LAND PURCHASE TO SAVE THE DAINTREE - LOT 124 Quandong Road

Location: Queensland, Australia
Action: Purchase of Lot 124 Quandong Road, Cow Bay
Area: 1 hectare

Price per hectare: $25,000 ($2.50 per sqm)
Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary,   
Habitat: Lowland tropical rainforest classified as regional ecosystem 7.11.1a Mesophyll vine forest

Threats: Development for housing, domestic dogs, weeds

PURCHASE OF LOT 124 Quandong Road, Cow Bay

Through the support of 271 amazing donors, we raised the $25,000 required for the purchase of the property on the 3rd of March 2020. Thank you to everyone who donated to ensure this special Daintree property is added to the Daintree National Park! You’ve joined with others to achieve a fantastic outcome for endangered wildlife. Lot 124 Quandong Road, Cow Bay is 1 ha in size and is covered by tropical rainforest. Buying and protecting this property is a fantastic outcome for conservation as it connects to the Daintree National Park and it provides vital habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary and the rare Bennetts Tree-kangaroo. 

The settlement on the purchase of Lot 124 Quandong Road occurred on the 24^th of March 2020. We've now begun the process to transfer the property to the Queensland Government for inclusion in the Daintree National Park will begin. The Rainforest 4 Foundation and the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation are working together to achieve this outcome. 

We launched this appeal with our friends at HalfCut, an organisation that reminds us that we’ve lost half of the world’s rainforest and we’ve got to save what’s left. Thank you, Jimmy and Jess and all of the team and supporters of HalfCut for the wonderful effort in raising funds for the purchase of Lot 124 Quandong Road.  

Lot 124 Quandong Road, Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

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

LAND PURCHASE TO SAVE THE DAINTREE - LOT 390 Maple Road

FUNDRAISING FOR THIS PROJECT WAS COMPLETED IN JANUARY 2020 AND SETTLEMENT ON THE PROPERTY PURCHASE OCCURRED IN FEBRUARY 2020.

Project snapshot

Location: Queensland, Australia
Action: Purchase of Lot 390 Maple Road, Cow Bay
Area: 1 hectare

Price per hectare: $25,000 ($2.50 per sqm)
Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Noahs Walnut and Climbing Pandanus  
Habitat: Lowland tropical rainforest classified as regional ecosystem 7.11.1a Mesophyll vine forest

Threats: Development for housing, domestic dogs, weeds

PURCHASE OF LOT 390 MAPLE ROAD

Lot 390 Maple Road, Cow Bay is 1 ha in size and is completely covered by tropical rainforest. Buying and protecting this property will be a fantastic outcome for conservation. It connects to the Daintree National Park, is in pristine condition and is a vital habitat for the Endangered Cassowary.

Buying land in this location helps us to wind back the impacts of the disastrous 1980’s rural residential subdivision. We are focusing our efforts on Cow Bay as scientists have identified this area as being the highest priority for conservation. It has some of the highest levels of biodiversity and the highest densities of Cassowaries in Australia. 

Through our Land Purchase to Save the Daintree National Park project, we are buying land and adding properties to the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area and are helping to preserve critical Cassowary habitat. 

Following the purchase of this property, it will be gifted to the Queensland Government for inclusion in the Daintree National Park. 

Lot 390 Maple Road is a freehold property. The property is 1 ha in size (10,000 sqm). With a purchase price of $25,000.

Prior to making a commitment to purchase of Lot 390 Maple Road in Cow Bay we wanted to be reassured of its conservation values.

A vegetation survey was undertaken by ecologist and botanist Kristopher Kupsch. He found the vegetation to be a well developed intact assemblage of 207 native species of plants.

Lot 390 Maple Road, Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

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

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Fan Palms on Lot 390 Maple Road, Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

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

You’ve answered our call to help buyback Lot 305 Cypress Road in the Daintree Rainforest! On the 14th of November, we launched our crowdfunding campaign and just ten days later we’ve reached the $25,000 target. 

The buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is needed to fulfill our vision. Not only do we want to see no further development, we want the negative impacts of the rural residential subdivision to be reversed.

