Stop the bridge across the Daintree River  

 

A proposed bridge across the Daintree River will fuel further development of the World Heritage value rainforest along the Daintree coast and must be stopped.

 

  • Currently, the only way to reach the Daintree is by vehicular barge across the Daintree River. 
  • The local authority, Douglas Shire Council is exploring options for a bridge over the Daintree River.
  • A bridge will have an enormous flow-on effect. It will increase the number of vehicles and the hours of the day that they’re on roads. Vehicle strike is a killer of the Southern Cassowary and endangered species critical to the rainforest’s natural ability to regenerate.
  • An increase in traffic will lead to growth in property prices, increased demand for additional services such as energy supply, further fragmentation of highly sensitive ecosystems, and disturbance of terrestrial and aquatic environments.
  • 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.

 

People power has saved the Daintree time and time again and it will this time too. Sign the petition to demand the Douglas Shire Council to dismiss all proposals for a bridge over the Daintree River which will irreparably impact fragile ecosystems and the endangered animals that live within them.

Will you sign?

 

 

To Douglas Shire Council

 

Urgently put a stop to proposals for a bridge across the Daintree River and instead work to protect the region’s natural values.

 

_ _ _ _

 

Building a bridge over the Daintree River will support further undesirable development. For decades, governments and NGOs have been investing in buying back blocks adjacent to the World Heritage Area to slow down development. And now the Douglas Shire Council has put a bridge back on the table.

 

A bridge over the Daintree has been floated on and off for decades and has been met with opposition from the local community and conservationists across the world.

 

A bridge poses a significant threat to the area’s biodiversity. There’s no doubt a bridge brings with it an increase in vehicular traffic to this internationally significant region. With a bridge will come the following impacts:

 

  • 24-hour access across the river means cars are crossing the river at all times of day and night, putting at risk already endangered wildlife.
  • The construction phase and inevitable road upgrade will disturb sensitive ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic.
  • The bridge is likely to increase the number and type of services available to residents and tourists of the Daintree, for example, deliveries and waste services
  • An increase in tourism development will increase road kills of native wildlife, including the endangered Southern Cassowary
  • Expansion to the road network will create an edge effect, opening up the rainforest canopy and further catalyzing the spread of pest plants and animals
  • Tourists currently visit the Daintree for its intact rainforest and genuine wildlife experiences. Additional infrastructure will undermine the region’s natural values

 

People power has saved the Daintree time and time again and it will this time too. We’re calling on the Douglas Shire Council to put a stop to development in the Daintree once and for all and to cease all proposals exploring a bridge across the Daintree River.

 

 

 

8,565 signatures
  • Katy Gerner
    signed 2020-05-28 01:44:35 +1000
  • Peter Henderson
    signed 2020-05-28 01:41:37 +1000
  • Vanessa Dewey-Adams
    signed 2020-05-28 01:37:17 +1000
  • Deborah Wenham
    signed 2020-05-28 01:35:58 +1000
    Save the Daintree from wonton tourism madness
  • Adrian Kontekakis
    signed 2020-05-28 01:33:01 +1000
  • Michelle Kelly
    signed 2020-05-28 01:12:44 +1000
  • Elizabeth Reynolds
    signed 2020-05-28 01:01:57 +1000
  • Michele Beaton
    signed 2020-05-28 00:57:13 +1000
  • Clare Caple
    signed 2020-05-28 00:54:52 +1000
  • Jarrad Kowlessar
    signed 2020-05-28 00:36:58 +1000
  • Paul Stenner
    signed 2020-05-28 00:35:07 +1000
  • Ken Foster
    signed 2020-05-28 00:31:14 +1000
    Keep the Daintree a wilderness!
  • Amy Lye
    signed 2020-05-28 00:30:39 +1000
    This is the desecration of a beautiful natural heritage site.
  • Wrndy Wait
    signed 2020-05-28 00:24:49 +1000
  • Judith Blanch
    signed 2020-05-28 00:23:21 +1000
    No bridge .This area needs to be preserved & not add more traffic with a bridge .A world heritage area needs to be protected from development .
  • Josh Hoctor
    signed 2020-05-28 00:23:13 +1000
  • Marilyn Cunnington
    signed 2020-05-28 00:22:39 +1000
  • Julia McMahon
    signed 2020-05-28 00:20:44 +1000
  • Maria Nisulescu
    signed 2020-05-28 00:18:28 +1000
  • Roslyn Woodward
    signed 2020-05-28 00:17:20 +1000
  • Scott Millington
    signed 2020-05-28 00:16:30 +1000
  • Lindsay Menelaws
    signed 2020-05-28 00:15:54 +1000
  • Rebecca Copland
    signed 2020-05-28 00:15:08 +1000
  • Peter Shanahan
    signed 2020-05-28 00:14:37 +1000
  • David Wilson
    signed 2020-05-28 00:05:26 +1000
  • Lynette Campbell
    signed 2020-05-28 00:03:18 +1000
  • Rob Defnet
    signed 2020-05-27 23:54:14 +1000
  • Anna Wells
    signed 2020-05-27 23:50:46 +1000
    The Daintree is a beautiful and unique part of the world. It is vital that the pact of people is kept to a minimum to ensure that the flora and fauna can survive. A bridge will increase visitor numbers and infrastructure will develop to meet their needs. Please do not do this. AW
  • Cameron Boon
    signed 2020-05-27 23:50:28 +1000
  • David Marley
    signed 2020-05-27 23:48:14 +1000
    Wilderness must stay wilderness.