A Cassowary land bridge over the Bruce Highway is currently under construction and is expected to be completed in early 2024.

On World Cassowary Day (26th of September) help celebrate the endangered Southern Cassowary and all efforts to prevent its extinction in the wild. There are only 4,000 Cassowaries remaining in Australia's wet tropical rainforest. To ensure they survive your help is urgently needed and we've identified four things you can do today to Save the Cassowary!

Can we save another property in the Daintree Rainforest?

This is the question we now have to ask, and we're in a race against time. 

The sale of land and construction of houses continues year after year. If this keeps going, the remaining undeveloped Daintree Rainforest blocks will all be developed for housing. This really is a race against the development of the world's oldest rainforest. 

The world's oldest rainforest is still for sale. 

There is a simple solution: land buyback.

There are multiple at-risk Daintree properties that could be purchased for conservation right now. However, to bring another property under contract I need to have the money to pay for a deposit.

Unless I can raise the funds needed for a deposit on the next property, I have to pause the program. I don't want that to happen. There are at-risk Daintree properties that need to be saved now. 

To commit to buying a Daintree Rainforest property, l need a 25% deposit. The last property cost $200,000, so I'm raising $50,000 for a deposit. This will enable us to obtain a contract of sale and the confidence we can raise the remaining funds. 

Please, make a donation now to purchase and protect another property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

Clearing in preparation for housing development. 

Over the past four years, we have purchased a Daintree Rainforest property for conservation every 50 days.  

That's a total of 29 Daintree Rainforest properties in four years, thanks to thousands of generous donors.  

It's an amazing achievement and a significant outcome for the conservation of the world's oldest rainforest. 

To buy so many properties, we've used all our available resources. We've worked hard to line up the properties back-to-back, and sometimes had two or three under contract at any one time. As soon as we raise the funds for one property, we bite off the next challenge. We haven't left any fuel in the tank. 

Now we have to ask - can we do it again? 

It's not illegal for Daintree property owners to develop their blocks for housing. All they need is development approval from the Douglas Shire Council.

That's because in 1982, the Queensland government approved a 1,136-lot rural residential subdivision in the Daintree. This resulted in two-thirds of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest being excluded from protection in the Daintree National Park and Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. 

Now, when freehold properties come on the market, some are purchased for development. Some are purchased for conservation. 

Before we can commit to buying another Daintree Rainforest property, l need to raise $50,000 for a deposit. 

Please, make a donation now to purchase and protect a 30th property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

The rare Bennett's Tree-kangaroo 

Can we save the world's oldest rainforest from further development? 

Development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest causes the fragmentation and degradation of this precious ecosystem, home to cassowaries, the Bennett's tree-kangaroo, musky rat-kangaroo and other endangered wildlife.

I know you don't want that to happen - you've proven that though your support of our successful land buyback program. 

However, we are in a race against time and don't have cash upfront to buy the properties.

For four years, every 50 days, we have purchased a Daintree Rainforest property for conservation. That's been funded by people like you and me making decisions about the future of the Daintree.

Please, make a donation now to purchase another property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

When I was last in Cow Bay, I was lucky enough to see two cassowaries emerge and walk about 100m along the path before returning to the rainforest. It was a wonderful sight. With just 4,400 cassowaries believed to remain in Australia's wet tropical rainforests, we must do everything we can to save them.

The number one threat to southern cassowaries in the Wet Tropics is the loss and degradation of habitat through clearing for housing and the introduction of exotic plants. Fortunately the solution is simple - land buyback for conservation. Please help me raise the money for a deposit on another Daintree block.

I need to raise $50,000 as soon as possible. Can you help?

Please, make a donation now to purchase and protect a 30th property in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

Thank you to everyone helping to Save the Daintree Rainforest. Together we are creating a better future for wildlife, climate, people and the planet.

Kelvin Davies

Founder, Rainforest 4 Foundation

P.S. Please, will you help to save more pieces of the Daintree with an affordable monthly gift? 

