Queensland tropical rainforests: can a tragedy be averted?

Forest and Bird, Volume 17, Issue 1, 1 February 1986, Page 24

Queensland tropical rainforests: can a tragedy be averted?

Dr

Gerry McSweeney,

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems on earth, rivalled only in complexity by coral reefs. Covering only five percent of the world’s total land surface, these rainforests contain 50 percent of all our plant and animal species. Rainforests are our major gene pool, yet these vital ecosystems are fast disappearing. Conservation Director

who went

to Australia last year on an Anzac Fellowship, investigates the problems posed by development to Queensland rainforests.

f United Nations figures are accurate and 30 hectares of tropical rainforests are disappearing every minute, I will be unlucky enough to witness the loss of virtually all of them during my lifetime. In most of the world’s poor tropical countries, these forests are being clear felled for crops and living space. Even when areas are not stripped bare, logging often devastates the forest with little hope of recovery except in the very long term — provided surrounding forest remains as a seed source. Australia is not a poor country. In fact it is the only wealthy industrialised nation with these biologically-rich forests. Sadly, there are many Australians who do not regard the forests as the tremendous assets they are. Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent. Today only about one thousandth of its total land surface supports tropical rainforest, yet these harbour around 1,100 species of plants, more than a third of Australia’s marsupial species, and 60 percent of the country’s bat and butterfly species. An immense diversity of plants and animals crowds within the 700,000 hectares of tropical rainforest that remains between Townsville and Cooktown in the far north of Queensland. A refuge for plants These tropical rainforests are relics from Australia’s past when it used to be part of the great land mass of Gondwanaland. The

plants found within them are closely allied to those of India, Malaysia and Fiji. New Zealanders would discover familiar podocarps and kauris scattered through the immense diversity of canopy trees. Many species date back to the origins of the earth's flowering plants, making Queensland's forests internationally significant as a major centre of survival for such primitive plants. Although they make up only about a thousandth of the area of tropical rainforests worldwide, Queensland's forests contain 13 out of 18 of the world’s primitive flowering plant families — the highest concentration on earth. Spectacular cassowary One special animal found within these forests also dates back to the Gondwanaland era. The spectacular cassowary is a fruiteating, flightless bird which lives wholly within the rainforests. It is a ratite, the most primitive class of birds on earth, a family which includes kiwi, moa, emu and ostriches. Of all the ratites, the cassowary perhaps most closely resembles many of our moa species because of its preferred rainforest habitat. Northern Queensland until recently was linked with New Guinea across Torres Strait, where cassowaries also occur. New Guinea shares many of the marsupial mammals found in the North Queensland rainforest, and there has been sufficient time for many of the Queensland marsupials to develop into separate species. Aus-

tralia’s two tree kangaroos are found only in the rainforests, as are three species of possum. Two areas of lowland forest in Queensland have become household names throughout Australia as nationwide efforts have been mounted to save them from logging, roading and clearance: Daintree Forest and Downey Creek. The threats to these two forests are indicative of the threats to all of Australia’s remaining tropical rainforests. Daintree — where reef meets rainforest Just north of Cairns lies the only coastal rainforest wilderness left in Australia — the 120,000 hectare Daintree Forest. Here is a diversity of landscape and ecosystem unmatched even by New Zealand's very diverse standards. The Great Barrier Reef, largest living structure on earth, comes close to the mainland near Daintree. The mainland coastline is fringed by a spectacular coral reef which is building progressively outwards. Behind the surf but below high water mark are mangrove forests containing no fewer than 28 different species of mangrove. These merge into Queensland's most diverse tropical rainforest, complex mesophyll vine forest, which only grows on fertile lowland soils and has now largely been cleared for farms. Typically, one finds vines, birds nest ferns, fan palms, strangler figs and a huge diversity

of buttressed canopy trees. With increasing altitude, lowland forest merges into montane tropical rainforest clothing the mist-shrouded peaks of the 1375-metre high Thornton Peak. This is deluged each year by a rainfall equivalent to that which falls at Franz Josef — 5,000mm (200 inches). Behind the range, rainfall declines rapidly and within 50km the tropical rainforest swiftly gives way to eucaplypt forest, and finally the arid bottle tree shrublands of the lower Cape York Peninsula. Shrubs, not scrub A re-education programme is underway in New Zealand to persuade people to use the term "‘shrubland"’ rather than the derogatory "‘scrub’’, thus recognising the great diversity of native plants that "scrub" contains. (A forester recently told me that ‘‘shrubs’’ only grow in suburban gardens!). In Australia it is incredible to find people referring to tall tropical rainforest scattered up Australia’s east coast lowlands as ‘‘scrub’’. Prior to European settlement, Aborigines had pushed back the forests to the wetter lowland and mountain areas with fire. As in New Zealand, when Europeans arrived the diverse forests of the fertile lowlands went first. Timber extraction was followed by complete clearance for sugar cane. The last forests to go have been those of the mountains which contain few timber species and grow on poor soils. Predictably,

