Rainforest Connections 2024 - News

Rainforest Connections 2024 – Unifying the Voices for Australia’s Rainforests

Posted 11 June 2024

In Conservation, Fauna, Flora, News, Nursery, Partnerships, propagation, Restoration, Social Impact, Tree Planting

rainforest_connections_credit_nsw_dcceew

Photo courtesy of NSW DCCEEW

Rainforest Connections 2024, held from 4–7 June 2024, was the first conference in over two decades dedicated to the restoration, rehabilitation, and management of Australia’s unique rainforest habitats. This event brought together 300 delegates from a wide range of backgrounds including scientists, program managers, on-ground practitioners, community members and specialists implementing projects in the field. Rainforest Rescue was present, connecting with the network of attendees and sharing best practice insights with the conservation community.

Rainforest Connections 2024 provided a vital platform to build relationships, form collaborations and most importantly will lead to constructive, innovative and effective multi-disciplinary environmental outcomes in our unique rainforest environments. The timing was uncanny, in the middle of the UN’s Decade on Restoration, and with a geo-political backdrop of the fossil fuel/renewable/nuclear energy debate butting up against the ongoing conflict over land use across Australia. A chance for rainforest organisations and individuals to unite and align is pertinent to the actions this nation needs to work towards Net Zero.

The diverse range of presentations featured case studies of on-ground action, species recovery programs, and cutting-edge environmental research. Specific tools, techniques, challenges and strategies for managing rainforest habitats were highlighted. Mark Dunphy, founder of the Firewheel Rainforest Nursery and Advisor to the Rainforest Rescue Native Nursery, shared news of their Science savings Rainforests project. Rainforest action like this, which aims to increase resilience in plant species in the wake of a changing climate, showed how intertwined habitat restoration, biodiversity conservation and the future of the planet is.

The conference also stressed the important connection between Nature and Culture. Representatives from Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation were familiar faces to Rainforest Rescue, as one of our local conservation partners in the Daintree region.

Tate Brammer, RR’s GM Finance & Operations – Photo courtesy of NSW DCCEEW

Rainforest Rescue CEO, Branden Barber, took the stage to talk about learnings from 25 years of protecting and restoring the world’s most ancient rainforest (watch the video of Branden’s presentation), and our GM Finance & Operations, Tate Brammer, presented on growing the Restoration Economy in Far North Queensland as a case study for applying elsewhere.

We also heard from some of Australia’s rainforest restoration and conservation experts including:

Sean Dooley – Author, Comedian, Birdman and editor of one of our favourite publications – Australian Birdlife Magazine,
Dr. Tony Parkes AO – Co-founder and past president of Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, and co-founder of Rainforest Rescue, and
Karen Somerville – Researcher in plant conservation science at The Australian PlantBank.

… just to name a few. For Rainforest Rescue, the conference provided opportunities to grow stronger in unison with like-minded organisations. Here we could share and validate our methodologies and learnings, as sometimes it can be a little isolating working in the far north of the country! It’s reassuring to remind ourselves that we’re not alone in fighting for Nature, and that Rainforest Action is Climate Action.

For full details including the 2024 program, visit the Rainforest Connections website.

Rainforest Connections is proudly presented by NSW Government in partnership with Saving our Species.