PURCHASE OF LOT 398 MAPLE ROAD, COW BAY IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Action: Purchase Lot 398 Maple Rd, Cow Bay (RP739004)
Area: 1.412 hectares
Location: Cow Bay, Queensland
Vegetation type: The vegetation on Lot 398 Maple Road is classified as 7.11.1a Mesophyll vine forest in lowlands and foothills on metamorphic soils. This is a very wet rainfall zone
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), Noah’s Walnut (Endiandra microneura)
This project was completed in November 2022. Thank you to the hundreds of generous donors.
Lot 398 Maple Road
We purchased Lot 398 Maple Road in Cow Bay to 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) so it can be managed for its exceptional conservation values.
This freehold property deserves the same level of protection as the adjacent Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. Its strategic location at the end of Maple Road makes this an important acquisition as we work towards reversing the impacts of the subdivision created in 1982.
An intact canopy of old-growth rainforest trees made Lot 398 Maple Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest an important acquisition for conservation. There is no evidence on the property of past clearing and the canopy trees are 60 meters tall. There are also many old-growth trees with hollows that provide habitat for Birds, Snakes, Gliders, Possums, Bats, and other tree-dwelling animals.
Please make a donation to purchase and protect the next property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.
Tropical Rainforest on Lot 398 Maple Road
Two species found on Lot 398 are listed as Threatened in the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992. Noah’s Walnut (Endiandra microneura) is listed as Near Threatened and the Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) is listed as Endangered.
The assemblage of plants on Lot 398 Maple Road has many species within the primitive plant family “Lauraceae”, all of which provide food for the Cassowary. We have been focusing on land acquisition in Cow Bay as scientists have identified this area as providing an “Essential habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary”.
Please make a donation to purchase and protect the next property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.
Cassowary at Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest
Another exceptional feature of the property is a large Hopes Cycad (Lepidozamia hopei). These cycads are very slow-growing and this specimen is estimated at over 1,000 years old. They are endemic to Queensland and are the world's largest species of cycad.
Also found on Lot 398 Maple Road was the Zamia Fern (Bowenia spectabilis) which is actually a species of cycad, a very ancient group of plants. They don't produce flowers and reproduce by means of cones borne on separate male and female plants. The cones of the Zamia Fern seem to pop out of the ground! The Zamia Fern is endemic to Queensland.
Please make a donation to purchase and protect the next property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.
Zamia Fern (left) and Hopes Cycad
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 398 Maple Road in Cow Bay 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.
Lot 398 Maple Road at Cow Bay
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 make a donation to purchase and protect the next property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.