PURCHASE OF LOT 204 CEDAR ROAD, IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Action: Purchase Lot 204 Cedar Road (RP733653)
Area: 0.9995 hectares
Location: Cow Bay, Queensland
Vegetation type: Regional Ecosystem 7.3.20e 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 Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii)
Fundraising update on 27th of February 2024
Target to purchase, protect, and restore this property: $199,900
Amount raised: $33,630
Remaining target: $166,270
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 204 Cedar Road in the Daintree Rainforest. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Please donate now.
Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
Lot 204 Cedar Road at Cow Bay
Lot 204 Cedar Road is zoned by the Douglas Shire Council as suitable for rural residential development, which means all that’s required for clearing and construction to commence is an approved development application.
That’s why we exchanged a contract of sale and paid a deposit.
Now we must raise the funds to complete the purchase to stop this property being developed for housing.
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.
With the purchase of this property, we will prevent further fragmentation of the Daintree Rainforest. We will also restore the part of the property damaged by unapproved development by a previous owner.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 204 Cedar Road in the Daintree Rainforest. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Please donate now.
Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
Lot 505 Cedar Road and Lot 213 Teak Road were purchased in 2021
Buyback works
The buyback of land for conservation is the only action guaranteed to work. In the last four years we have purchased 13 properties in Cow Bay and 29 in the Daintree Lowlands (between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation). We purchased nearby Lot 505 Cedar Road and Lot 213 Teak Road in 2021.
Lot 204 Cedar Road is located at Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Buying land here helps us to reverse the impacts of the disastrous 1980s rural residential subdivision. We are focusing our efforts at Cow Bay as scientists have identified this area as providing essential habitat for the endangered southern cassowary.
In recent years, the rate of land sales in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest has escalated. Many people sought a tree change in the wake of COVID-19 and we saw an increase in clearing for housing development.
To directly compete with those that would develop the world's oldest rainforest, we must continue the buyback of land for conservation.
Restoration needed at Lot 204 Cedar Road
One of the previous owners of Lot 204 Cedar Road created a clearing and set up a bush camp. Once we have purchased this land, the bush camp will be removed and the site revegetated. To purchase, protect and restore the property we need to raise a total of $199,900. The property is 0.9995 hectares (9,995 sqm in size), so the cost is $20 per sqm. This price includes the cost of the land, restoring the vegetation, and removal of a driveway, a structure built for camping, and a garden shed.
Conservation values
The vegetation on Lot 204 is classed as Regional Ecosystem 7.3.20e, which is listed as “Of Concern” under the Queensland Vegetation Management Act 1999.
As well as protecting the rainforest on Lot 204, this purchase also ensures connectivity across the landscape. Increased urbanisation around Cow Bay will further disrupt natural processes in the region by fragmenting habitat and creating an edge effect. The core-to-edge ratio of the rainforest patches is integral in maintaining ecologically sound, functioning forests.
The vegetation on Lot 204 also provides habitat for the endangered southern cassowary and they have recently been seen crossing Cedar Road. There many species of native plants that produce fleshy fruits favoured by cassowaries.
Lot 204 Cedar 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.
Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 204 Cedar Road in the Daintree Rainforest. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Please donate now.
Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
The endangered Southern Cassowary
Repairing historic subdivision damage
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 the winding back of the disastrous subdivision to save the Daintree Rainforest?
A subdivision of 1,136 freehold properties was carved into the Daintree Lowland Rainforest in 1982. This created Cedar Road and hundreds of rural residential lots in Cow Bay. Roads and many houses have been built which fragments the rainforest. Occupation brings domestic dogs and exotic plants. This has damaged one of the most significant areas of tropical rainforests in Australia.
The world's oldest rainforest is still for sale.
Big picture
The acquisition of Lot 204 Cedar Road at Cow Bay will help fulfil our vision for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. This requires the buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties so they can be managed for their exceptional conservation values.
In 1988, the Daintree National Park was expanded and included in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. However, two-thirds of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, the land between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation, had already been carved up for a rural residential subdivision in 1982 and was excluded from World Heritage listing.
Through this process, we are reversing the negative impacts of the subdivision of the Daintree in the 1980s that created 1,136 freehold properties.
The rare Bennett's Tree-kangaroo
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 was effective as of Friday November 26, 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.
STRONGER TOGETHER
The project to purchase and protect land in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is a partnership involving the Rainforest 4 Foundation and the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation. We recognise that we are Stronger Together and raise funds for the buyback of properties in the Daintree Rainforest and their management for conservation.
Please make a donation now to help purchase the next Daintree Rainforest property.
Showing 2 reactions
Sign in with