About Save the Daintree

Save the Daintree Rainforest is a program of Gondwana Rainforest Trust, a registered Australian nonprofit organisation.

The Daintree Rainforest is an iconic ecosystem located in Far North Queensland beloved by Australians and people around the world.

The Save the Daintree Rainforest program aims to protect and restore the Daintree Rainforest though.

Buyback of freehold land

We purchase land of high conservation value in the Daintree Rainforest. The properties acquired by the program are assessed by our ecologists and all of the properties have been found to have threatened species for flora and fauna.

Development for housing in the Daintree Rainforest has resulted in clearing, fragmentation and degradation of the world's oldest rainforest and settlement often brings exotic plants that become environmental weeds and domestic dogs that attack wildlife.

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 by scientists over several decades and show the significant detrimental effects on biodiversity.

Protection

The Daintree Rainforest deserves the highest level of protection, however, the declaration of the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area in 1988 excluded two-thirds of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest because it was freehold land.

To resolve that concern once the properties are acquired they are placed on a Pathway to Protection. That allows for them to be proposed for inclusion in the Daintree National Park (CYPAL) and protected under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA). The Pathway to Protection has been made possible through an agreement between Gondwana Rainforest Trust, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, the Queensland Government and the Wet Tropics Management Authority.

Restoration

A subdivision of land in the Daintree lowlands back in the 1980s created 1,136 freehold properties and 50 km of roads. While many properties have been settled others have been abandoned leaving behind clearings, building materials, dumped vehicles, and environmental weeds. On the properties we purchase these problems are addressed directly. To do this work we employ local contractors and also engage the Jabalbina Rangers from the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.

Management

The Eastern Kuku Yalanji people are the owners of the Daintree National Park (CYPAL) which is co-managed by the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation (representing the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people) and the Queensland National Parks Service. Properties included in the Daintree National Park (CYPAL) are then managed by the Jabalbina Rangers. This includes control of exotic animals including feral pigs.

Community

On properties in private ownerships we assist landowners to manage their land for conservation providing assistance in the form of grants for surveys by ecologists, revegetation and environmental weed control.

We develop and maintain relationships with regional stakeholders including, including.

Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation
Local community and nonprofit organisations
Douglas Shire Council (local government)
Queensland Government (state government)
Australian Government
Wet Tropics Management Authority
Terrain NRM
Tourism Port Douglas Daintree
Tourism Tropical North Queensland

Endangered Ecological Community

The Daintree Lowland Rainforest itself has now been identified as part of an Endangered Ecological Community. In November 2021, the Australian Government listed the lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community in the Endangered Category under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This area extends from near Ingham (just south of the Cardwell Range) in the south to north around Cape Tribulation. While now listed as endangered, the Daintree Lowland Rainforest is still not fully protected. Freehold properties in the Daintree lowland remain at risk from rural residential development.

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 150 undeveloped freehold properties remaining the future of the Daintree is yet to be determined. We're working to buy back these properties and protect them for conservation, to save the Daintree Rainforest.

Australian Charity Registration

Save the Daintree Rainforest is a program of Gondwana Rainforest Trust (ABN 49 628 358 323), a non-profit organisation. We are registered with the Australian Government as a Company Limited by Guarantee and with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission.

Contributing to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

About Save the Daintree