm on Lot 26 Ronald Road
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 26 Ronald Road at Forest Creek 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 Rainforest.
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.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
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. We recognise that we are Stronger Together and raise funds for the buyback of properties in the Daintree Rainforest and their management for conservation.
