Save the Daintree - put conservation first

We're calling on the Douglas Shire Council, Queensland Government and Australian Government to dismiss current proposals for further development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest and work together and with other stakeholders to develop a conservation management plan for the area.

  • Pressure is growing to develop parts of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. In 2022, the Morrison Government committed $18.75 million to supply reticulated electricity to the Daintree. Pressure has also been mounting for a bridge to be built across the Daintree River. 
  • The exceptional biological and scientific values of the Daintree Coast mean the conservation and transmission of those values to future generations must take priority.
  • A thriving tourism economy is also founded on conservation and presentation.
  • The Daintree Lowland Rainforest in North Queensland is the oldest rainforest on the planet, with an unbroken evolutionary history going back over 120 million years to the first flowering plants. Let's not change that now.

Will you sign?

Background

Forty years ago, a group of activists put their bodies on the line to prevent a road being built through the Daintree Lowland Rainforest from Cape Tribulation to Cooktown. The Bloomfield Track was eventually built, however, resulting from the protests known collectively as the Daintree Blockade, the Wet Tropics rainforests of North Queensland were inscribed on the World Heritage list. Many people assumed Australia’s most biodiverse rainforest would be protected forever.

“Within the region, the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation coast has a special status. It is the last surviving, essentially intact, tropical lowland rainforest in Australia. It has one of the highest diversity of plant families anywhere in the world. Its rarity, fame and superlative beauty make it one of the foundations of the region’s economy. It is the only place in the world where two World Heritage Areas meet.” - IUCN

Unfortunately, plans have resurfaced for further development in an area most Australians thought was secure from development. Now, the threat is even more significant: renewed calls for a bridge over the Daintree River and an $18.75 million commitment from the federal government to supply reticulated electricity to the Daintree, at a time when it has no money for conservation.

This is one place where conservation should come before development, yet there is no shared vision for the Daintree’s future.

The Australian Government once protected the area by supporting its listing as a World Heritage Area, yet construction, at a cost of $18.75 million, has already commenced on a renewable energy microgrid, complete with a solar farm, battery and hydrogen plant, to connect the Daintree to reticulated electricity. While renewable energy is a much better option than the gas-fired power plant originally proposed, it doesn't address the biggest issue - that infrastructure like this will inevitably lead to increased pressure for urban development in the Daintree. There are also calls for a bridge or second ferry to increase vehicle access to the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. 

In the mid-1980s, a pro-development state government inappropriately rezoned leasehold and freehold in the Daintree Lowlands Rainforest, enabling a developer to subdivide it into 1,136 blocks. This has resulted in inappropriate road building, clearing and development of high conservation value rainforest. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Douglas Shire Council and the Queensland and Australian governments all contributed financially to the purchase or ‘buyback’ of freehold land aimed at preventing development and winding back the impacts of the subdivision. For 25 years, this has been complemented through acquisitions by local and national non-profit conservation organisations. These new proposed developments would give support for further rural residential development and must be stopped.

Letter            

Cr. Michael Kerr, Douglas Shire Council Mayor.

The Hon Meaghan Scanlon MP, Queensland Government Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef

The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Australian Government Minister for the Environment.

We, the undersigned, call on the Douglas Shire Council, Queensland Government and Australian Government to dismiss current plans for further development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest that include a bridge over the Daintree River and the establishment of reticulated mains electricity in the Douglas Shire Local Government Area.

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is a place of extraordinary scientific, biological cultural values that are irreplaceable. It is a foundation of the regional economy and an icon that Australians thought was adequately protected. Yet it has no overall vision. The mix of world heritage, national parks, traditionally owned land and freehold title mean management responsibility is spread between agencies, local residents and traditional owners with poor co-ordination across key issues like clearing, weeds, pests, domestic animals, visitor facilities, presentation, community infrastructure, transport and access. It is therefore proposed the local, state and Australian governments design and fund a community-based Conservation Management Plan covering the entire ecosystem of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, regardless of tenure. Key interests are Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Daintree National Park (CYPAL), Native Title and freehold land.

We call on the Douglas Shire Council, Queensland Government and Australian Government to work together and with other stakeholders to develop a conservation management plan before any further investment in infrastructure is considered in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.  