Your monthly gift will support the purchase of at-risk freehold properties and protect them forever. Each $2.50 donated will purchase 1 sqm of the Daintree Rainforest. Every $5 you donate will help save 2 square meters of the Daintree Rainforest from the threat of development. A $25 donation will help save 10 square meters of beautiful tropical rainforest. A donation of $50 will help save 20 square meters and $100 will help save 40 square meters of World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest. 

Donations are tax-deductible and receipts will be issued. Other frequently asked questions are answered here. 

It only takes a few moments to make your affordable monthly donation, so please, join us now on this page.

We’ve provided answers to the most frequently asked questions for the purchase and protection of Lot 204 Cedar Road at Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. 

PURCHASE OF LOT 26 RONALD ROAD, IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road (RP733653) 

Area: 2.093 hectares

Location: Forest Creek, Queensland

Vegetation type: Lowland Tropical Rainforest (remnant and regrowth) 

Endangered Ecological Community: Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community is listed in the Endangered Category under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), China Camp Laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis), Cyclophyllum costatum (no common name), Gray’s Walnut (Endiandra grayi), Noah’s Walnut (Endiandra microneura), Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata)

At just over 2 hectares, the Lowland Tropical Rainforest on Daintree Lot 26 Ronald Road provides habitat for several threatened animal and plant species, including an endangered population of Southern Cassowaries, the Climbing Pandan and Noah’s Walnut. There have also been sightings of the rare Bennett’s Tree-kangaroo nearby. 

Lot 26 Ronald Road has 188 native plant species including the Brown Pine (Podocarpus grayae). These trees can grow up to 30 metres tall and are found in well-developed rainforests from sea level to around 1,000 metres. Podocarpaceae is an ancient family of conifers that have their origins in the supercontinent of Gondwana. You can read a summary of the Lot 26 Roanld Road survey here. 

The acquisition of Lot 26 Ronald Road helps to fulfil our vision for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, which requires the buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties so they can be managed for their exceptional conservation values.

With the purchase of this property, we are preventing its development and fragmentation of the landscape. Fragmentation occurs when forests are reduced in the area through deforestation, road building, or other developments, dividing the forest into smaller blocks and creating what is known as the edge effect. The impacts of the edge effect have been thoroughly documented over several decades and show the significant detrimental effects on biodiversity.

Through this process, we are reversing the negative impacts of the subdivision of the Daintree in the 1980s that created 1,136 freehold properties.

The endangered Southern Cassowary

Lot 26 Ronald Road was offered for sale on the open market and could have been sold to someone wishing to develop the property. That's why we took action and exchanged a contract of sale and paid a deposit. On June 29, 2023 we raised enough funds to secure its purchase. 

View from Lot 26 Ronald Road 

Thank you to the generous donors who funded the purchase and protection of this Daintree Rainforest Property.

You can learn more about our project Land Purchase to Save the Daintree here. 

Please make a donation now to help purchase the next Daintree Rainforest property. 

STRONGER TOGETHER

The project to purchase and protect land in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is a partnership involving the Rainforest 4 Foundation, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, and fellow non-profit HalfCut. We recognise that we are Stronger Together and raise funds for the buyback of properties in the Daintree Rainforest and their management for conservation.

LAND PURCHASE ON THE ATHERTON TABLELANDS

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Maalan Cloud Forest

Area: 83 hectares (approximately 45 hectares of remnant rainforest)

Additional actions: Revegetation of 35 hectares to complete the wildlife corridor and connect two isolated national parks within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. 

Location: Number 252 (Lot 535) Maalan Road, Maalan, Far North Queensland (Lot 535 NR2668)

Vegetation type: Regional Ecosystem 7.8.4 high-altitude cloud forest on basalt

Biodiversity status: Endangered

Threatened Species: Spectacled Flying Fox, Spotted-tail Quoll, Southern Cassowary, Lumholtz’s Tree-kangaroo, Lemuroid Ringtail Possum, Green Ringtail Possum, Herbert River Ringtail Possum, Golden Bowerbird

UPDATE: Thanks to our generous donors, the settlement of the Maalan Cloud Forest property took place on Friday January 12, 2024. 

