What would you call a 'tree with no name'? We've found Cyclophyllum costatum on Lot 26 Ronald Road at Forest Creek. The thing is, this small tree is yet to be given a common name.

Cyclophyllum costatum - Image: Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants 

This cryptic plant grows from 4 to 10 metres high and is found in rainforests along creeks and rivers. It's rarely encountered by anyone other than botanists and they stick with scientific nomenclature (the system for devising and choosing names). 

Cyclophyllum costatum is listed as Vulnerable to extinction by both the Queensland and Australian governments. 

Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest.

It's the first time we've found Cyclophyllum costatum in any of our vegetation surveys in the Daintree lowlands. That's not surprising as this species has a limited distribution and is known from limited locations northwest of Mossman to the Daintree River, then inland to Mt Windsor and northwest of Cooktown in northeast Queensland.

It's just one of the reasons Lot 26 Ronald Road deserves the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. 

Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

Lot 26 Ronald Road at Forest Creek

The vegetation survey by our ecologist and botanist Kristopher Kupsch was undertaken on the 23rd and 24th of April. He identified a total of 188 native plant species. You can read a summary of the Lot 26 Roanld Road survey here. 

This included 5 species listed as Threatened by the Queensland and Australian governments. 

3 are listed as Vulnerable:

• The 'tree with no name' (Cyclophyllum costatum) 
• Gray’s Walnut (Endiandra grayi)
• Climbing Pandan (Freycinetia percostata)
  

2 are listed as Near-threatened: 

• The China Camp Laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis) 
• Noah's Walnut (Endiandra microneura)

It's not every day you can save a Threatened species. By helping purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road you will help save 5 Threatened species of plants. 

Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

Cassowary in the Daintree Rainforest 

By helping purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road you can also help save the habitat for Cassowaries and the Bennett's Tree-kangaroos. 

The Regional Ecosystem found on the 2.093-hectare property is Mesophyll Vine Forest (tropical rainforest) which is also classed as an "essential habitat" for the Endangered Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii). Cassowaries have been regularly sighted on freehold land in Forest Creek and in the adjoining Daintree National Park.

Recently, the rare and Near-threatened Bennett`s Tree-kangaroo was sighted nearby.

With development continuing in the Daintree Rainforest, there's an urgent need to buy back at-risk land. 

Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

Owners of freehold land like this have a legal right to clear rainforest and build houses (subject to approval by Douglas Shire Council). 

Plans have already been approved for the development of Lot 26 Ronald Road at Forest Creek and last year clearing occurred to create a driveway and house site.

The plans of the owner have since changed and they decided to sell. There is only one way to stop the development from continuing - buyback. 

We have exchanged a contract for the purchase of this freehold property, and the owners have agreed to delay settlement until July. 

Now we need to raise $209,290 to purchase and protect Lot 26 Ronald Road by June 30. 

If we can't achieve that, this 2.093-hectare block will be lost to development. There's no plan B.

Please, make a tax-deductible donation now to help purchase and protect Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest.

Clearing has occurred in preparation for development

BACKGROUND 

Many people believe the Daintree Rainforest is fully protected however that's not the case. In 1982, a developer created 1,136 freehold properties that were excluded from inclusion in the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area when it was declared in 1988. Over time these properties are being developed for housing. Lot 26 Ronald Road is one of these properties.

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. With almost 200 undeveloped properties remaining in private ownership, the future of the Daintree is yet to be determined. That means it's not too late to wind back the disastrous subdivision and save the Daintree Rainforest. 

View over Lot 26 towards the Daintree River

It's not every day you can save a Threatened species. By helping purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road you can help save 5 Threatened plants as well as the habitat for Cassowaries and the Beneett's Tree-kangaroos. 

The rainforest on Lot 26 Ronald Road deserves the same level of protection as the nearby Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. 

Please, donate now and help purchase Lot 26 Ronald Road in the Daintree Rainforest and protect it from the threat of development. Your donation will help purchase and protect essential Cassowary habitat. Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.

Thanks for everything you do to help Save the Daintree Rainforest.