In one of the most ambitious conservation plans in Australia’s history, the Australian Rainforest Foundation will bring together all levels of government, community groups and individuals, scientists, land managers, the corporate sector and private citizens from Australia and around the world to work cooperatively to save the endangered Southern Cassowary.

Under the working banner ‘Operation Big Bird’ the Foundation plans to create a 250km wildlife corridor along Australia’s Wet Tropical Rainforest coast in the State of Queensland.

The Southern Cassowary

Wildlife corridors, while enhancing the aesthetic value of landscapes also contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by enabling species to move across the landscape to feed, breed, disperse and colonise.

The Corridor will be a living green link between the Far North Queensland resort city of Cairns and the southern coastal town of Cardwell, where World Heritage listed rainforest habitat has been fragmented by farms, tourism resorts and urban developments.

Although it is often called the Cassowary Corridor, cassowaries are not the Foundation’s only concern. The Foundation aims to protect and rehabilitate habitat for all rainforest wildlife. Cassowaries are a good indicator species to focus on - if we can protect them, we’ll also be protecting a range of other species that share their habitat.