We have an opportunity to buy a Daintree Rainforest property covered in beautiful Fan Palms for only $25,000. Lot 305 Cypress Road, Cow Bay is 1 ha in size and is covered by tropical rainforest. Buying and protecting this property will be a fantastic outcome for conservation as it connects to the Daintree National Park, is in pristine condition and provides vital habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary.

Project Snapshot

Location: Queensland, Australia
Action: Purchase of Lot 155 Cape Tribulation Road, Diwan, Daintree Lowland Rainforest
Area: 8.835 hectares

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Bennetts Tree-kangaroo   
Habitat: Lowland tropical rainforest classified as Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10a “Mesophyll vine forest and 7.3.28a “Open water within natural non-tidal rivers. Rivers and creeks. Riverine wetland or fringing riverine wetland”.

Status update on the fundraising to buy Lot 155 Cape Tribulation Road, Diwan on the 29th of May 2020. 

Much of the vegetation on Lot 155 is classified as Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10a “Mesophyll vine forest. Moderately to poorly-drained alluvial plains, of moderate fertility. Lowlands of the very wet and wet zone” with the eastern area of Lot 155 having Regional Ecosystem 7.3.28a “Open water within natural non-tidal rivers. Rivers and creeks. Riverine wetland or fringing riverine wetland”.

RE 7.3.10a is listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999. This vegetation type is categorised as Primary habitat for the Southern Cassowary by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM QLD).

A comment on the special values of Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10a by The Queensland Government: “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”.

The Queensland Government indicates a pre-clearing extent of 60,000 ha existed and today 14,000 ha remains of RE 7.3.10

Regional Ecosystem 7.3.28a is also listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999. This vegetation type is dominated by ponded water. The Queensland Government indicates a pre-clearing extent of 8,000 ha existed and today 7,000 ha remains of RE 7.3.28

Please, will you help purchase and protect Lot 155 Cape Tribulation Road in the Daintree Rainforest. Every $2.50 you donate will save one square metre of the Daintree. If you donate $25 you will save ten square meters of essential Cassowary habitat! A donation of $50 will save 20 square meters and $100 will save forty square meters of the World Heritage value Daintree Rainforest.

Kristopher Kupsch surveying the plants in The Daintree Lowland Rainforest 

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests on Earth and provides a refuge for wildlife and ancient flowering plants. It holds exceptionally high biodiversity and conservation value and is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest remaining in Australia.

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is one of the wettest places in Australia and has remained undisturbed by fires for 120 million years. In January 2020 there was over 600 mm of rain.

In the 1980’s the Queensland government approved an 1,100-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 that was declared in 1988. The purchase of these properties and adding them to the Daintree National Park provides a fantastic outcome for wildlife conservation.

Please, make a donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 155 Cape Tribulation Road and add it to the Daintree National Park. Each $25 raised will purchase and protect ten sqm of the Lowland Daintree Rainforest.  

Lot 155 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 on Cow Bay as scientists have identified this area as being the highest priority for conservation. It has some of the highest levels of biodiversity and the highest densities of Cassowaries in Australia. Please, will you make a tax-deductible donation now to save essential habitat for the endangered Cassowary.

I began buying land in the Daintree Rainforest for conservation in 1999. With the support of people like yourself, I’ve contributed to the purchase of 48 properties. We've raised funds to purchase five properties since June 2019 so I know we can do this and 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 Cassowaries in this critical habitat. Please take action today and help us Save the Cassowary through the purchase of Lot 155 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 390 Maple Road please email me at kelvin@Rainforest4.org or call me on 0437 423 119. 

Thank you to HalfCut

The nonprofit organisation HalfCut is getting behind the campaign to purchase Lot 155 Cape Tribulation Road and add it to the Daintree National Park. Thanks to Jimmy and Jess and all the HalfCut supporters for their help. 

Conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. 

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is one of the oldest rainforests on Earth having survived undisturbed for over 120 million years. It holds exceptionally high biodiversity and conservation value and is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest remaining in Australia.

