Protect 100 acres of vital Australian rainforest

Hello friends,

My name is Paul Medici and I am the Assistant Project Leader for Protect Vital Rainforest in Australia for Climate. I am also the Manager of American Operations for the Australian Rainforest Foundation and I just returned home from a three week working trip to Australia. Accompanying me on this trip was Nicole LaGreco, Supervisor of the Avian Propagation Center and North American Cassowary Studbook Keeper from the San Diego Zoo. The San Diego Zoo has been a big supporter of our GlobalGiving project and the Australian Rainforest Foundation and like of all you, their donations (as well as working with some of their excellent bird department staff) have made all the difference. Without all of you, our rehabilitation efforts and recovery work with endangered species would be severely weakened.

The focus of this field report this month is on maintaining rehabilitation sites in the tropical rainforests of Northern Queensland, Australia. This time of year is known as the dry season, but this season has been exceptionally dry. There have only been two recorded rains in the past 7-8 weeks and as you might expect, this poses many problems for the rainforest and its wildlife, especially in areas where young trees are concerned. Larger rainforest trees have deeper roots that can reach lower levels of water in the ground, but the thousands of trees we have planted throughout the year (thanks to our donors) need major site maintenance work in order to keep the trees alive until the rains come.

All of the enclosed pictures today highlight the severe lack of rain in the rainforest. Our Conservation Officer, Adrian (Golly) Watson, is in charge of maintaining these rehabilitation areas for the Foundation. Instead of digging holes, planting new trees with ARF volunteers and mapping new revegetation corridors to link to the pristine old-growth rainforest on the other side of this ARF rainforest reserve, Golly has been busy setting up pumps at the river and watering our rehabilitation sites just like we would water our tomato plants back home in the hot August sun. So Mother Nature sometimes presents us with unwelcome challenges, but Golly is a good mate and he is always there to tackle the challenges, whether on his own or with ARF staff and/or volunteers by his side.

I had a great time visiting our GlobalGiving project site again this year and I have seen firsthand all the work that needs to be done. Our nursery is getting stocked up and we will have more trees to plant once the weather cooperates. There is a lot more work that needs to be done and we would like to plant between 35,000-50,000 trees within the next 12 months. Protecting the pristine old-growth rainforest and bolstering key wildlife habitats and mega-biodiversity is the key and this means pushing ahead with our rehabilitation and recovery work. This work doesn’t come cheap though and we would greatly appreciate donations of any size to help us further our mission. Thank you very much for your support and we look forward to updating you again soon.

Cheers,

Paul Medici ARF

• Golly and Jacinta of the ARF and Nicole of the SD Zoo in red
• Dry ground
• Old-growth rainforest in the backdrop