PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Location: Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia

Action: Planting 1,000 rainforest trees at Barrine Park Nature Refuge, Lake Barrine

Threatened Species: Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo

Habitat: Tropical Rainforest

Total Cost of Project: $10,000

Fundraising update on the 2nd of December 2021

Financial need: $10,000

Amount raised: $20

Remaining target: $9,980

Please donate now to keep this project growing. 

With your help, we will restore land on the Atherton Tablelands where clearing has occurred in the past. We will establish 1,000 trees to create a corridor between the Lake Barrine section of the Crater Lakes National Park and Wooroonooran National Park. The site where the trees will be established is the Barrine Park Nature Reserve.

The cost of growing, planting, and maintenance for one tree is $10 per tree, so to establish 1,000 trees we need to raise $10,000. 

Please donate now to get this project growing. Every $10 will establish one tree for the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo.  

Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo - Photo by Steven Nowakowski Panoscapes

The problem

The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau located in Far North Queensland that was once covered in tropical rainforest. Clearing for agriculture began in the late 19^th century and this has removed 50% of the rainforest. The remaining rainforest is broken up into small fragments, creating challenges for wildlife to travel across the landscape.

The Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo spends most of its life in the rainforest canopy. They can travel across open ground, however, this is difficult and they are vulnerable to attacks by domestic dogs.

Due to habitat loss and fragmentation, the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo is now listed under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act as Near Threatened.

The Solution

We will establish 1,000 rainforest trees to restore the rainforest at Barrine Park Nature Refuge as habitat for the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo.

Starting in November we will:

• Remove the weeds from the tree planting site.
• Plant 1,000 rainforest trees.
• Then, for the next three years will care for the trees to ensure they all survive. This will involve eliminating competition by removing weeds that germinate on the site.

Planting trees will provide a direct benefit to the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo as they are arboreal folivores (browsers), eating the leaves of tropical rainforest plants.

Please donate now to get this project growing. Every $10 will establish one tree for the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo. 

Linking Lake Barrine (Crater Lakes National Park) and Wooroonooran National Park

What type of trees are chosen?

The species of trees are chosen specifically for the tree planting site. Tree species selection is determined by an ecologist and botanist who chooses the appropriate native trees based on the forest type in the area, availability of sunlight, existing plant competition, presence of animals and insects. A mixed selection of native rainforest trees will be planted that provide habitat for the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo.

Please donate now to get this project growing. Every $10 will establish one tree for the Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo.  

Have we done this before?

Yes, we have been actively involved in the revegetation of the Atherton Tablelands with our partners Rainforest Reserves Australia and have completed many successful projects. 30,000 trees have already been established at Barrine Park Nature Refuge.

Successful tree planting funded by generous donors

Thank you HalfCut

The nonprofit project partner HalfCut is joining us in restoring the Daintree Lowland Rainforest through the PSS Challenge. Thanks to Jimmy and Jess and all the HalfCut supporters for their help. 

We’ve provided answers to the most frequently asked questions on the purchase and protection of Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.  

Another block in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest has been protected forever at Lot 21 Camelot Close at Cape Tribulation.

While we’ve purchased and protected more than a dozen properties in the last two years, this block, is something quite spectacular.

Another block in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest has been protected forever at Lot 213 Teak Road at Cow Bay. This wonderful outcome was made possible through the contributions of hundreds of generous donors and the significant fundraising efforts of fellow not-for-profit HalfCut.

On Threatened Species Day (today!) there’s one simple thing you can do to Save the Cassowary!

Lot 505 Cedar Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, is now protected forever thanks to the generosity of donors from around Australia and the wonderful fundraising success of HalfCut 2021.

Before we make a decision to purchase a Daintree Rainforest property we thoroughly assess its value to conservation. Our vegetation survey of Lot 213 Teak Road at Cow Bay was undertaken on the 28th of July 2021. 

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive (Lot 2 RP 738519)

Area: 1.17-hectares

Location: Forest Creek, Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland

Vegetation type: Lot 2 comprises two distinct ecosystems by changes in soil/drainage conditions. One a Sclerophyll open woodland and the other a closed canopy Rainforest habitat

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Noah's Walnut, China Camp Laurel, Thornton Aspen, Ant Plant

Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive is 1.17ha of critical habitat for native wildlife and plants. A small creek runs through the rainforest where the presence of the Southern Cassowary has been observed. The rare Bennetts Tree-kangaroo has also been sighted nearby.

Fan Palms (Licuala ramsayii) occur on the property and the species delineates the two main types of vegetation: sclerophyll vegetation which are generally dominated by plants that have hard leaves adapted to drought and fire; and mesophyll vine forest, which is tropical rainforest featuring these Fan Palms in abundance.

Fan Palms on Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive

Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive is located at Forest Creek in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Buying land in this location helps us to reverse the impacts of the disastrous 1980’s rural residential subdivision and prevents another house from being built in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive is a freehold property and could have been developed for housing just as nearby properties have been in the past. 

Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive adjoins Lot 3, a property that we purchased for conservation in January 2020. This consolidates the area protected for conservation as these two properties also share a boundary with the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area.

During our survey, the presence of Cassowaries was noted from scats within the rainforest habitat near the creek in the eastern portions of the property.

Some 230 species of native plants were recorded in our ecological survey of the site. Four species are listed under the Queensland’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1992). Noah’s Walnut, China Camp Laurel, Thornton Aspen and the Ant plant.

Noah's Walnut (Endiandra microneura) occurs at this site. It is listed as Near Threatened on the Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act (1992). This species is only found within the Daintree Lowland Rainforest predominately north of the Daintree River and south of Cape Tribulation. It produces a vibrant display of limp, red, new leaves as well as large, yellow, oblong-shaped fruits that are dispersed by the Southern Cassowary.

China Camp Laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis) is Near Threatened and was found growing within cassowary droppings which is no surprise as its fruits – which are the size of tennis balls – are only dispersed by the Endangered Southern Cassowary.

Thornton Aspen (Acronychia acuminata) is Near Threatened and is now found only in the rainforests surrounding Thornton Peak, the highest mountain in the Daintree. It was previously found at only six locations between the Daintree River and Bloomfield to the North.

Ant Plant (Myrmecodia beccarii) is one of the Daintree’s most fascinating plants (there are many to choose from). The Ant Plant is epiphytic, growing harmlessly on Melaleucas and other plants with spongy bark, yet it is not parasitic. It has a special association with the Golden Ant (Iridomyrmex cordatus) which lives in the chambers of its tuber. What’s more, the Apollo Butterfly lays its eggs on this plant. The Golden Ants carry the butterfly eggs into the tuber chambers where they develop as butterflies. The Ant Plant’s flowers are white and tubular, to 10mm, and the fruit is white/translucent containing a single seed. These single seeds are transported to other trees by the Mistletoe bird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum).

Thornton Aspen (Acronychia acuminata) on Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive

Ant Plant (Myrmecodia beccarii) on Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive

A small creek occurs on Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive

Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive provides habitat for the Southern Cassowary

Lot 2 comprises two distinct ecosystems. A Sclerophyll open woodland and a Rainforest habitat. 

Tropical Rainforest on Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive in the Daintree Rainforest

Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive at Forest Creek is a freehold property and can be developed for housing just as nearby properties have been in the past. We must act now to purchase and protect this property and save the important habitat from the threat of development.

Another Daintree Rainforest property has been cleared for housing development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. The rainforest on this property in Cow Bay was destroyed last week along with habitat for the endangered Cassowary and other threatened species.