Rainforests once covered much of eastern Australia, however, as conditions became drier the rainforest contracted and today the Daintree provides a refuge for many unique species. The Bennett’s Tree-kangaroo, Musky Rat-kangaroo, and the Southern Cassowary can be found here, as well a number of endemic plant species that have retained the same primitive characteristics of their ancestors. The flora of the Daintree contains an almost complete record of the evolution of plant life on Earth, including extremely ancient flowering plant families found nowhere else.

Please make a donation now online.

In the 1980’s the Queensland government approved an 1,100-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 that was declared in 1988. The development that followed has resulted in fragmentation of the rainforest with the construction of roads and the building of hundreds of houses. Settlement has introduced exotic plants that have become weeds and domestic dogs and traffic that are a threat to wildlife. Because the land in question is in private ownership, the only option to resolve the issue has been the purchase and protection of additional lands to expand Daintree National Park.

Our vision for the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is to buy back land to remove the threat of further development and to address the impact of past development while supporting the Traditional Owners, the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people in caring for country.

While we purchase land at risk of development for housing we also purchase other freehold properties without development approvals to reverse the impacts of the disastrous subdivision by closing and revegetating obsolete roads.

Since 1992 non-profit organisations have purchased seventy-five properties for conservation. To continue this important work, we are working to purchase freehold land in Cow Bay that will then be incorporated into the Daintree National Park. We are focusing our efforts on Cow Bay as it has some of the highest levels of biodiversity and the highest densities of Cassowaries in Australia.

Please make a donation now online.

Threat to Wildlife, Climate People and Planet

Daintree Rainforest is regarded as an iconic national treasure for its unique evolutionary history and tremendous conservation value. A number of rare and endangered species are found within Daintree National Park, including the Southern Cassowary, large flightless birds that in Australia are found only in the wet tropical rainforests of Queensland. Southern Cassowaries consume over 150 different fruits and play a vital role as seed dispersers in the rainforest. Due to the destruction and fragmentation of their rainforest habitats, these large charismatic birds are classified as Vulnerable to extinction.

More than 430 other bird species have also been recorded in Daintree National Park, including rare or range-restricted species like the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher and the Lesser Sooty Owl, making the Daintree a Globally Important Bird Area. Many unique marsupials, reptiles and amphibians are also found in the Daintree Rainforest including the Bennett’s Tree-kangaroo, Musky Rat-kangaroo, Spotted-tailed Quoll and Boyd’s Forest Dragon.

Please make a donation now online.

A risk to the Daintree comes from development for housing and fragmentation of the rainforest, which jeopardises the integrity of the ecosystem with increased human traffic and the introduction of exotic species. Expanding settlement results in the spread of exotic plants that become weeds and stress to wildlife from human traffic and introduced dogs. Further buyback of land for conservation is required urgently as there are calls for an upgrade to Cape Tribulation Road, to build a bridge over the Daintree River and to provide a reticulated electricity supply that would all lead to further development.

The purchase of additional properties will prevent further development to these sensitive areas while protecting and restoring critical habitat for wildlife. It will also allow for winding back past development through the closing of roads and the revegetation of land as habitat for Threatened species.

Please make a donation now online.

Solution

We have identified this property at Lot Lot 330 Cape Tribulation Road, Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest where the owner will sell it for only $25,000.

We are working to purchase and transfer ownership of land to the Daintree National Park. This will strengthen protection for the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, help reverse the negative impacts of rural residential development, and offer the best path forward for ensuring the world’s most ancient rainforest continues to thrive for generations to come.

Buying land in the Daintree helps us to reverse the impacts of the disastrous 1980’s rural residential subdivision. All donations are tax-deductible, and receipts will be issued. 

Please donate now. A donation of $25 will purchase and protect ten sqm of the Daintree Rainforest. 

The Southern Cassowary is a large flightless bird that in Australia is found only in the wet tropical rainforests of Queensland. Southern Cassowaries consume over 150 different fruits and play a vital role as seed dispersers in the rainforest. Due to the destruction and fragmentation of their rainforest habitats, these large charismatic birds are classified as Vulnerable to extinction.