By Paul Medici | Manager, American Operations
Dear Donors,
Cyclone Yasi Update--3/2/2011 at 14:30 hours.
Cyclone Yasi has devastated the coastal area between Innisfail, Mission Beach and Tully. This is prime rainforest habitat (called the Cassowary Coast) for the endangered Southern Cassowary, the 'Gardener of the Rainforest' in Tropical North Queensland. Not a tree standing in downtown Mission Beach. 90% of banana production destroyed. The World Heritage Listed Daintree rainforest wasn't hit as hard. This is prime cassowary habitat as well, along with rare and endangered flora and fauna, tree kangaroos, wallaby, cockatoos, etc...
ARF has a rainforest block (145 acres) in the worst hit area--Mission Beach. As of tonight, no word on condition of rainforest which was 90% old-growth rainforest. I will update this project again tomorrow night. Please know--this is shaping up to be a wildlife and habitat tragedy in this part of the region. The only good news (possibly) is that the World Heritage Listed Daintree rainforest might have been spared a real heartbreaking loss. We'll know more about this tomorrow. But World Heritage Listed rainforest and its wildlife south of Cairns is in real serious trouble. We have a lot of work to do! Please donate if you can and please ask a friend. Updates on First Response/Disaster Recovery operations will be forthcoming.
Thank You!
Paul Medici
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