If you want to learn about the Daintree Rainforest in Australia, this page
contains lots of useful information, including how it is affected by human
actions.
The Daintree Rainforest is a tropical rainforest near
Daintree, Queensland, on the coast, north of Cairns in
tropical far north of Australia. At around 1200 square
kilometers the Daintree is the largest continuous area
of rainforest on the Australian mainland.
Named for Richard Daintree, part of the forest is protected
by the Daintree National Park and drained by the Daintree
River. The Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of frog, marsupial
and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's
bat and butterfly species. 20% of bird species in the
country can be found in this area. All of this diversity
is contained within an area that takes up 0.2% of the
landmass of Australia.
The Daintree Rainforest's addition to the World Heritage
List in 1988 in recognition of its universal natural values
highlighted the rainforest. The Daintree is an outstanding
example of the major stages in the earth's evolutionary
history, an example of significant ongoing ecological
and biological processes, and an example of superlative
natural phenomena. It contains important and significant
habitats for conservation of biological diversity.
The Daintree Rainforest is over one hundred and thirty-five
million years old – the oldest in the world. Approximately
430 species of birds live among the trees, including 13
species that are found nowhere else in the world. The
primitive flowering plant Idiospermum australiense is
also endemic to the Daintree.
Environmental threats
Logging
is an industry that put the Daintree Rainforest on the
map decades ago, and remains a force in the area. Parts
of the rainforest are controlled by the Queensland Forestry
Department, who could fell ancient trees and sell the
timber for high prices. From the mid-late 20th century,
logging has been a major factor contributing to the vulnerability
of the Daintree. After World War 2, Australia’s economy
began to expand rapidly and the demand for timber was
high. Numerous timber mills were built to log trees from
the Daintree and transport infrastructure was built by
such firms to make logging more rapid and efficient. Not
only did logging become more rapid but this infrastructure
also burnt fossil fuels to fuel the production and transportation
which contributed to greater carbon based pollutants in
the biosphere and hydrosphere in the surrounding area.
For example, in 1945 a steel punt barge was built to carry
large logs. However, due to a greater global awareness
of logging (especially in large rainforests such as the
Amazon) logging has curbed in recent decades and government
policies and organisations (such as the Queensland Forestry
Department) have aided this. However, on a global scale
logging in the Daintree is minor compared to larger rainforests
such as the Amazon in Brazil and the Borneo Rainforest
in Indonesia.
Mining
is another threat, although has not yet become active.
Tin mining leases are held over parts of the area, and
if these go ahead many plants and animal species will
be lost.
Tourism
also has an effect on the area. More than 400,000 people
visit the region each year, which means thousands of buses,
4WD’s, and passenger cars drive through the rainforest.
Tourism is arguably the most detrimental environmental
force to the Daintree’s vulnerability. The demand for
tourism will also increase the amount of cars and infrastructure
built in the area. A major reason for the large number
of tourists who visit the Daintree each year is due to
its close proximity to another major Australian tourist
destination, the Great Barrier Reef. Tourists may stay
in nearby Cairns or Port Douglas and visit both the rainforest
and the reef in the one holiday. However, most tourism
operators are mindful of their negative environmental
footprint and take steps to keep their businesses environmentally
sustainable.
Development by private enterprise
impacts
negatively on the vulnerability of the Daintree. Due to
an increasing emigration to Queensland from other states
due to a lower cost of living along with tourism, the
demand for more public and housing infrastructure has
increased in North Queensland. This has caused the creation
of many fences, subdivision of land in the area, building
of roads as well as sewage and drainage infrastructure
taking place. These impacts create dangerous conditions
for fauna in the Daintree and may cause animals to cross
roads or fences in order to search for food. It will also
increase pollution due to the development and creation
of new infrastructure. Development will also make the
rainforest more accessible to tourists which will increase
the number of tourists even more.
We are supporting the World Land Trust (WLT) - a conservation
charity involved in numerous projects worldwide. Particularly
relevant to this site is their work in helping to purchase
rainforest land to protect and preserve it.
You can Help to Buy Rainforest
and Save it by donating to the WLT to save some of
this land through a personal contribution or buying as
a gift.
If you have any photos, stories or drawings of The Daintree
Rainforest in Queensland or anything else to do with the
rainforest environment that you would like to see shown
on the site, please feel free to send them in. We always
welcome contributions or constructive comments.
