Daintree Rainforest

The Daintree Rainforest, also known as the Daintree, is a region on the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, about 105 km (65 mi) by road north of Cairns. Whilst the terms "Daintree Rainforest" and "the Daintree" are not officially defined, it is generally accepted that they refer to the area from the Daintree River north to Cooktown, and from the coastline west to the Great Dividing Range. The popular tourist destination of Mossman Gorge, some 30 km (19 mi) south of the Daintree River, is often (and again unofficially) included in the definition. At around 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq mi),[1] the Daintree is a part of the largest contiguous area of tropical rainforest in Australia, known as the Wet Tropics of Queensland. The region, along with a small number of other rainforest areas on the east coast of Australia, collectively form the oldest continually surviving rainforest communities in the world.

Daintree Rainforest - Trees + Waterway

In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Daintree Rainforest was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "natural attraction".[2]

History and description

About Daintree Rainforest
Daintree Rainforest - Trees

The Daintree Rainforest is a remnant of what was once a vast forest that covered the entire Australian continent. It is a rare survivor of 120 million years of altered climatic conditions resulting from continental drift, which has reduced the extent of the original forest to a few restricted areas on the east coast.

The rainforest is named after the Daintree River, which in turn was named in honour of Richard Daintree, an Australian geologist and photographer (1832–1878).

The area includes the Daintree National Park, some areas of State Forest, and some privately owned land, including a residential community. Some of the privately owned land north of the Peninsula Range is being progressively purchased for conservation purposes under a $15 million government scheme involving equal contributions from the municipal (Cairns Regional Council), which includes the former Douglas Shire council), State (Queensland) and Australian Federal governments. As of May 2011, 72% of the properties earmarked for buyback or compensation had been secured. These 'buyback' areas of tropical rainforest included 215 blocks of land purchased by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, and 13 purchased by private conservation agencies.[3][4]

The Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of the frog, reptile and marsupial species in Australia, and 90% of Australia's bat and butterfly species. 7% of bird species in the country can be found in this area. There are also over 12,000 species of insects in the rainforest. All of this diversity is contained within an area that takes up 0.12% of the landmass of Australia.[5] Part of the forest is protected by the Daintree National Park and drained by the Daintree River. The roads north of the river wind through areas of lush forest, and have been designed to minimize impacts on this ancient ecosystem.

On 29 September 2021, the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people won formal ownership of 160,213 hectares of country stretching from Mossman to Cooktown, including the Daintree National Park after a historic deal was made between the traditional custodians and the Queensland Government.[6][7]

Exploring
Camping at Daintree National Park 2009

The Daintree region combines tropical rainforest, white sandy beaches, and fringing reefs just offshore, which is a rare combination. Due to the distance between attractions, driving is often the simplest way to navigate between them. The Daintree National Park boasts many walking tracks[8] and there are a number of accommodation options within the Daintree Rainforest itself.

To the west of Cape Tribulation stands Mt Pieter Botte with its massive granite outcrops. The summit provides expansive vistas of undisturbed forest and to the south, the skyline is dominated by the giant granite boulders of Thornton Peak – one of Queensland's highest mountains.[1]

Much of the Daintree Rainforest is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site, being listed by UNESCO in 1988 in recognition of its universal natural values highlighted by the rainforest.[9][10] Blockades against road building through the rainforest occurred in 1983 and 1984 and were followed by a major lobbying campaign which eventually secured protection for the area.[11][12]

Amongst the attributes provided as evidence for the World Heritage value of the Wet Tropics, which include the Daintree Rainforest, the Australian Government lists the following:[13]

They preserve major stages of the earth's evolutionary history -

The Daintree Rainforest straddles Cape Tribulation

They preserve unique, rare or superlative natural phenomena, formations or features of exceptional natural beauty –

  • exceptional coastal scenery unusual in the world (and Australia) where tropical rainforest extends to white sandy beaches with fringing coral reefs just offshore;
  • rugged mountain peaks and gorges with swiftly flowing rivers and spectacular waterfalls (e.g., Thornton Peak, Mossman Gorge, Roaring Meg Falls);
  • extensive vistas of undisturbed forest and valleys.

The Daintree rainforest contains important and significant habitats for conservation of biological diversity. Approximately 430 species of birds live among the trees. The primitive flowering plants Austrobaileya scandens and Idiospermum australiense are also endemic to the Daintree. However, The Daintree Region is home to a number of rare and endangered species, including the southern cassowary (Casuarius Casuarius) and Bennett's tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus bennettianus).

Daintree Important Bird Area

The Daintree Important Bird Area (IBA) is a 2,656 km2 (1,025 sq mi) tract of land that largely coincides with the northernmost part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site. It encompasses, or overlaps, the Kalkajaka, Ngalba Bulal, Daintree, Mount Windsor and Mowbray National Parks.[14]

It has been identified as an IBA by BirdLife International because it supports a population of southern cassowaries. It also contains populations of the locally endemic tooth-billed and golden bowerbirds, lovely fairywrens, Macleay's, bridled, yellow-spotted and white-streaked honeyeaters, fernwrens, Atherton scrubwrens, mountain thornbills, chowchillas, Bower's shrike-thrushes, pied monarchs, Victoria's riflebirds and pale-yellow robins.[14]

See also

References
  1. "About the Daintree Rainforest". Daintree Discovery Centre. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. "Premier Unveils Queensland's 150 Icons". Queensland Government. 10 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  3. "Daintree buyback". Archived from the original on 22 April 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  4. "Save the Daintree Rainforest". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  5. "World Heritage Area - facts and figures". Wet Tropics Management Authority. Australian Government. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  6. Richardson, ABC Far North: Holly (29 September 2021). "Elders 'break down' as world's oldest living rainforest – and 160,000ha of country – handed back". ABC News. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  7. "Daintree Rainforest Has Been Returned to Its Traditional Custodians in a Historic Agreement". Broadsheet. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  8. "Walking". Parks and forests, Department of Environment and Science. Queensland Government. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  9. Tisdell, C.; Wilson, C. (2002). "World Heritage Listing of Australian Natural Sites: Tourism Stimulus and its Economic Value". Economic Analysis and Policy. 32 (2): 27–49. doi:10.1016/S0313-5926(02)50017-5. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  10. "Wet Tropics of Queensland". UNESCO World Heritage Center. United Nations. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  11. McIntyre, Iain (4 November 2020). "Environmental Blockading in Australia and Around the World - Timeline 1974-1997". The Commons Social Change Library. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  12. McIntyre, Iain (2021). Environmental blockades : Obstructive Direct Action and the History of the Environmental Movement. Routledge. pp. 60 to 68.
  13. "World Heritage Places - Wet Tropics of Queensland". Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Australian Government. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  14. "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Daintree". BirdLife International. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
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