The Daintree Rainforest,

Australia
The Daintree rainforest is in northern Queensland, Australia and is part of a huge stretch of
rainforest known as the Wet Tropics which runs parallel to the Queensland coast this coats
runs alongside the Great Barrier Reef. The Daintree takes up less than 0.2% of the landmass
of Australia. The Daintree forest, at 135 million years old, is the oldest rainforest in the world.
There are plant species living there which are older than human life making The Daintree
one of the most fragile and important ecosystems in the world.

The Daintree is home to the greatest number of plant and animal species which are
rare or threatened with extinction than any other places in the world.
It is home to one of the Highsted populations of primitive flowering plants families on
Earth 12 are found here
Contains over 3500 vascular plants.
Has Australias largest range of ferns.
Has the highest number of endemic mammals of any region in Australia.
Has almost half of Australias bird species. And 13 species found nowhere else in the
world.
Has nearly a quarter of Australias frog species, more than 20 of which are endemic.
Has a greater diversity of freshwater fish than any other regions in Australia.
Has over 65% of Australias butterfly and bat species.
Has 28 of Australias 36 mangrove species.

Climate
The Daintree Forest has an equatorial climate:
A Low daily range of temperature the temperatures
rarely drop below 22oC at night or go above 32 oC
during the day.
A low annual temperature range
High annual; rainfall over 2000mm in intense
conventional storms with 120 days of rain per year
High humidity
A year-round growing season.
Vegetation:
The Daintree Rainforest
has become a world
heritage site due to it
having:

An outstanding example
of the major stages in
the Earths evolutionary
history
An outstanding example
of significant ongoing
ecological and
biological processes
An example of
superlative natural
phenomena
significant habitats for

Trees in the Daintree Forest are deciduous but look

evergreen due to the year-round growing season allowing
them to shed their leaves at any time. The vegetation also
grows in distinct layers with the tallest emergent growing
up to 50m in height.
Only about 1% of sunlight reaches the forest floor. Shrubs
and other plants are adapted to the lack of sunlight.
There are as many as 200 species of tree per hectare
Rainforests are the most productive terrestrial ecosystem.
Mangroves fringe the coast of the Daintree rainforest.

The wet tropical rainforests of North-East Queensland contain

the richest fauna in Australia. This region represents little more
than 0.1% of the area of Australia, but contains:

30% of Australias frog, marsupial and reptile species

65% of Australias bat and butterfly species
20% of Australias bird species
There are 70 animals endemic in North East Queensland

How is the area threatened? ?

The most dangerous threat The
Daintree is facing is tourism. The
Daintree is situated in the Far North
Queensland tourism region of
Douglas Shire the tourism in the
Daintree Region being worth
A$141.7 million a year and the
creator of 3500 jobs.
Many people come to Daintree for
the scenery, the views and the
rainforest itself. They take part in a
range of activities including: bush
walking, four-wheel drive tours, river
cruises, fishing and reef diving. Tourism contributes to a range of threats:
Fragmentation: Habitat fragmentation caused by
Rural residential

rural residential development and clearing for farming

development: Clearing of the

makes it difficult for plants and animals to move from

rainforest for residential

one rainforest patch to another. It can also limit

development remains the

breeding populations and make species more

greatest threat to the Daintree

vulnerable to extinction, particularly in small, isolated

Lowland Rainforest leading to

pockets.

fragmentation, displacement

Climate change: Climate change is becoming a

Weeds:
of rainforest
of wildlifeClearing
and susceptibility
to

major concern to the biodiversity of the Daintree

habitat
residential
invasivefor
weeds
all which

Rainforest. Global warming could decrease the habitat

development
has led to an
threaten the biodiversity

of many endemic vertebrate species which live in the

alarming
increase
in the
the
values
which
makes

cooler upland and montane rainforests, leaving only

number of
known weed
Daintree
Rainforest
so unique.

isolated pockets of rainforest for them to live in. It is

species in the Daintree. Weeds

predicted that seven frog species, five mammal

disrupt ecosystems, compete

species, three bird species and three skink species

with and replace native plants,

would animals:
lose over Feral
half their
present
habitat
with
only a
Feral
animals
impact
on the
values
of1

reduce food and shelter for

degree
temperature
increase.
the
Daintree
Rainforest
through predation on native

native species, change fire

species, competition for food and habitat, degradation

regimes and create soil

of habitat, soil erosion, disease and weed transmission,

erosion.

and changes in fire regimes.

