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.

Rainforest 4 has joined the HalfCut campaign this year to #SaveTheDaintree - Join our HalfCut team.

In 2015 a unique partnership was created with co-founders James Stanton-Cooke (AKA Jimmy HalfCut) and Jessica Clarke from HalfCut with Rainforest 4 Foundation founder Kelvin Davies to raise money to support rainforest buyback. Jimmy and Jess volunteered for local and global programs for various NFP's with incredible success and the HalfCut movement continues to grow, starting conversations about conservation with tangible outcomes. Sign up for the HalfCut 2022 campaign and join the Rainforest 4 team here.

Ecologist and botanist Kristopher Kupsch has encountered what is thought to be a new species of Gardenia in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

A species of Dysoxylum only seen once in the Daintree has likely been destroyed by development.

Three non-profit organisations met in the Daintree Rainforest on Wednesday 27th of April to handover ten properties to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people for conservation.

Our survey of Lot 373 Hickory Road at Cow Bay identified 210 native plant species. This included four species listed as Threatened and our first time finding the Fragrant Boxwood. 

500,000 sqm of the Daintree Rainforest has been purchased for conservation! 

The high biodiversity and threatened plants on Lot 93 Cape Tribulation Road at Diwan have identified this property as a priority for acquisition. Our vegetation survey identified an amazing 258 species of native plants, including 5 that are listed as threatened species and 4 more that are endemic to the Daintree Rainforest. 

An aquatic ecology survey of Hutchinson Creek in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest has identified the presence of the critically endangered Daintree Rainbowfish. 

Another great outcome for the protection of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest has been achieved with the purchase of Lot 18 Daley Close at Kimberley.