The tropical rainforest on Lot 257 Silver Ash Road and the creek flowing through the property are exceptionally beautiful. This land was excluded from inclusion in the Daintree National Park when it was declared in 1988. Now the time has come to set this right. 

Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

This freehold property is located between two isolated areas of the Daintree National Park and its purchase will link them up to create an improved management regime for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Lot 257 Silver Ash Road at Cow Bay needs to be managed for its exceptional conservation value which won't happen while it remains in private ownership.

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest so it can be managed for conservation.

Every $2,50 you donate will help save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $25 you will help save ten square meters of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $50 will help save twenty square meters and $100 will help save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Beautiful rainforest and creek on Lot 257

Before we make a decision to purchase a Daintree Rainforest property we thoroughly assess its value to conservation. Our survey of Lot 257 Silver Ash Road at Cow Bay was undertaken on the 18th November 2021 by ecologist Kristopher Kupsch. 

The survey of Lot 257 Silver Ash Road identified the presence of 205 native plant species which include three listed under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.

     1,     Daintree Gardenia Randia audasii 

     2,     Noah’s Walnut Endiandra microneura 

     3,     Greys Walnut Endiandra grayi 

The Daintree Gardenia (Randia audasii) is common on Lot 257 and represents a significant site for the species occurrence and potential for its continued preservation. They are a small tree that is endemic to Far North Queensland and is restricted to the area between Cooktown, Cairns, and Atherton. It produces white perfumed flowers and fruit that are orange when ripe.  

Daintree Gardenia (Randia audasii)

There are also 4 endemic plant species that have their distribution largely restricted to the Daintree lowlands. Daintree Foambark tree (Jagera madida), Daintree Satinash (Syzygium monospermum), Daintree Cleistanthus (Cleistanthus myrianthus), and the Cooper Creek Haplostichanthus (Polyalthia xanthocarpa). You can read a summary of the report here. 

Other plants of importance on Lot 257 include the Hope’s Cycad (Lepidozamia hopei). This species of Cycad is the largest growing in the world and was once utilised by Aboriginal people as a food source. It has evolutionary links dating back some 200 million years and along with other ancient species form some of the reasons why the Wet Tropics World Heritage area has been afforded protection within the National Parks estate.

Two species of birds occurring on Lot 257 are listed on the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992. 

     1,     Macleay's Fig-Parrot Cyclopsitta diophthalma macleayana 

     2,     Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii  

Cassowaries are regularly sighted in the adjoining Daintree National Park and evidence of them using Lot 257 was confirmed by dung. 

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest so it can be managed for conservation.

Every $2,50 you donate will help save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $25 you will help save ten square meters of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $50 will help save twenty square meters and $100 will help save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius johnsonii  

We are purchasing Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in Cow Bay to fulfill our vision for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. This requires the buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Not only do we want to see no further development, but we also want the negative impacts of the rural residential subdivision to be reversed. 

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 257 Silver Ash Road is one of these properties.

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. 

Please, help purchase the Daintree Rainforest at Lot 257 Silver Ash Road, Cow Bay so it can be managed for conservation. Every $2,50 you donate will help save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $25 you will help save ten square meters of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $50 will help save twenty square meters and $100 will help save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

One of many large trees on Lot 257 Silver Ash Road

We have secured the option to purchase this property for $27,250. As Lot 257 Silver Ash Road is 1.09 hectares this represents a price of $2.50 per sqm. This provides a real and tangible outcome for your investment in nature conservation. You can see photographs of the property here. 

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest so it can be managed for conservation.

Every $2,50 you donate will help save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $25 you will help save ten square meters of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $50 will help save twenty square meters and $100 will help save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Lot 257 Silver Ash Road adjoins the Daintree National Park 

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. 

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest so it can be managed for conservation.

Every $2,50 you donate will help save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $25 you will help save ten square meters of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $50 will help save twenty square meters and $100 will help save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Spur Mahogany (Dysoxylum pettigrewianum)

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. We have purchased twenty Daintree Rainforest properties in the past two years. Every property we purchase for conservation in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest will help reverse the impacts of the disastrous 1980’s rural residential subdivision.

These freehold properties in the Daintree should not be left in the ownership of people who would destroy the rainforest. The rainforest on these freehold properties is of equal value to the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. 

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Each $5.00 you donate will purchase and protect one sqm of the Lowland Daintree Rainforest.  

If you have any questions about the purchase and protection of Lot 257 Silver Ash Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest please email me at [email protected] or call me on 0437 423 119. Or read the frequently asked questions here. 

For the Daintree Rainforest,

Kelvin Davies

Founder, Rainforest 4 Foundation

Phone: 0437 423 119

P.S. You can donate now online or if you want to donate with a cheque/money order or through a direct deposit please see our Ways to Donate page.

P.P.S. We are also raising the funds to purchase Lot 93 Cape Tribulation Road at Diwan. To make a donation or just to see how much progress we've made please visit the project page here.