Purchase and Protect Forever Endangered Rainforest

Since our last update the team up in the Daintree supported local volunteers and community groups have been focusing on planting the new Nightwings rainforest wildlife reserve. This exciting project is taking land which has been farmed as sugar cane plantation for the past 50 years and replanting back to rainforest. The reforested area will re-connect the upland rainforest with the coast, creating a corridor for wildlife.

We’ve already removed the sugar cane and planted around 6,000 trees on the property. Local elders have been advising the project, describing the features of the area from ponds and creeks to types of trees that used to be there before the sugar cane. The land owners are using this knowledge to re-create the landscape.

The weather has been extraordinary difficult as Land Manager, Joe explains.

“It rained over Christmas most of the time causing minor flooding while some days had more than 8 inches of rain… then early January we had extremely hot weather, we recorded 100 Fahrenheit inside our house last week. This was not very comfortable to work in let alone for the poor trees left standing in an open field.”

However, Joe and the team are resilient and have been starting early very early in the mornings to dig and plant before it gets too hot. The project may be challenging but the rewards are worth it.

Our Daintree Native Plant Nursery has also been busy suppling all the trees needed for the project, supported by a group of committed volunteers from the local community.

Research undertaken by supporter and previous Rainforest Rescue employee, Wren McLean, has identified the main species of fruit and seeds in the Southern Cassowary’s diet. Luckily we’re already growing the key species at the nursery and it’s great to know that we’re not only planting rainforest but also growing future food supply for this amazing endangered species.

Your support in helping us protect this very special place is genuinely appreciated by myself and the rest of the team at Rainforest Rescue. With your help we can rescue, restore and conserve this exceptional piece of rainforest for future generations.

Thank you for helping us Protect Rainforest Forever.

Links:

• Latest Rainforest Rescue news on Twitter
• Nightwings project on Facebook

Today we have an update for you on the trees recently planted at our current restoration site located at Lot 96 in Cape Tribulation, Daintree. You may remember from our last update in August, we passed on the happy news that this important rainforest habitat corridor was now fully planted-out with budding new tree seedlings and that this stage of this restoration project was now complete. This milestone could only have been achieved with your support! Thank you.

Our Daintree Land Manager, Joe Reichl, reports that while October is usually the dry season in the Wet Tropics of Australia, light rains falling throughout the month have surprised many who originally forecast a ‘20% more dry than average month’. While this is great news for the tree seedlings that were planted out, it does also mean that it’s easy for any weeds to bounce back to life too. Weed control on and around restoration sites are an essential activity at this time, as it’s best to halt their spread before they can flower and then seed.

“This rain has been enough to set weeds off, but (not too) badly. We have some of the last month doing weed control and maintenance on the plantings.” Joe says. “In most cases (the rain) was not enough to not need to water trees at the nursery, however we do appreciate what is given.”

At Rainforest Rescue’s Daintree Native Plant Nursery, Joe reports that the tree seedlings maturing in the outdoor ‘hardening area’ did well from the consistent October rains.

“We have spent the last few months doing nursery work and weed control – the usual maintenance factors which we try to get on top of before the planting season begins. This method allows us to start (our next) plantings and not worry about maintenance for at least three months when it is hot.”

As per normal at this time of year when it is usually drier, as a priority for our Daintree Native Nursery operations, we undertake endemic native seed collection. This is because most seeds in this area of the Daintree rainforest are produced from around August to January. This is one of the most important activities for our team in the Daintree, as it helps guarantee the coming years’ season of seedling propagation for our ongoing restoration projects. These seedlings go on to become some of the more than 20,000 seedlings propagated annually at Rainforest Rescue’s Native Daintree Nursery!

Again, from all the team at Rainforest Rescue, we send our sincere thanks to you today for your ongoing care and concern – we can only carry out this vital work with your continued support. By adopting rainforest in the Daintree, you are helping to protect this very special, vulnerable area of tropical rainforest forever. Thank you!

Links:

• The need to protect The Daintree in the Wet Tropics of Australia