The Spectacled Flying Fox, Spotted-tail Quoll, Southern Cassowary, Lumholtz’s Tree-kangaroo, Lemuroid Ringtail Possum, Green Ringtail Possum, Herbert River Ringtail Possum, and Golden Bowerbird need our help if they are to survive climate change. 

These threatened species are restricted to the cooler parts of the Atherton Tablelands and other higher parts of the Wet Tropics in Far North Queensland, which means they can all be found either on this 83-hectare Maalan Cloud Forest property or at nearby locations of similar altitude (above 800 metres). Securing this important habitat is essential to support their long-term survival.

That’s why we have bought this 83-hectare block - its conservation value as a critical wildlife corridor and refuge is priceless. 

Lemuroid Ringtail Possum

The Spectacled Flying Fox needs urgent assistance

Climate change is increasing the number of days with high temperatures. On January 15, 2019, a record-breaking heatwave in Far North Queensland pushed temperatures to 42 degrees Celsius. This one event is estimated to have killed more than 23,000 Spectacled Flying Foxes, or almost one-third of the species in Australia. 

As the impact of climate change increases, the remaining population of Spectacled Flying Foxes in FNQ will require a refuge to which they can retreat in extreme heat conditions. Through the purchase and restoration of high-altitude cloud forest on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland, we are achieving this outcome.

A very significant population of the Spectacled Flying Fox uses a camp in the rainforest adjoining the Maalan Cloud Forest property. The size of the population changes through the year, with reports of over 20,000 bats in the camp over the summer months. This represents one-third of the remaining Spectacled Flying Fox population. 

Climate change impacts mammals adapted to live in the normally stable environment of the cloud forests. As temperatures rise, habitat at higher altitudes becomes an essential refuge. 

Spectacled Flying Fox. Pic by David White.

Without functional connections within fragmented habitat areas, it is feared that the long-term survival of a range of species will be at substantial risk. 

The purchase of Maalan Cloud Forest will enable 83 hectares to be managed as an essential refuge for endemic mammals that have nowhere else to go.

Green Ringtail Possum

A site of immense potential for biodiversity and connectivity

This Maalan Cloud Forest property is key to rainforest connectivity, and will create a vital wildlife corridor. 

Strategically located between Wooroonooran National Park and Maalan National Park, the Maalan Cloud Forest property's value as a corridor for wildlife is immense.

On the property, there are currently 45 hectares of endangered rainforest and 35 hectares of land that were cleared many decades ago. By revegetating this land we will complete a high-priority corridor between Maalan and Wooroonooran national parks. Its protection and restoration will also help buffer the World Heritage Area. 

To restore the cleared land, we will plant 125,000 trees. This expansion of habitat will complete the wildlife corridor and expand the habitat for the existing Spectacled Flying Fox camp.  

Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo

Nature refuge planned for protection of Maalan Cloud Forest 

Our plan is to protect the Maalan Cloud Forest property through its gazettal as a Nature Refuge. The Queensland Government’s Nature Refuge program works with landholders who have an interest in protecting and managing the significant conservation values of their land in perpetuity. A nature refuge is established through a voluntary, binding conservation agreement between the landholder and the Department of Environment and Science on behalf of the Queensland Government. Nature Refuges provide the highest level of protection for land outside of a national park.

Our project partners are South Endeavour Trust, a successful registered non-profit organisation that acquires and manages land for conservation. We successfully partnered with them in 2021 for the acquisition of Oakey Scrub near Cooktown and the Cheelonga Cloud Forest in 2022. 

The Maalan River flows through the property.

Please help to secure these 83 hectares of important habitat on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland for the Spectacled Flying Fox, Spotted-tail Quoll, Southern Cassowary, Lumhotz’s Tree-kangaroo, Lemuroid Ringtail Possum, Green Ringtail Possum, Herbert River Ringtail Possum, Northern Pygmy Possum, Golden Bowerbird.

Maalan Cloud Forest.

If you have any questions about the purchase and protection of the Maalan Cloud Forest property, contact Kelvin Davies at [email protected] or call during business hours at 0437 423 119.

Thank you for your support of our critically-important rainforest ecosystems. 

