Our Rainforest Rangers are helping the residents and landowners at Huonbrook and Wanganui in the Byron Shire recover from the bushfires and prepare for the future.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Location: Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland, Australia
Action: Road Closure and Revegetation between November 2018 and April 2019. 

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Bennetts Tree-kangaroo
Habitat: Lowland Tropical Rainforest
Threats: Development, domestic dogs, weeds, illegal camping and dumping
Our Partner: Daintree Life
Total Cost of Project: $60,000

In the mid-1980’s the Queensland government approved an 1,100 lot rural residential subdivision in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest in Far North Queensland. This resulted in two-thirds of the rainforest being excluded from protection in the Daintree National Park and Wet Tropics World Heritage Area that was declared in 1988. The development that followed resulted in the construction of over 50 km of roads and the building of hundreds of houses. Through successful land buyback programs that began in 1992, some of these roads can now be closed as all of the surrounding lands have been purchased and added to the Daintree National Park.

Between November 2018 and April 2019, five service roads in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest were permanently closed and revegetated with the planting of 4,692 trees, This was supported by the Douglas Shire Council. The planting also helped heal gaps or ‘scars’ in the rainforest canopy and as the rainforest trees grow they'll provide habitat for wildlife including the Southern Cassowaries, Bennett’s Tree-kangaroos, between November 2018 and May 2019.  and Boyd’s Forest Dragons. 

Service Road 1 (DL043B south). Before: Site prepared and ready for planting in November 2018.

During. Volunteers planting out this service road.

After: 1,146 trees successfully established. 

 Service Road 2 (DL042A). Planted in January 2019 with 1,060 trees.

 Service Road 3 (DL042B) Planted in January 2019 with 760 trees.

 Service Road 4 (DL042D South). Planted in January 2019 with 181 trees. 

Service Road 4 (DLO43A North) Planted in January 2019 with 560 trees. 

Service Road 5 (DL042C). Planted in April 2019 with 985 trees. 

Threat to Wildlife, Climate People and Planet

The creation of a network of roads in the 1980’s to support development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest was an ecological disaster. Settlement of some of these properties have fragmented the rainforest, introduced exotic plants that have become weeds and domestic dogs and traffic that are a threat to wildlife. Land purchase in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest for conservation has been occurring since 1993 and hundreds of properties have been acquired by nonprofit organisations and governments. The purchase of a significant number of strategically located properties has made some roads obsolete and we can now begin closing and revegetate roads that are no longer required and wind back these negative impacts of development. It will also restore rainforest habitat for wildlife including the Southern Cassowaries, Spectacled Flying-fox, Striped Possums, Bennetts Tree-kangaroos and Musky Rat-kangaroos. Other benefits from the road closure and revegetation include improved tourism amenity, cessation illegal dumping and camping and removal of the burden on Douglas Shire Council of costly maintenance.

The Solution

We are closing and revegetating unused service roads. This will help create a buffer for the Daintree National Park and increase habitat for wildlife. 

Project partners

Our partners, Daintree Life managed the planting of the trees and will also undertake maintenance for three years to ensure they survive and thrive. All of the trees are propagated from seeds sourced from nearby trees and the planting is designed to achieve canopy closure to exclude weeds. Daintree Life also had the support of Reforest Now inc and the Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Species Ltd. The Rainforest 4 Foundation is supporting Daintree Life to maintain the planted trees for the next three years to ensure they survive. 

The Douglas Shire Council has approved the closure of these service roads.  

Bushfire Emergency! 

URGENT APPEAL FOR WILDLIFE, CLIMATE, PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

Australia’s Wildlife is suffering from catastrophic bushfires and the loss of vital habitat.  

Over 10.3 million hectares have been burnt and over 1 billion animals have died. Wildlife needs habitat to survive. It's vitally important that we restore as much rainforest as possible. We are raising $1 million to immediately plant 100,000 trees. Please donate now. 

Your support is urgently needed to restore habitat for endangered Wildlife. Rainforests provide habitat for more species of plants and animals than any other ecosystem. Fires have damaged rainforests in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. Please donate now.

Kelvin Davies inspects the impacts of the bushfire on the rainforest in Northern NSW

We must restore our rainforests now! Rainforests provide a vital refuge for plants and animals especially when fires occur. Rainforests are less likely to burn than eucalyptus forests. Planting rainforest trees is one essential solution to protect Wildlife, Climate, People and the Planet.

We need to raise $1 million to plant 100,000 rainforest trees. We are ready to start immediately. A $10 donation will plant and care for your tree for three years to ensure survival. Please donate now. 

