Daintree Buyback Lot 34

PURCHASE OF LOT 34 CAPE TRIBULATION ROAD, DIWAN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road (SP259951)

Area: 3 hectares

Location: Diwan, Queensland

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata)

Vegetation type: Two vegetation communities exist on the property. Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10a: Mesophyll vine forest. Listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999. And Regional Ecosystem 7.3.17:  Complex mesophyll vine forest. Listed as “Endangered” under the Queensland Vegetation Management Act 1999.

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

Fundraising for this project is now complete. Thank you to everyone who made a donation to achieve this outcome.

Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road 

Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road is located at Diwan in the heart of the iconic Daintree Lowland Rainforest. This freehold property was created through a rural residential subdivision in 1982 and it is zoned by the Douglas Shire Council as being suitable for development.

The rainforest and the Threatened species found on the property deserve the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. That’s why we need your help to purchase Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road, prevent it from being developed for housing and ensure it is managed for conservation.

We have purchased 3 nearby properties and 26 properties in the Daintree lowlands over the last 3 years. Through this, we are preventing the development of individual blocks and reversing the impacts of the subdivision of the Daintree in the 1980s that created 1,136 freehold properties.

Lot 34 in the landscape 

A vegetation survey of Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road by our ecologist identified 195 species of native plants. See a summary of the survey here.

The Endangered Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) was observed during the survey. There are only 4,400 of these amazing big birds remaining in Australia’s wet tropical rainforest. We also saw an Orange-footed Scrub Fowl (Megapodius reinwardt) by its large incubation mound and nearby, a terrestrial termite mound with an excavated nesting tunnel presumably made by a Buff Breasted Paradise Kingfisher.

The endangered Southern Cassowary 

Threatened Species

Two species found on Lot 34 are listed as Threatened in the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992. 

The Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) is listed as Endangered.  The vegetation for Lot 34 has been categorised as Essential Cassowary habitat. Many species of plant identified on Lot 34 produce food for the Southern Cassowary.

Lot 34 provides “Essential habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary”.

The Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata) is listed as Vulnerable. This species restricted mainly to the Daintree lowlands and again on Cape York at Iron Range and overseas in Papua New Guinea. This climbing monocotyledon plant possesses unique leaves which the bases catch water and thus provide habitat for arboreal invertebrates and frogs.

Two other significant Daintree endemic plants occur on Lot 34: The Daintree Foambark (Jagera madida) only occurs in the lowland rainforests between Julatten and Bloomfield. The Cooper Creek Haplostichanthus (Polyalthia xanthocarpa) is an understorey tree less than 3m tall with small yellow fruit in clusters from the trunk and branches. It is restricted to the lowland rainforests of the Daintree Rainforest.

Kelvin Davies with Cooper Creek Haplostichanthus

The acquisition of Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road prevents its development for housing and helps reverse the negative impacts of the subdivision created in 1982. This 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 its exceptional conservation values.

Incubation mound of the Orange-footed Scrub Fowl 

Thank you to the generous donors who funded the purchase and protection of this Daintree Rainforest Property.

You can learn more about our project Land Purchase to Save the Daintree here. 

Please make a donation now to help purchase the next Daintree Rainforest property. 

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.