Services provided by the Daintree and

ecosystem services

Medicine- 25% of drugs include products that come from the rainforests e.g.
chemicals to treat diabetes, malaria, heart conditions, rheumatism and arthritis;
some anti-cancer properties.

Carbon sequestration- Trees absorb CO2 removing greenhouse gases from

the atmosphere and storing it- helping to reduce pollution and regulate climate

Tourism- The Daintree attracts nearly half 1 million visitors a year, both from
home and abroad due to the scenery- unique combination of coast, rainforest
and mountains- the biodiversity in terms of the huge range of plant and animal
species in the Daintree and to visit the Great Barrier Reef

Rainforest aboriginal people are the original owners of the Wet Tropic
rainforests and to them its a series of complex living cultural landscapes.
Therefore the natural features of the rainforest are interwoven with the peoples
religion, spirituality, economic use (food, medicines, tools) and social and moral
organisation

Logging- The commercial timber industry began in 1930s however during

1980s the Daintree rainforest was at the centre of arguments between
conservationists and the timber industry. The conservationists argued that
continued logging was unsustainable.

PORT DOUGLAS
Port Douglas is close to the Daintree and has been affected by the increasing numbers
of tourists to the regions. Its population is only about 4000 but as visitor numbers
have grown, the village has changed and this has affected its character. The type of
accommodation in the village has changed and grown rapidly.
Increasing numbers of visitors have caused other changes:

A large supermarket was built in the centre of the village in 1999. Small local
shops said that people no longer
shopped with them.

A property boom led to rising house

prices. Some people benefited from
selling their land to developers, whilst
others find it difficult to buy a house
or apartment.

There are increasing numbers of proposals to build new resort complexes. In

2008, five new resorts were either being built, or were planned.

There is a real fear that the development will spread, and some people worry that it is
only a matter of time before hotels, restaurants and shops spread further into the
Daintree.

Management Strategies

The Wet Tropics Management Authority

The Wet Tropics Management Authority was formed in 1990, and is responsible for managing
the Wet Tropics as a World Heritage site. The authority is based in Cairns and its main
functions are:

Developing and implementing plans and policies

Researching and monitoring enhancing understanding of the importance of the world

heritage area and monitoring the state of the wet tropics.

Developing management agreements with landholders and aborigines

Education through visitor centres and education programmes

Funding for particular outcomes

Promoting the wet tropics.

Douglas Shire Council

Until 2008, Douglas Shire Council was the local council for the Daintree determining issues
like planning permission. In the late 1990s, the local council, land developers and farmers
wanted more development in the Daintree. In 2000, the council voted to gradually reduce the
population in the Daintree, as a way of balancing economic growth and diversity. To achieve
this:

In 2003, it increased the price of the ferry crossing by $4 to finance land buy-back. Tour
operators objected, saying that tourists would be unwilling to pay the extra fee
however tourist numbers continued to increase.

It rejected proposals supported by tour operators to build a bridge across the

Daintree River or introduce an extra ferry, on the grounds that additional tourists would
threaten the rainforest.

However a Queensland review of local government abolished the Douglas Shire Council in
2008 and the Daintree became part of Cairns Regional Council. Local people fear that the kind
of commercial development which has occurred in Cairns will take place in the Daintree.
Were they successful?
The Rainforest Co-operative Research Council produced a report on the future of the Daintree
in 2000, which is still current. Their findings were that unless action was taken, the area would
see an increase in residential development, a loss of biodiversity, and a reduction in its
attractiveness to tourists.