Working
with you to help save Australia’s rainforests
As the weather warms up, with
the wet season just around the corner, the rainforest is beginning
its seasonal transformation which is just a fantastic time for
visitors. But as plants and wildlife blossom and grow – so
do weeds, a major headache for locals. In this edition of the
arfnews find out about our FREE weed management workshop for
Daintree landowners and residents.
Also check out our October special on Operation Big Bird – Save
the Cassowary merchandise. These amazing but endangered birds
need all the help they can get, and you can help by buying from
our range of hats, bags and towels – great gift ideas for
Christmas.
And a big thank you to everyone who has responded with email
addresses and comments on our new look website and e-newsletter,
the response has been fantastic but we hope it doesn’t
stop there. We encourage you to forward this e-newsletter to
as many people as you can and help us spread the word about the
threats to our very precious rainforest treasures.
If you would like to be removed
from our e-newsletter distribution list please click
here and write PLEASE REMOVE ME in the Subject line.
That’s
one big cheque! Watched by TTNQ Chair, Stephen Ollie,
Cairns City Council Deputy Mayor Terry James presents
ARF project officer Helen Cook with a $5,000 cheque.
Local Partnerships with global affect
Tourism
Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), the Cairns City Council and
the Australian Rainforest Foundation (ARF) have been brought
together through a new program developed by the tourism industry
to showcase far north Queensland’s world
leadership in responsible tourism.
Unveiled in Cairns last month the Planet Safe Partnership (PSP)
aims to strengthen the tropical north’s reputation as not only being the world’s leading nature-based destination but one which is proactive in ensuring the survival of the region’s
delicate ecosystems. More...
About to get
a birds eye view of the feral pig problem. (From left
to right) Paul Smith, John Bean and Mark Willacy (ABC
TV Landline).
Funding Boost for Feral Pig Control
The Commonwealth Government has allocated $100,000 to the ARF to continue with feral animal control measures in the Cassowary Corridor between Babinda and Mossman in Queensland. The Foundation implemented a feral pig trapping program last year in the aftermath of Cyclone Larry, which devastated much of the cassowary habitat in North Queensland. Feral pigs then competed for what little cassowary food remained in the forest. ARF trappers have now removed more than 500 feral pigs from critical cassowary habitat. More...
They may look pretty but they have to go – join us to find out how
Free Weed Management Workshop
Following consultation with the community, weed management, along with feral animal management, has been identified as a major problem on private blocks in the Daintree and Mission Beach areas, with residents calling not only for financial assistance but the skills and know-how to get the job done themselves. The Foundation’s response is to congratulate landholders on this enthusiasm and show our support to residents through training and financial assistance. The first of these workshops will be held in the Daintree with further dates to be announced soon. More...
A locally ‘adapted’ sign in the Daintree, too often proven too true.
Cassowary
sightings in the Daintree
Jolyon Ritchie, ARF Conservation Officer
Daintree
Recent months have produced an excellent breeding season for the Cassowary with Daintree residents sighting numerous individual adults with two to three chicks each.
On 3rd September a male sub-adult
Cassowary was sighted on Lot 177 Turpentine Road (an ARF block)
with three chicks following. This block which is adjacent to
the Coppers Creek precinct, where the ARF has bought a large
area of land, is an excellent wildlife refuge and corridor for
Cassowaries. More...
Thanks to her healthy appetite Reggie’s feathers are returning.
Reggie’s recovery at the beach
Steve Garrad, ARF Conservation Officer
Garner’s Beach Cassowary Recovery Facility
There has been a flurry amongst Avian Specialists in Australia as it appears the first recorded case of feather loss in cassowaries due to a virus (called circo-virus) has surfaced in Mission Beach. The unfortunate subject of this interest is Reggie, a long time resident of South Mission Beach rainforest, a bird well known to residents. She achieved earlier notoriety for being relocated halfway to Tully with a tracker attached only to reappear in a matter of days. More...
Dieback caused
by the phytophthora root rot fungus affects a wide
variety of ecosystems, such as the banksia woodland
shown here. Photo: John Hicks
Our rainforests are sick
Phytophthora root rot, a form of ‘dieback’,
is a disease that affects many native plants and ecosystems,
important crops and horticultural plants in Australia and throughout
the world. Its global spread has been the consequence of trade
and human migration in Australia, the disease infects an especially
large range of mainly woody perennial plant species and is also
a major threat to some rare and endangered species, including
our guardian of the rainforest – the cassowary. More...
Operation Big
Bird merchandise
Save $$$ on Operation Big Bird Merchandise – October
only ARF Interpretive Centre and Gift Shop
Check out these savings on Operation Big Bird merchandise available during October only. More...
Sleep frog
Featured artist:
Breakaway Art
Over the past 18 years Damien
Naughton and Samantha Wortelhock have become two of Australia’s most popular and collected artists. Now working from Byron Bay under the ‘Breakaway Art’ banner the joint works of art are colourful and ‘naive’ in style, with subjects ranging form city landscapes to Red Centre rock’s with a variety of colourful flora and fauna in-between, including our much loved cassowary and green tree frog. More...
In
Brief
Grant for Revegetation
The ARF has been allocated
$20,000 from the Threatened Species Network for revegetation
of ARF land in the Daintree. The project will start in
October and will involve the development of a nursery,
collection of seed stock and the planting of a large
portion of land acquired in the Cooper Creek precinct
of the Daintree. ARF CEO Roger Phillips said the funding
would be matched by the ARF to assist with site preparation
and feral pig control. “The land is one of three out of
our 25 blocks in the Daintree that require some revegetation
and we hope to get the trees in the ground before the
next wet season,” Mr Phillips said.
Conservation Land For Sale
Lot 5 Leo Road, situated in Tropical North
Queensland is a rainforest block of 145 Acres (59 Ha)
only 5 minutes from Mission Beach.
The land was purchased
by the Australian Rainforest Foundation as over 90%
of the land area is rainforest which provides not only
habitat for the endangered cassowary but also a linkage
to nearby protected areas.
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