PURCHASE OF LOT 18 DALEY CLOSE, KIMBERLEY IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 18 Daley Close (Lot 18 RP 740684)

Area: 0.9588 hectares

Location: Kimberley, Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland

Vegetation type: Lowland Tropical Rainforest

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Noah's Walnut

Here is a fundraising update for the 22nd of October 2021

Target to purchase and protect this property: $143,820

Amount raised: $120,281

Remaining target: $23,539

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Saving Daintree’s Lot 18 from development.

On learning that Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberley was for sale, we acted quickly and started negotiations to purchase this property and protect it from development. One week later we had a contract of sale and had paid a deposit. Now we must raise the funds to purchase this important rainforest property as the settlement on the purchase is scheduled for the 15th of November.

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberly shares a boundary with the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. Undeveloped freehold properties in the Daintree should not be left in the ownership of people who would destroy the rainforest. Development for housing fragments the rainforest and has negative on impacts the surrounding rainforest.

The rainforest on this freehold property is of equal value to the adjoining Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area and must be protected. 

Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberly in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is a freehold property in private ownership and can be developed for housing subject to approval from the Douglas Shire Council.

The development of other properties at Kimberley has caused significant damage. Clearing of vegetation and the creation of roads to the top of the ridges obtain views causes enormous damage.  

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

View from Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Rainforest

The vegetation on Lot 18 Daley Close is intact with no evidence of past clearing This property provides habitat suitable for the endangered Southern Cassowary and the rare Bennett’s Tree-kangaroo has been seen nearby. See the photos of the rainforest on Lot 18 Daley Close here. 

Fifteen years ago, the Douglas Shire Council created a new town plan that included measures to conserve the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, however, they excluded the subdivision at Kimberley and the freehold properties at this location remain at risk of being developed for housing.

Please, help us to remove the threat of development hanging over Lot 18 Daley Close. We’ve acted quickly to pay a deposit on Lot 18 and now we need your help.

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Rainforest on Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

Due to COVID-19 development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is escalating. The tropical rainforest is being cleared for housing development. In response, we have purchased sixteen properties for conservation in the last two years. 

A subdivision was carved into the Daintree Lowland Rainforest in 1982. This created Lot 18 Daley Road and dozens of rural residential lots in Kimberley. The houses that have been built here fragment the rainforest and occupation brings domestic dogs and exotic plants. This has damaged one of the most significant areas of tropical rainforests in Australia.

Together, we can ensure this development won’t go any further. All we need to do is buy this freehold property and add protect it in the Daintree National Park estate.

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Clearing in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest 

We have exchanged a contract to buy this property so the land can be protected in the Daintree National Park estate. However, we only have until the 15th of November so I absolutely must raise the funds by that date. We have purchased sixteen Daintree Rainforest properties in the past two years, we cannot stop now. If we don't keep up the pace, many more properties will be lost to development. 

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

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.

If you have any questions about the purchase and protection of Lot 18 Daley Close, please email me at [email protected] or call Kelvin Davies during business hours at 0437 423 119.

THANK YOU TO HALFCUT

This 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.

Thanks to HalfCut and their wonderful supporters. The fundraising success of HalfCut 2021 has enabled us to purchase multiple properties and to pay a deposit on Lot 18 Daley Road at Kimberley in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. 

Jimmy HalfCut 

Background information on 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.

In 1982 the Queensland government approved an 1,137-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. 

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.

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.

Solution

We have identified this property at Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberley as a priority acquisition. 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, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

PURCHASE OF LOT 242 WHITE BEACH RD IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 242 White Beech Road (Lot 242 RP 740658)

Area: 1.33 hectares

Location: Cow Bay, Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland

Vegetation type: Lowland Tropical Rainforest

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary

Here is a fundraising update for the 22nd of October 2021.

Target to purchase and protect this property: $33,250

Amount raised: $1,665

Remaining target: $31,585

Please, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Rainforest

Purchase of Daintree's LOT 242 for conservation.

Lot 242 White Beech Road is a 1.33-hectare property at Cow Bay in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. It shares a boundary with the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area and provides habitat for the endangered Southern Cassowary. We have purchased eight properties in Cow Bay in the last two years and the purchase of Lot 242 White Beech Road will complement our efforts and support an efficient management regime for the conservation of the Daintree Rainforest.  

We have paid a deposit and now we must raise the funds to allow us to finalise the purchase of Lot 242 White Beech Road. The property is 1.33 hectares in size or 13,300 sqm. With a purchase price of $33,250, the cost is $2.50 per sqm.

Please, will you help purchase and protect Lot 242 White Beech 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.

Tropical Rainforest on Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Rainforest

Undeveloped freehold properties in the Daintree should not be left in private ownership. They provide habitat for many threatened species and must be managed for conservation. We are purchasing land at Cow Bay as it provides important habitat for the endangered Southern Cassowary. The vegetation on Lot 242 White Beech Road is intact with no evidence of past clearing.  

