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'The Daintree Rainforest' is a coastal rainforest near Daintree, Queensland, which, at around 1,200 square kilometers, is one of Australia's largest chunks of rainforest.
Named for Richard Daintree, part of the forest is protected by the Daintree National Park and drained by the Daintree River.
The Daintree Rainforest lies on the coast, north of Cairns in tropical far north of Australia. It is home to the largest range of plants and animals on earth .
This World Heritage listed area contains the highest number of plant and animal species that are rare, or threatened with -extinction, in the world. The Daintree Rainforest is a unique area, precariously balanced between the advances of development and the environmentalists wanting to preserve the forest's exceptional qualities.
"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."[1]
The Daintree Rainforest's addition to the World Heritage List in 1988 in recognition of its universal natural values highlighted the rainforest as being:
An outstanding example of the major stages in the earth's evolutionary history
An outstanding example of significant ongoing ecological and biological processes.
An example of superlative natural phenomena, and Containing 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.

Contents

Environmental threats

Trivia

References

Environmental threats

There are four major threats to the natural environment. All are interlinked, and all are within our control if we are sensitive to the way we handle the rainforest.

★ '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.

★ '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. The vast majority of tourism operators are highly aware of their impact on the environment and take steps to minimise their impact.

★ 'Development by private enterprise' is arguably the most dangerous aspect of human activity in the area. Subdivision of land, building of fences, and development of roads leads to hazardous conditions for native animals that often need to cross the fences or roads to get to their food source.

Trivia

The Terrence Malick film, The Thin Red Line was filmed in the Daintree forest.

References