When most people think about rainforests and climate change, they picture the Amazon, vast fires and large-scale clearing. But in places like the Daintree, it’s often much smaller losses that quietly cause the greatest damage.
New research shows that local rainforest destruction has a globally significant climate impact. A major study published in Nature found that forest clearances smaller than two hectares account for around 56% of tropical rainforest carbon losses over the past 30 years, despite representing only a small fraction of total deforestation (Xu, Y., Ciais, P., Santoro, M. et al.).
These small-scale clearings, often dismissed as "minor," are "responsible for most of the carbon losses observed over the past 30 years," according to scientist and researcher Philippe Ciais.
When rainforest is cleared, carbon stored in trees and soil is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, weakening one of nature’s most powerful climate defences, and the rainforest’s ability to act as a carbon sink.
This is why protecting intact rainforest in the Daintree matters far beyond its borders.
The ancient Daintree Rainforest. Image: Steven Nowakowski Panoscapes
The Daintree’s global role in stabilising the climate
The Daintree Rainforest, the world's oldest continuously existing rainforest, is more than a local ecological treasure. Its rich diversity of plant life stores immense amounts of carbon in biomass and soils. Every tree, vine, and fern contributes to a living network that draws carbon from the atmosphere, locking it away in wood and leaf litter. That makes the Daintree an active participant in regulating the global climate.
The scientific findings from the Nature article reinforce something we have always known:
- Protecting every hectare of rainforest matters, large and small
- Preventing small, gradual clearing is just as crucial as stopping large-scale deforestation
- Local protection efforts have global climate connections
A wake-up call
These insights arrive at a key moment. Around the world, including in Australia, rainforests are facing compounding pressures. Australia’s tropical forests are now experiencing higher tree mortality and, in some regions, have transitioned towards net carbon emissions rather than acting as sinks. Climate change is stressing ecosystems, threatening their ability to absorb carbon and sustain vital biodiversity.
Lot 2, a freehold property in the Daintree, which we are fundraising for, to protect it from development.
In this context, every patch of intact rainforest becomes critically important, including the Daintree. Not only does the forest store carbon, but it also supports rare and threatened species, holds profound spiritual, cultural and physical significance as a source of food, medicine and identity for Traditional Owners, and fuels healthy ecosystems that benefit us all for generations to come.
What this means for our work
Our conservation mission is not just about protecting a rainforest in Far North Queensland. It’s about protecting a vital piece of Earth’s climate system.
Together, we can ensure that rainforests like the Daintree continue to thrive along with the wildlife they shelter. We must use rainforest conservation as a nature-based solution to the climate crisis.