The ancient Daintree Rainforest is the heart and soul of Australia’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland region.

However, the World Heritage Area and Daintree National Park does not extend conservation protection to all of the Daintree, with much of the coastal lowland tropical rainforest from the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation remaining unprotected. In fact, the lack of protection remains a threat to the intact rainforest and its flora and fauna, as this provides an uncertain future for the environment.

The Lowland tropical rainforest of the Wet Tropics is listed in the Endangered category of threatened ecological communities in Australia, which adds further significance to the region’s environmental importance. Especially as there are many plant and animal species that are part of the Daintree Rainforest biodiversity which are found nowhere else on Earth.

Due to the Daintree region’s prior history as part of the Far North’s logging industry, a major threat to the lowlands is the resultant long-term effects of cleared forest. More recently, localised impacts are being interwoven with a global concern – human-driven climate change.

So, what are the key threats to the Daintree Lowland Rainforest?

Rainforest habitat fragmentation:

Habitat fragmentation caused by clearing makes it difficult for plants and animals to move from one rainforest patch to another. It can also limit breeding populations, which impacts on genetic diversity and make species more vulnerable to extinction, particularly in small, isolated pockets of habitat. These smaller areas may also be vulnerable to degradation, especially during extreme weather events.

Unfortunately, lowland areas are at higher risk of contention over land use. This is a problem that occurs all over the world, most likely due to ease and economic cost of access to develop land for other purposes – it’s more challenging to develop a farm or town on the steep side of a mountain! Species that inhabit lower latitudes or in forests or oceans are more sensitive to reduction in habitat area, which exacerbates the land use conflict further.

Adjacent ecosystem impact:

The Daintree Rainforest is not an isolated ecosystem, but one that connects with others to form a distinct bioregion. The Lowland Rainforest is adjacent to riverine habitats that make up the Daintree River water basin, as well as the estuarine mangroves that connect to the marine habitats of the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef.

Former rainforest clearances, especially along riparian zones (areas that are next to a river), impact on the ability to retain soil and soil nutrients in an area. This means that soil run-off, especially during flooding events can deposit sediment downstream and even at sea, disrupting the balance of fragile ecosystems beyond the rainforest.

Invasive plant species (Weeds):

Biosecurity is an important system to protect native species. Introduced and invasive plants can come from overseas or other parts of the country, and are identified as weeds within a local environment.

Weeds disrupt ecosystems, compete with and replace native plants, reduce food and shelter for native species, change fire regimes and create soil erosion. In addition, introduced and invasive plant species may bring pests, fungi and diseases with them that impacts native plant populations.

Feral animals:

Feral animals (such as pigs, dogs and cats) predate on native species, compete for food and habitat, degrade habitat and water systems, cause soil erosion, carry disease and spread invasive plants. They also damage root structures and disrupt existing ecological relationships between native plants and native animals.

Rural development:

The potential of further clearing of unprotected rainforest for development remains a threat to the Daintree Lowland Rainforest. Indiscriminate clearing can lead to further fragmentation of habitat, displacement of wildlife, and susceptibility to invasive weeds.

Collectively, these impact the unique biodiversity and threatened species found in the Daintree Rainforest and wider Queensland Wet Tropics region.

Climate Change:

Human-induced climate change is becoming a major concern to the biodiversity of the Daintree Rainforest.

Global warming could decrease the habitat of many endemic vertebrate species which live in the cooler upland and montane rainforests, leaving only isolated pockets of rainforest for them to live in. It is predicted that seven frog species, five mammal species, three bird species, and three skink species would lose over half their present habitat with only a 1-degree temperature increase. The cool, wet mountaintop rainforest habitats are at most risk, thus the species in those habitats (the frogs, skinks, and several possums, as examples) might be the first to lose much of their habitat should this increase occur.