If we could buy just one property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest for conservation Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road at Diwan would be the one. The endangered Cassowary, rare Bennett’s Tree-kangaroo, and the Musky Rat-kangaroo are all found here, however, on this 8.0937-hectare property, it is the rainforest itself that is exceptionally important.

Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road in the Daintree Rainforest

The rainforest vegetation found on Lot 157 is the grandest and most archaic of all rainforests in Australia, possessing many primitive flowering plants. This is one of the reasons the adjoining Daintree National Park was declared as a World Heritage Area. It’s just so important and special.

The rainforest on Lot 157 is classified as Mesophyll vine forest. There are many very large trees reaching 35 meters tall with impressive buttress roots. The trees are festooned with epiphytes being ferns and orchids with large lianas and other vines cascading from above. The Spur Mahogany tree (Dysoxylum pettigrewianum) and Fan Palm (Licuala ramsayi) is a characteristic feature of these rainforests. Please make a donation now. 

Ecologist Wren McLean with Fan Palms 

Twelve species of plants found on Lot 157 are listed on the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992 and one species is listed on the National Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC). There are numerous endemic plants with their distribution restricted to the rainforests of the Daintree lowlands.

Many large specimens of Hopes Cycad (Lepidozamia hopei) occurs on Lot 157. 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 and is another reason why the rainforest adjoining Lot 157 in the Daintree National Park has been afforded protection in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Please make a donation now. 

Ancient Hopes Cycad > 2000 years old

The vegetation of Lot 157 has been mapped as Essential Cassowary habitat. During our survey, a Southern Cassowary was observed with a male and two recently hatched chicks were seen walking through the rainforest and across the access road near the front gate. The diversity of rainforest Laurels, an ancient linage of the tree, were a notable feature, and Lot 157 contains 18 species, all of which are food for the Southern Cassowary. Many other food plants for the Cassowary are present on Lot 157 in the form of Figs, Palms, and other plants that produce fleshy fruits. Please make a donation now. 

Cassowary and Chick in the Daintree Rainforest. 

Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road is a living museum. The high diversity of 270 plant species and the presence of 12 plant species listed under conservation legislation highlights the refugial endemism of this particular forest on Lot 157.

“Small areas on the very wet lowlands, especially between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation, harbour plant species which are extremely restricted and uncommon. Many areas of this ecosystem are considered refugial in nature and are local centres of endemism. Many representatives of primitive families of flowering plants are present, including the monotypic family Idiospermaceae. The ecosystem is the habitat for many threatened plant species”.

Please make a donation now. 

Tropical Rainforest on Lot 157 in the Daintree lowlands. 

This is the most biodiverse and important property available to us for purchase, yet it is also zoned by the Douglas Shire Council as suitable for development. We cannot let this property be developed for housing.

I urgently need your help. We have exchanged a contract to purchase Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road and now I must raise $404,685 to ensure it is protected forever. Please make a donation now. 

The gift you make today will be matched. Recognising the extraordinary natural values of Lot 157 a leadership group of donors has stepped up to establish a special Matching Gift Fund to challenge and inspire others to support the purchase and protection of Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road.

This special matching fund offers you the rare opportunity to have your personal generosity doubled in its impact. When you donate to save Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road your gift will be matched dollar for dollar. This is a unique opportunity to double your impact on the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. With the matching gift, each $2.50 you donate will save one square meter of the Daintree Rainforest and protect it forever. 

Please, will you help purchase and protect Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road in the Daintree Rainforest. 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 20 square meters and $100 will help save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road is located in Diwan in the heart of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Buying land in this location helps us to reverse the impacts of the disastrous 1980’s rural residential subdivision. We are focusing our efforts at Diwan as scientists have identified this area as being the highest priority for conservation. It has some of the highest levels of biodiversity and one of the highest densities of Cassowaries in Australia.

Please, make a tax-deductible donation to help save habitat for the endangered Cassowary, rare Bennett’s Tree kangaroo, and the Musky Rat-kangaroo. 

Musky Rat-kangaroo

I began buying land in the Daintree Rainforest for conservation in 1999. With the support of people like yourself, 50 properties have now been purchased for conservation. With your help, we've raised the funds needed to purchase seven properties since June 2019. Lot 157 Cape Tribulation will be one of the most important properties we have purchased all that’s needed is your support. 

Through our project Land Purchase to Save the Daintree, we are buying land and adding properties to the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. With your help, we will safeguard critical habitat for the many endangered species found on Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road.  

Please, take action today and help endangered species through the purchase of Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road.

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. If you have any questions about the purchase and protection of Lot 157 Cape Tribulation Road please see our answers to frequently asked questions or email me at [email protected]. You can also call me during business hours at 0437 423 119.