Community
6 October, 2024
Vital rainforest protection
Rainforest Rescue is a not-for-profit organisation that has been protecting and restoring rainforests since 1999.
They do this by buying properties of high conservation value and protecting their biodiversity. They also restore rainforest through planting, maintenance and weed removal.
With a goal to protect rainforests forever, their purpose is to restore damaged and fragmented habitat through reforestation, conserve the biodiversity and cultural heritage of rainforest and learn from the forest, sharing and raising awareness.
Rainforest Rescue’s headquarters is actually in Byron Bay, with various projects occurring around the country.
They do, however, have their on-the-ground conservation and restoration work taking place in the Daintree. This is where their land management team, nursery team, and ecological advisors are based.
Rare and endangered species, like the southern cassowary, the spectacled flying-fox, Bennett’s tree kangaroo and many others, are found in the Daintree lowlands, amidst ancient and primitive flowering plants.
Buying rainforest that was excluded from the Upper Daintree National Park and World Heritage area extends priceless habitat, providing safe haven and nourishment while significantly building on existing Rainforest Rescue protected areas. These rescues are of vital importance and protect critical habitat.
Conservation work in the Daintree supports this ancient forest ecosystem that has been evolving longer than any other in the world, by tens of millions of years, and is Australia’s largest and most biodiverse.
With the help of ‘rainforest rescuers’, the organisation has rescued 44 Daintree rainforest properties, significantly protecting pristine habitat for nature and achieving a strong win for biodiversity.
Rainforest Rescue staff collect, propagate and grow all the rainforest trees for their Daintree lowland revegetation ‘Plant a Rainforest’ projects.
Seeds are ethically collected from the Daintree lowland rainforest between the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation and the trees are replanted in the same area.
The original nursery facility at Diwan, propagated around 12,000 trees a year.
In November 2023, Rainforest Rescue gifted the original nursery to eastern Kuku Yalanji Traditional Owners organisation, Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, in support of their propagation and restoration goals to heal country.
Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation’s forest rangers, using the native flora, will continue to restore lowland rainforest at Wawu Dimbi.
This is an important conservation property near Forest Creek, on the edge of the Daintree River, forming a connection between World Heritage protected habitat and wetlands of ecological significance. Hundreds of rainforest plants have already been planted at Wawu Dimbi during a recent community tree planting.
In 2015 Rainforest Rescue was approached by land-owner Annie Shoenberger, owner and founder of NightWings Rainforest Centre and devoted bat carer, to transform 15ha of old sugarcane fields into thriving Daintree lowland rainforest.
In 2016, with the help of many individuals, organisations and businesses, they held the first of many planting days at NightWings. They also revived a wetland area to draw in the wildlife.
Since then, tens of thousands of trees have been planted at NightWings by rainforest rescuers – both staff and volunteers – to repair this damaged land.
Today, those seedlings, some of which are now mature trees, are growing and calling this land home. By the project’s end, these trees will be flourishing between the lowland Daintree to the upland rainforest and beyond to the coast.
The current nursery facility, located at the old Cow Bay airstrip, is the Daintree’s largest native nursery.
At full operation, it will enable them to produce 150,000 trees per year, which is enough trees to replant almost 25ha of rainforest habitat every year.
One great example of a local rainforest rescuer is Tyler Smith.
Since 2015 Tyler, now 13, has been actively involved in the mission to protect rainforests forever, regularly attending tree planting days with his family, as well as participating in his local community in many other ways.
Tyler has been awarded the community involvement scholarship for his tireless effort and commitment to his and the wider community.
I’m off to discover some more of the beautiful Daintree Rainforest, so for now it’s Gazza signing out.
Send your stories to gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au
