Together with their supporters, Rainforest Rescue successfully adds Critically Endangered habitat to its protection portfolio.
In what is being heralded as a ‘real win for the environment’, a parcel of valuable habitat in the Daintree Rainforest has been protected from future development.
Lot 1 Cape Tribulation Road contains two regionally endangered ecosystems, both Critically Endangered Littoral (coastal) Rainforest and Endangered Wet Tropics Lowland Rainforest and has been purchased by Rainforest Rescue through support by some of the NFP’s biggest funders: BioPak, North Queensland Wildlife Trust and many individual and business supporters.
This land almost had a different fate, but the original purchaser’s finance fell through, providing a rare ‘second chance’ for the 10-hectare property to be left in its natural state as a richly biodiverse piece of the world’s oldest rainforest. It provides invaluable refugia and foraging grounds for the rare and threatened species of the Daintree, like the Southern Cassowary and Bennett’s Tree-Kangaroo, the latter is found nowhere else on Earth.
Now the 45th property to be protected by Rainforest Rescue, the Cape Tribulation habitat holds a special significance, as Rainforest Rescue’s CEO, Branden Barber, explains:
“Less than a quarter of the terrestrial surface of our planet is still wild. It’s estimated that we’ve lost 10% of the planet’s remaining wild places to ‘development’—for housing, agriculture, extraction and industry—in just the last decade.
Coastal rainforest is such a unique habitat because of its connection to the reef, together these ecosystems support each other; sadly, their imbalance is evidence of a changing climate that we must do everything to mitigate the effects of.
Thanks to the kindness of BioPak and our incredible supporters, Lot 1 Cape Tribulation Road in the Daintree is now protected by Rainforest Rescue. This is a real win for the environment and a win for the battle against climate change. Every step we take, no matter how modest or how insignificant it may seem, is a step for preserving what is valuable to all of us; nature.”
Dr Dean Miller, co-founder of Great Barrier Reef Legacy, a long-term conservation partner of Rainforest Rescue, concurs:
“The connection between rainforest and reef has never been more apparent or crucial as they rely on each other for their very survival.
Healthy coral reefs provide the molecules that create cloud formation which drive weather patterns and induce rainfall that rainforests depend on. While rainforests act as the kidneys of the land to hold fast the soil and ensure water draining off these magnificent places is clear and nutrient poor, so corals don’t suffocate.
It’s a fine balance that has been going on for millennia, but things are rapidly and profoundly changing. Coral bleaching and drying of the rainforest is happening.”
Rainforest Rescue’s longer-term plan is to create connected corridors to the nearby National Park/UNESCO Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and encourage wildlife to thrive. Although the Daintree isn’t being logged and cleared wholesale like other parts of Queensland, Tasmania and New South Wales, it still suffers from development and increased human activities.
Rainforests play a vital role in maintaining the health of our planet. They store carbon dioxide and help mitigate climate change, regulate local and regional climate patterns, and support essential ecosystem services like water purification, flood control, and pollination.
In not disturbing this protected rainforest, the carbon is kept in the soil, thereby minimising any further carbon release that contributes towards CO2 levels. An estimated 876 tonnes of carbon remain secured in standing trees, soil and vegetation debris in this habitat alone.
Recent cyclonic activity in the region highlights the need for retaining the integrity of the land to minimise flood events and slow down the movement of water through the landscape, reducing the soil runoff load that affects the reef systems.
For Rainforest Rescue, protecting rainforest habitat through partnerships like that with BioPak and North Queensland Wildlife Trust are a step towards healing our planet and safeguarding the future of a biodiverse environment.
Planet First Partnership: BioPak and Rainforest Rescue
One of Rainforest Rescue’s largest business supporters, Diamond Tiered Partner BioPak, has for over a decade been committed to protecting and restoring Daintree lowland rainforest.
In that time, BioPak has contributed towards rescuing nearly 80,000 square metres of unprotected at-risk rainforest and planting or rescuing over 90,000 rainforest trees.
As a B Corp and donating 1% profits to Rainforest Rescue, BioPak is fully committed to re-shaping and ‘shaking up’ the sustainable packaging industry by putting the planet FIRST.
Because of this, BioPak has helped enable Rainforest Rescue to give Lot 1 a second chance as a wild place.
Other Business Partners who contributed to protecting this precious habitat include:
- 9 Degrees
- 30Acres
- The Giving Block (Chimpzee)
- Smitten Merino
- The Travel Corporation (TTC)
- Goodtel Communications
- RANT Clothing
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