A survey of Lot 92 Cape Tribulation Road at Cow Bay has identified 188 species of native plant including 7 which are listed as threatened species.
Lot 92 Cape Tribulation Road at Cow Bay
Lot 92 Cape Tribulation Road is an 8.9 hectare freehold property located at Cow Bay in the Daintree Rainforest. The property is situated within the Hutchinson Creek catchment which drains north to the nearby Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef.
A vegetation survey undertaken on the 8th of August 2024 by botanist Kristopher Kupsch involved an exhaustive search for all flora species.
The number of threatened species found confirmed the property as being of high value to conservation and a priority for acquisition.
The 7 species of threatened plants were identified from a small number of individual specimens. The simple pauper orchid was found from one single plant. Gray’s walnut was found as a small number of seedlings, Noah's walnut from only a few juvenile plants and the climbing pandanus from one specimen climbing high on a tree.
Special property values
Lot 92 offers significant habitat linkage across the landscape between the coast and the mountains. The property forms a vital link of vegetated connectivity as it shares a boundary with Lot 93 Cape Tribulation Road, another 8.9 hectare property purchased for conservation in 2022. On two other boundaries it adjoins the Daintree National Park and World Heritage Area. Securing this property will provide a significant benefit to the endangered southern cassowary which has been observed at this location on many occasions.
Evidence of the southern cassowary was recorded by way of scats and seedlings of even aged cohorts germinating from previous scats was noted.
The purchase, protection and restoration of this unique Daintree property will be achieved at a cost of just $5 per sqm.
Please, make a tax-deductible donation now and help save this Daintree property from the threat of development.
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Lot 92 Cape Tribulation Road
Threatened plant species
The 7 plants listed as threatened species are:
Simple pauper orchid (Aphyllorchis anomala)
This leafless ground orchid was identified by 1 plant in the middle of Lot 92. It is only known from Rossville–Atherton and Conway and Finch Hatton in Far North Queensland.
Simple pauper orchid (Aphyllorchis anomala).
China camp laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis)
This tree has large fruits dispersed by the southern cassowary. The species has a very restricted distribution, being the area between the Bloomfield and Daintree River in lowland rainforest below 660m.
China Camp Laurel (Beilschmiedia castrisinensis).
Gray’s walnut (Endiandra grayi)
This tree is has large fruits dispersed by the Southern Cassowary. The species is restricted to the area between Cape Tribulation and the Daintree River at altitudes up to 40m. This tree was identified as a handful of seedlings.
Gray’s Walnut (Endiandra grayi).
Noah's walnut (Endiandra microneura)
This tree is has large yellow fruit that are dispersed by the southern cassowary. The species is restricted to the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation areas below 250m. A small number of juvenile specimens were noted across Lot 92.
Noah's Walnut (Endiandra microneura) is a threatened species.
Climbing pandanus (Freycinetia percostata)
This climbing monocot was observed climbing a high tree on Lot 92. The climbing pandanus restricted mainly to the Daintree Rainforest and again on Cape York at Iron Range and overseas in Papua New Guinea. This climbing grass-like plant possesses unique leaves that trap water and thus provide habitat for invertebrates and frogs.
Climbing Pandanus (Freycinetia percostata)
Iron malletwood (Rhodamnia sessiliflora)
This small understorey shrub is listed as Endangered under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. It is otherwise a common species within regrowth however is now susceptible to damage by the exotic fungus myrtle rust. Previous damage was noted on the species in the field.
Daintree myrtle (Rhodomyrtus effusa)
This small understorey shrub to 3m is listed as Endangered under the Nature Conservation Act 1992. It is common in central parts of Lot 92. The exotic fungus myrtle rust threatens the species survival with active rust and previous damage noted on many specimens however some fruit was observed.
The purchase, protection and restoration of this unique Daintree property will be achieved at a cost of just $5 per sqm.
Please, make a tax-deductible donation now and help save this Daintree property from the threat of development.
Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
Other significant plants
Daintree foambark (Jagera madida)
This small tree is restricted between the Bloomfield and Julatten areas. On Lot 92, a 6m high specimens were noted and several smaller seedlings were observed.
Cooper Creek haplostichanthus (Polyalthia xanthocarpa)
An understorey shrub restricted to the Mossman Gorge and Daintree River to Cape Tribulation.
Cooper Creek haplostichanthus (Polyalthia xanthocarpa)
Flowering fern (Helminthostachys zeylanica) was found on Lot 92 Cape Tribulation Road in Diwan. Not always visible, the fronds of this fern undergo an annual cycle of dying back, only to regenerate from an underground rhizome during the subsequent wet season.
Flowering fern (Helminthostachys zeylanica)
Daintree satinash (Syzygium monospermum)
The Daintree satinash is restricted to the lowland Daintree rainforests and was identified on Lot 92 as a mature fruiting tree, about 8m tall. The large fruits of this tree are borne off the leafless trunk and are favoured by the southern cassowary.
Daintree Satinash (Syzygium monospermum) occurs on Lot 92
Regional ecosystems
The vegetation on Lot 92 is mostly RE 7.3.4 Mesophyll vine forest with Licuala ramsayi on poorly drained alluvial plains and alluvial areas of uplands.
A small portion of the property is RE 7.3.10a Mesophyll vine forest including: moderately to poorly-drained alluvial plains, of moderate fertility; lowlands of the very wet and wet zone.
In the far northwest corner, in wetter soil, are elements of RE 7.3.10c Mesophyll vine forest with scattered Archontophoenix alexandrae (feather palm) in the sub-canopy and seasonally inundated lowland alluvial plains.
The purchase, protection and restoration of this unique Daintree property will be achieved at a cost of just $5 per sqm.
Please, make a tax-deductible donation now and help save this Daintree property from the threat of development.
Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
Restoration work
Significant disturbance occurred in the past through clearing for agriculture, however, over the past 40 or more years, through the process of natural regeneration, all of the property is now covered by rainforests. There are 18 species of exotic plants on Lot 92 Cape Tribulation Road.
Lantana (Lantana camara) is present within regrowth and is listed as a Class 3 weed under the Biosecurity Act 2014 and a Weed of National Significance (WONS). Pond apple (Annona glabra) is quite common in the regrowth and is listed as a Class 3 weed under the Biosecurity Act 2014 and a Weed of National Significance (WONS). Singapore daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata) is present along the roadway and is listed as a Class 3 weed under the Biosecurity Act 2014. African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is present on the site, as are a small number of garden weeds including rose apple (Syzygium jambos), shoebutton ardisia (Ardisia elliptica) and Heliconia psittacorum.
These plants will be removed once we have purchased the property.
The practice of assisted natural regeneration is highly likely to be an important strategy in rehabilitating the areas of Lot 92 where damage has occurred in the past. The focus will be on edge regions in a damaged state, and the removal of shade tolerant environmental weeds.
The purchase, protection and restoration of this unique Daintree property will be achieved at a cost of just $5 per sqm.
Please, make a tax-deductible donation now and help save this Daintree property from the threat of development.
Prefer to use PayPal? Please donate here.
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. The listing was effective as of Friday November 26, 2021 and includes the Wet Tropics of North Queensland, 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. The freehold properties in the Daintree lowland remain at risk from rural residential development.
The purchase, protection and restoration of this unique Daintree property will be achieved at a cost of just $5 per sqm.
Please, make a tax-deductible donation now and help save this Daintree property from the threat of development.