The rainforest on this freehold property is of equal value to the adjoining Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area and must be protected. 

To fulfill our vision of the conservation of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest requires the buyback of all undeveloped freehold properties in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest and their management for nature conservation. Not only do we want to see no further development, but we also want the negative impacts of the rural residential subdivision to be reversed. We aim to purchase as many properties as we can and see them protected in the Daintree National Park estate, as this will provide the highest available level of protection. 

Please, will you help purchase and protect Lot 242 White Beech 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.

Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Rainforest / Steven Nowakowski

A subdivision was carved into the Daintree Lowland Rainforest in 1982. This created Lot 242 White Beech Road and hundreds of other rural residential lots in Cow Bay. The houses that have been built here fragment the rainforest and occupation brings domestic dogs and exotic plants. This has damaged one of the most significant areas of tropical rainforests in Australia.

The purchased properties will be managed by the Traditional Owners, the Eastern Kuku Yalanji as part of the Daintree National Park Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land (CYPAL) estate. This includes the Daintree National Park. The Queensland Government provides funding to the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation to co-manage the Daintree National Park. See more information and answers to frequently asked questions here.  

Please, will you help purchase and protect Lot 242 White Beech 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.

Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Rainforest

Please help us purchase Lot 242 White Beech Road in Cow Bay. You can donate now online and we also have a PayPal option. If you want to donate with a cheque/money order or through a direct deposit please see our Ways to Donate page. 

For the Daintree Rainforest,

Kelvin Davies

Founder

Rainforest 4 Foundation

P.S.If you have any questions about the purchase and protection of Lot 242 White Beech Road at Cow Bay, please see our frequently asked questions page or email me at [email protected] or call Kelvin Davies during business hours at 0437 423 119.

THANK YOU TO HALFCUT

This 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.

Thanks to HalfCut and their wonderful supporters. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON 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.

In 1982 the Queensland government approved an 1,137-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. 

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.

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.

Solution

We have identified this property at Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberley as a priority acquisition. 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, make your tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

We’ve provided answers to the most frequently asked questions on the purchase and protection of Lot 242 White Beech Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.  

Let’s save Lot 18 in the Daintree Rainforest on World Cassowary Day!

On the 26th of September - World Cassowary Day - all gifts will be matched to help us purchase and protect Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberley in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 176 Quandong Road (Lot 2 RP 738519)

Area: 1.17-hectares

Location: Forest Creek, Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland

Vegetation type: Regional Ecosystem 7.3.20e listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999.

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Noah's Walnut

Our ecologist surveyed Lot 176 Quandong Road and found remnant vegetation with little human interference. The property has 152 native species as well as an ecosystem with dominant Sclerophyll elements.

Lot 176 Quandong Road, Cow Bay

The vegetation on Lot 176 is experiencing change in the absence of fire. The canopy consists of Brown Salwood (Acacia celsa), Blue Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), Acacia polystachya, Red Mahogany (Eucalyptus pellita), Narrow leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus crebra) and Pink Bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia).

These trees are all estimated to be 80-100 years old indicating the last fire occurred at this time. The majority of the vegetation is significantly denser being a diverse rainforest understorey. Since fire is now seldom experienced in the Daintree lowlands it is assumed that this forest habitat will omit Sclerophyll species as time lengthens.

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.

The local endemic tree, Queensland Golden Showers (Cassia queenslandica) is seldomly encountered in this area. It was identified from one tree onsite which was fruiting at the time of this assessment.

This property provides important habitat for the Endangered Southern Cassowary with many species of plants producing fleshy fruits.  

Cassowary Plum (Cerbera floribunda), is one Endangered Southern Cassowary’s favourite foods. This tree species occurs in tropical rainforest in Far North Queensland and PNG and grows to about 30 metres. At the age of three years, it begins to produce large, smooth, and blue fruits. The Cassowary and the Cassowary plum have a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship. The plum provides food for the Cassowary and the Cassowary spreads the seeds of the tree throughout the rainforest.

The purchase of Lot 176 compliments the buyback of land in Cow Bay that has occurred over the past three decades. We purchased Lot 124 Quandong Road and six other Cow Bay properties in 2020 and 2021.

Cassowary and chick in the Daintree Rainforest

Lot 176 Quandong Road, Cow Bay

Large Fruited Red Mahogany (Eucalyptus pellita) 

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

Let’s save two more Daintree properties!

Today only - 31st of August - all gifts will be matched to help us purchase and protect two precious Daintree Rainforest properties.