PURCHASE OF LOT 34 CAPE TRIBULATION ROAD, DIWAN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road (SP259951)

Area: 3 hectares

Location: Diwan, Queensland

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata)

Vegetation type: Two vegetation communities exist on the property. Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10a: Mesophyll vine forest. Listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999. And Regional Ecosystem 7.3.17:  Complex mesophyll vine forest. Listed as “Endangered” under the Queensland Vegetation Management Act 1999.

Endangered Ecological Community: Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community is listed in the Endangered Category under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

Fundraising for this project is now complete. Thank you to everyone who made a donation to achieve this outcome.

Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road 

Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road is located at Diwan in the heart of the iconic Daintree Lowland Rainforest. This freehold property was created through a rural residential subdivision in 1982 and it is zoned by the Douglas Shire Council as being suitable for development.

The rainforest and the Threatened species found on the property deserve the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. That’s why we need your help to purchase Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road, prevent it from being developed for housing and ensure it is managed for conservation.

We have purchased 3 nearby properties and 26 properties in the Daintree lowlands over the last 3 years. Through this, we are preventing the development of individual blocks and reversing the impacts of the subdivision of the Daintree in the 1980s that created 1,136 freehold properties.

Lot 34 in the landscape 

A vegetation survey of Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road by our ecologist identified 195 species of native plants. See a summary of the survey here.

The Endangered Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) was observed during the survey. There are only 4,400 of these amazing big birds remaining in Australia’s wet tropical rainforest. We also saw an Orange-footed Scrub Fowl (Megapodius reinwardt) by its large incubation mound and nearby, a terrestrial termite mound with an excavated nesting tunnel presumably made by a Buff Breasted Paradise Kingfisher.

The endangered Southern Cassowary 

Threatened Species

Two species found on Lot 34 are listed as Threatened in the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992. 

The Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) is listed as Endangered.  The vegetation for Lot 34 has been categorised as Essential Cassowary habitat. Many species of plant identified on Lot 34 produce food for the Southern Cassowary.

Lot 34 provides “Essential habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary”.

The Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata) is listed as Vulnerable. This species restricted mainly to the Daintree lowlands and again on Cape York at Iron Range and overseas in Papua New Guinea. This climbing monocotyledon plant possesses unique leaves which the bases catch water and thus provide habitat for arboreal invertebrates and frogs.

Two other significant Daintree endemic plants occur on Lot 34: The Daintree Foambark (Jagera madida) only occurs in the lowland rainforests between Julatten and Bloomfield. The Cooper Creek Haplostichanthus (Polyalthia xanthocarpa) is an understorey tree less than 3m tall with small yellow fruit in clusters from the trunk and branches. It is restricted to the lowland rainforests of the Daintree Rainforest.

Kelvin Davies with Cooper Creek Haplostichanthus

The acquisition of Lot 34 Cape Tribulation Road prevents its development for housing and helps reverse the negative impacts of the subdivision created in 1982. This will help to fulfil our vision for the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest which requires the buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties so they can be managed for its exceptional conservation values.

Incubation mound of the Orange-footed Scrub Fowl 

Thank you to the generous donors who funded the purchase and protection of this Daintree Rainforest Property.

You can learn more about our project Land Purchase to Save the Daintree here. 

Please make a donation now to help purchase the next Daintree Rainforest property. 

STRONGER TOGETHER

The project to purchase and protect land in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is a partnership involving the Rainforest 4 Foundation, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, and fellow non-profit HalfCut. We recognise that we are Stronger Together and raise funds for the buyback of properties in the Daintree Rainforest and their management for conservation.  

A love of the Daintree Rainforest led scientist and researcher Wren Mclean to centre her honours around Cassowaries, an iconic keystone species that’s “notoriously difficult” to study.

What's better than one Cassowary? Two! We think most things in the Daintree Rainforest are better when doubled, and right now, your donation can have double the impact.

Urgent action is required to Save the Cassowary! If we'd taken action sooner the Cassowary wouldn't be on the brink. Now the situation is urgent and we must rapidly restore their rainforest habitat.