Bushfire recovery, we are ready to replant the rainforest

Caring for our future. Restoring rainforest will sequester carbon from the atmosphere to help mitigate Climate Change preventing future escalations of bushfires. Planting rainforest trees is one of the most effective ways we reverse Climate Change. The drawdown of carbon through biosequestration can help mitigate, and eventually to reducing global average temperatures. YOU can help.

Please donate now. Every $10 will plant one tree. A $50 donation will plant five trees, $100 will plant ten trees and $1,000 will plant and maintain 100 rainforest trees. 

The planting has begun. Michael is ready to plant thousands of trees to restore the rainforest

Will you help with our rainforest recovery plan? We are restoring habitat in and near areas of fire-damaged rainforest in New South Wales. We have established programs to plant trees, we will start today. We need your support to make a positive impact for Wildlife, Climate, People and the Planet.

Bushfire, Rainforests, and Recovery.

Unprecedented bushfires occurred in Northern NSW inland from Byron Bay in November and December 2019. They started on the 8^th of November and were named the Mt Nardi fires. It’s believed the initial ignition was from a lightning strike that occurred at the beginning of October. According to RFS Superintendent Bryan Daley, the "Rainforest was burning", due to unprecedented fire conditions that include high temperatures, low humidity, strengthening winds and high fuel load. Most of the bushland burnt was sclerophyll forest (eucalyptus, acacias and other hard leaved plants), however, the extreme conditions allowed the fire to burn the edge of the rainforest and in some places rainforest itself. These fires impacted Terania Creek, Tuntable Creek, Tuntable Falls, Huonbrook, Upper Coopers Creek, Upper Wilsons Creek, Wanganui and surrounds and burnt over 5,500 hectares.

Now that the bushfires in Northern NSW burnt have been extinguished and rain has come we are ready for recovery actions. Our established rainforest restoration sites are ready for planting rainforest trees to reestablish habitat for endangered wildlife. We are planting trees now and need your support to continue. 

In southeast Australia, the threat from fires continues, however, the fires in northern NSW occurred in November and December. In this subtropical climate, we have a wet season that has arrived. The rain has extinguished the fires and its now the ideal time to plant rainforest trees.

We've prepared land like this for replating now, now all we need is your support

Where and how will the trees be planted? 

The trees will be planted on an established rainforest restoration site at Upper Wilsons Creek (where the photos on the pager were taken). This project is restoring Lowland Subtropical Rainforest (only 1% remains) which in New South Wales is an Endangered Ecological Community (NSW Biodiversity Act, 2016) and for that reason, we will also plant trees on land nearby where rainforest restoration to recreate habitat is urgently needed. 

In Australia many ecosystems have evolved with fire and eucalypts, banksias and acacias will regenerate naturally and rapidly. Rainforests are ecosystems that are poorly adapted to fires and as 99% of lowland subtropical rainforest has been cleared in the past, they need help to recover. We will be planting in areas where natural regeneration is not likely.

How will the donated funds be used? 

Funds donated will be used to plant trees to restore the subtropical rainforests in Northern NSW. This includes the cost of propagating and growing the trees in the nursery, site preparation, planting and maintenance of the trees for three years to ensure they all survive.  

Please donate now. 

Rainforests need your help to recover

Please donate now. Every $10 will plant one tree. A $50 donation will plant five trees, $100 will plant ten trees and $1,000 will plant and maintain 100 rainforest trees. 

What species of wildlife will benefit from the project? 

The Wompoo Fruit-dove and Rose-crowned Fruit-dove are some of the 25 threatened species that will be helped through this project.

The 25 species recorded in Wilson Creek, that are listed as Threatened by the New South Wales government’s Biodiversity Conservation Act include;

Birds: Albert's Lyrebird, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Bush-hen, Marbled Frogmouth, Masked Owl, White-eared Monarch, Rufous Scrub-bird, Sooty Owl, Black Bittern, Double-eyed Fig-parrot, Glossy Black-cockatoo, Osprey, White-eared Monarch, Wompoo Fruit-dove, Rose-crowned Fruit-dove, and Rufous Scrub-bird.

Mammals: Little Bentwing Bat, Large-eared Pied Bat, Eastern Long-eared Bat, Golden-tipped Bat, Koala, Large-footed Myotis, Red-legged Pademelon and Spotted-tailed Quoll

Amphibians: Loveridge's Frog, Pouched Frog

Reptiles: Stephen's Banded Snake.

Some of Australia’s most beautiful rainforest birds will benefit. 

Can you imagine planting 1,775,153 trees! That’s what’s been achieved in Sumatra over the past decade by the Orangutan Information Centre. Sumatran Orangutans, Elephants, Tigers and Rhinos have all benefitted from this incredible effort. And we’ve only getting started!  

Scientists are mapping out how to restore tropical rainforests around the world