Yours faithfully,

2,216 signatures
  • Dawn Brazier
    signed 2023-10-29 21:12:15 +1100
    I have travelled through the Daintree Rainforest and also stayed in this region. It’s beauty is breathtaking and natural wildlife also. Leave pristine, Thank you….
  • Vee Berwin
    signed 2023-10-29 14:56:43 +1100
    Please no bridge over the Daintree, the ferry should be the only way accross. A bridge will ruin the area!
  • Janet Hanham
    signed 2023-10-29 12:40:51 +1100
  • Catherine Rodger
    signed 2023-10-26 20:24:50 +1100
  • Alexander Murrie
    signed 2023-10-25 13:51:03 +1100
    please stop further development in this area. The ecological value of this land is immeasurable. Further, the last thing we need is old forest being cut down at a time when the effects of climate change are being felt.
  • Colin Cox
    signed 2023-10-24 16:29:30 +1100
  • Mira Clohessy
    signed 2023-10-23 16:37:25 +1100
    We need this Daintree Rainforest saved, it s unique in the world, its conservation is absolutely top priority, it’s home to many endangered spiecies who cannot survive anywhere else, we are not even aware what this incredible National Treasure holds within it, medicines for our futures and possible the rainforest will be one of the only ones saved in the world, my children and grand children have a right to be able to go there and experience this untouched beauty and splendour and deep nature, it belongs to them, we are here to serve and protect our Earth for the future generations, not destroy it, and leave them destitute on a dying planet. Do you have children, do they have children? How will they feel about their future forest being saved by you, they will be eternally grateful, as will the world, blessed be the carers of everything.
  • Kathryn M
    signed 2023-10-23 10:01:16 +1100
  • Joy Cornish
    signed 2023-10-23 09:46:00 +1100
  • Thomas Kunz
    signed 2023-10-21 20:31:52 +1100
    Thank you for protecting this unique, important, and highly biodiverse tropical rainforest and natural carbon sink from any further ‘development’, fragmentation, and degradation.
  • Ritamay Roberts
    signed 2023-10-21 20:05:28 +1100
  • Alex Wilder
    signed 2023-10-21 03:09:36 +1100
  • Margaret Notaras
    signed 2023-10-14 19:10:39 +1100
  • Jacqui Love
    signed 2023-10-13 13:00:27 +1100
  • Joan Wager
    signed 2023-10-04 17:48:27 +1100
  • Greg Howell
    signed 2023-10-04 17:23:56 +1100
  • June Winsome Smith
    signed 2023-10-04 11:21:57 +1100
  • Karen Dodson
    signed 2023-10-03 16:46:43 +1100
  • Heather Badger
    signed 2023-10-03 12:16:34 +1100
  • John Matthews
    signed 2023-10-03 11:05:28 +1100
  • Myke Vince
    signed 2023-10-03 10:45:38 +1100
  • Mark Hawkes
    signed 2023-10-03 10:39:19 +1100
    We need to correct the mistakes of the past when a vast area of lowland rainforest was handed to a real estate agent when an expired lease was converted to private ownership with the stoke of a pen from the then corrupt Local Govt Minister.
  • Martina Mure
    signed 2023-10-01 21:30:27 +1100
    Please, put conservation first. Protect this Forrest avoiding any choices that can place a danger for this unbelievable ecosystem.
  • Eric Margolis
    signed 2023-09-29 10:08:19 +1000
    We visited Daintree last May. It was an unforgettable experience

    Please protect it
  • Petko Tzvetkov
    signed 2023-09-22 11:54:42 +1000
    Please, protect this remarkable piece of nature for you and your kids and the people of the World!
  • Annie Stievano
    signed 2023-09-20 17:33:08 +1000
  • Trevor Gillespie
    signed 2023-09-19 21:24:38 +1000
    Please keep this already decimated area protected from development. I am embarrassed to see what has happened and then hear the evidence on how critical this area is to conserve.
  • Irene Wickham
    signed 2023-09-18 14:36:07 +1000
  • Amanda Bond
    signed 2023-09-18 14:19:11 +1000
    I visited the Daintree Rainforest in 1987. It made a huge impression on me, that I carry with me always.

    I hope to return in 2024.
  • Jen Thompson
    signed 2023-09-17 19:20:52 +1000