PURCHASE OF LOT 110 PALM ROAD, DIWAN IN THE DAINTREE LOWLAND RAINFOREST

FUNDRAISING FOR THIS PROJECT WAS COMPLETED IN MID 2021.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Action: Purchase and protection of Lot 110 Fan Palm Road (Lot 110 RP 738992) 

Area: 8.098 hectares 

Location: Diwan, Daintree Lowland Rainforest, Queensland

Vegetation type: Fan Palm dominated tropical rainforest classified as Regional Ecosystem 7.3.4. 

Threatened Species: Southern Cassowary, Bennett’s Tree-Kangaroo, and seven species of plants

Zia with Fan Palms on Lot 110 Palm Road

The Fan Palms in the Daintree Rainforest are exceptionally beautiful and where they dominate, the rainforest is stunning. This is one of Australia’s most beautiful landscapes and thanks to the support of many generous donors Lot 110 Palm Road is now protected forever. 

Fan Palm dominated tropical rainforest is classified as Regional Ecosystem 7.3.4. The Queensland government indicates “very little of this habitat (RE 7.3.4) remains” with an estimated 3,000 hectares prior to clearing and 1,000 hectares remaining in 2019. This Fan Palm dominated vegetation type solely occurs between Cardwell and Cape Tribulation and what remains, less than half is within reserves.

Fan Palm dominated rainforest exemplifies the World Heritage criteria for listing which states, natural areas must

“contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance”.

Lot 110 Palm Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest

A subdivision was carved into the Daintree Lowland Rainforest in 1982. This created Palm Road and dozens of freehold properties. Then houses were built and occupied bringing domestic dogs and exotic plants. This has damaged one of the most significant remnants of Fan Palm dominated tropical rainforest. In 1988 the Daintree National Park was expanded and was included in the Wet Tropics Work Heritage Area. This should have seen Lot 110 Palm Road protected forever. However, two thirds of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest, the land between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation had been carved up for a rural residential subdivision in 1982 and was excluded from World Heritage listing. 

Lot 110 Palm Road is located in Diwan in the heart of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. The property has a boundary on three sides with the Daintree National Park estate. Buying land in this location helps us to reverse the impacts of the disastrous 1980’s rural residential subdivision. We are focusing our efforts at Diwan as scientists have identified this area as being the highest priority for conservation.

Fan Palm dominated rainforest on Lot 110 Palm Road

Fan Palm dominated rainforests provide habitat for a number of rare and threatened flora and fauna, including the Southern Cassowary and Bennett’s Tree Kangaroo. Cassowaries are frugivores and the fruits of tropical rainforest plants represent 98% of their diet (they also eat invertebrates and fungi). As Fan Palms produce fruits their fruits between January and March they are particularly important to Cassowaries as many other plants are not fruiting at that time. 

Fan Palm dominated tropical rainforest should be protected forever.

Before we made a commitment to purchasin Lot 110 Palm Road we thoroughly assessed its value to conservation. Consideration is given to biodiversity status (whether there is presence of endangered, threatened, or of concern vegetation), proximity to settled lots, canopy coverage, proximity to existing protected areas, and risk of future development. This assessment was undertaken by our conservation staff and specialist ecologist and botanist.

A vegetation survey by ecologist Kristopher Kupsch was undertaken of Lot 110 (RP 738992) Fan Palm Road, Diwan, on the 30th of April 2021.

The vegetation survey confirmed Lot 110 Palm Road as one of the most important locations for the conservation of Fan Palm dominated tropical rainforest. The importance of the property has also been confirmed by the presence of seven plants that are listed as Threatened species under conservation legislation and the existence of a number of regionally endemic species. Of particular importance was the occurrence of one of Australia’s rarest plants, Isachne sharpie (no common name), which is highly localised and Endangered. It was first identified in 2001 from specimens found less than 1km from Lot 110 and was only confirmed as a new species in 2010. 

Fan Palm dominated vegetation, only 1,000 hectares survive

The Fan Palm vegetation on Lot 110 Palm Road has rainforest tree species interspersed and often emerging above the Palms. The occasional tree species include, Northern Silky Oak (Cardwellia sublimis), Kuranda Quandong (Elaeocarpus bancroftii), Cassowary Plum (Cerbera floribunda), Golden Bouquet tree (Deplanchea tetraphylla). There are five species within the Pandanaceae (Pandanus family) within 3 genera and 8 species of Palms. The property has 199 species of native plant and this very high diversity of species and the presence of 7 plant species listed under conservation legislation highlights the importance of preserving Lot 110 Palm Road.

“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 centers 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”.

International Union for the Conservation of Nature. 

Fan Palm dominate rainforest with emergent Kuranda Quandong

Thank you to HalfCut

We partner with HalfCut. Thanks to Jimmy and Jess and all the HalfCut supporters for helping to purchase and protect Lot 110 Palm Road.

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. 

We’ve provided answers to the most frequently asked questions on the purchase and protection of Lot 2 Thornton Peak Drive in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.  

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