Three high conservation-value rainforest properties listed for sale on the open market, one goal to buy them all for conservation by June 30 - can it be done? With your help, we know it can!
| The countdown is on! Until the end of financial year. |
We're already part of the way there, with the future of Lot 232 White Beech Road and Lot 204 Cedar Road's rainforest now secured, your end-of-financial year gift could be the one that gets the next property over the line. Every donation counts.
Why is buyback needed?
The Daintree Lowland Rainforest is the oldest rainforest on Earth, having existed continuously 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.
In 1982, the Queensland Government approved a rural residential subdivision of 1,136 properties in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. As a result, two-thirds of the lowland rainforest (between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation) was excluded from protection in the Daintree National Park and Wet Tropics World Heritage Area that was declared in 1988.
With your help, Save the Daintree purchases land in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest to ensure it's protected forever - every Daintree rainforest property we purchase for conservation sparks the process for it to be considered for protection under Queensland legislation. This includes the potential for it to be included in the Daintree National Park.
Through land buyback, we’re turning the tide towards conservation in the Daintree Rainforest and protecting the biodiversity of this incredible ecosystem.
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About the properties
Development of housing continues because freehold land exists. It won't stop until all at-risk properties have been purchased for conservation or lost to development.
We've signed contracts and paid deposits on 3 Daintree Rainforest properties - but to secure these properties for conservation, we need to raise the remaining funds.
If we don't, there is no guarantee they won't be bought by people who intend to develop the land for housing, now or into the future. We've got to do more to Save the Daintree.
Lot 232 White Beech Road PROTECTED FOREVER!
Location: Cow Bay, Queensland
Vegetation type: Regional Ecosystem 7.11.5c
Threatened species: Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), Daintree Gardenia (Randia audasii)
Endangered Ecological Community: Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community is listed as endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
The purchase of Lot 232 White Beech Road will ensure the appropriate management of the endemic and threatened species of plants and animals found here, including ecologically significant plants like the Daintree gardenia and the Daintree foambark.
Both tree species are endemic to the Daintree and limited in their distribution, found only within a relatively small area of Far North Queensland. The Daintree gardenia, which produces white perfumed flowers and ripe orange fruit, is also listed as Near Threatened under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992. The vegetation of Lot 232 has also been mapped as essential habitat for the endangered southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii).
Lot 70 Forest Creek Road
Action: Purchase of Lot 70 Forest Creek Road (RP733653)
Location: Forest Creek, Queensland, Australia
Size: 2.07 hectares
Vegetation type: (1) Regional Ecosystem 7.11.1a Mesophyll vine forest.(2) Regional Ecosystem 7.3.10c: Mesophyll vine forest. Seasonally inundated lowland alluvial plains. Palustrine. Listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999.
Threatened Species: Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii), China camp laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis), climbing pandan (Freycinetia percostata), Noah's walnut (Endiandra microneura)
Endangered Ecological Community: Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics ecological community is listed as endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Old growth tropical rainforest on Lot 70 Forest Creek Road contains enormous melaleucas (paperbark trees) and beautiful fan palms, providing habitat for the endangered southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii) and 3 threatened species of plants, the China camp laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis),climbing pandan (Freycinetia percostata), and Noah's walnut (Endiandra microneura).
Lot 70 Forest Creek Road is zoned by the Douglas Shire Council for development, which means all that’s required for clearing and construction to commence is an approved development application.
Lot 204 Cedar Road
Location: Cow Bay, Queensland
Vegetation type: Regional Ecosystem 7.3.20e listed as “Of Concern” under the Vegetation Management Act 1999.
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)
Lot 204 Cedar Road is currently a mixed bag - mostly rainforest, with a section cleared by a previous owner. The rainforest vegetation that remains on the block is crucial for protecting the biodiversity of flora and fauna in the region, and provides habitat and food sources for endangered southern cassowaries, which are often seen crossing Cedar Road.
As well as protecting the rainforest on Lot 204, its purchase will reduce rainforest fragmentation and ensure connectivity across the landscape.
Together, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary outcomes.
For 4 years now, incredible people just like you have been supporting the purchase and protection of Daintree Rainforest, saving 30 high conservation value rainforest blocks. That's an astonishing 737,486 square metres of vital habitat for iconic and threatened species, including the endangered southern cassowary, protected forever.
In stopping development in the Daintree, land buyback is the only thing that works.
Please, act now to help secure the purchase and protection of 3 Daintree Lowland Rainforest properties this EOFY.