these low value montane rainforests form the bulk of the 15 percent of Queensland’s tropical rainforests protected within a network of superb but discontinuous national parks. Last unroaded stretch The Daintree coastline is the last unroaded stretch of Australia’s eastern seaboard. In a spirit reminiscent of the pioneering days, the local Shire Council is pushing a rugged road through the heart of a thin tiny strip of vine forest between mangroves and mountains. The cost is enormous and the environmental damage appalling. The forest is destroyed and sediment from slips on the road — only a four-wheel-drive track — is smothering the fringing coral reefs. Behind the road come land speculators, carving out rainforest subdivisions for tourists. The forest is also threatened by open-cast tin mining. The Shire Council seems mainly motivated by the national outrage it has caused, while conservative Queensland politicians are using the protest as a rallying point against any outside interference in the state's affairs. Prolonging mills’ demise At Downey Creek the threat is logging — primarily an attempt to prolong the inevitable demise of the antiquated sawmills which have been cutting far in excess of the sustainable yield of timber. At least

half of the sawmills will run out of rainforest timber by the end of 1986. Meanwhile they will wipe out the richest unmodified tropical rainforest in Queensland. The Queensland Foresty Department heavily subsidises logging by building access roads and charging very low royalties for timber. It is stubbornly attempting to develop a sustained yield logging system for the forest, despite the fact that it has now largely gone. However, just as on the West Coast, the demands of the sawmilling industry far exceed the natural regeneration of the forest, even if selective logging trials prove successful (which seems unlikely). Australian conservation groups have united to seek protection of the country’s last remaining tropical rainforests. They believe that if wealthy Australia is not prepared to protect them, there is little hope that less affluent countries will do so. The most successful and effective of these groups, in my opinion, is the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, which operates on a similar level to Forest and Bird. Most Australian groups are dominated by their membership in the large cities; however, WPSQ is made up of a large number of branches spread throughout small rural centres of Queensland. Each of these branches develops a strong regional identity and runs field trips and meetings, focussing community awareness on nature and conservation problems. Alternatives to logging Rural electorates are immensely powerful under the Queensland gerrymander, and therefore the WPSQ’s high standing has helped it influence politicians much more than urban-dominated groups — especially those from other states. The battle to save Downey Creek is spearheaded by the WPSQ Innisfail branch led by Yvonne Cunningham. The thrust of their campaign has been to identify job alternatives which do not threaten the rainforest. Over-mature state plantations of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta) have been suggested as an immediate alternative to logging Downey Creek. In the longer term there will be a huge increase in the supply of these plantation timbers in North Queensland over the next ten years. However, the Forestry Department is resisting a change to plantation timbers, determined to prove that it can ‘"‘manage’’ natural forest even though its trial covers Virtually all the remaining vine forest. Tourism is booming in the sunny climes of North Queensland. The WPSQ has capi-

talised on this by preparing plans for a $5 million rainforest nature tourism centre for Downey Creek, featuring a canopy walkway. This would enable tourists to approach the most exciting level of a tropical rainforest — especially at night. Only in the canopy can the great diversity of flowers, fruits, orchids and perching ferns be seen. Numerous mammals, bats, birds and butterflies visit this zone throughout the day and night. Canopy walkways are already in operation in some Malaysian national parks where they have proved very popular. Yvonne Cunningham is immensely pragmatic when questioned about the effect of the walkway on the forest. ‘3,000 of the 8,000 hectare Downey Creek catchment is scheduled for logging. More than 1,000 hectares has already been cut. Our nature tourism centre could save this superb forest from destruction. The visitor facilities could be developed very carefully — it would have to be because if we damage the forest no-one is going to . come here to see the trees and the wildlite? Will they act? Her proposal is gathering support throughOut North Queensland from the tourist industry, local Chambers of Commerce and even local members of Parliament. However, the question is whether they will act to stop the logging at Downey and road expansion at Daintree before the remain-

ing rainforest is irreversibly damaged. Even the forester in charge of the Downey Creek logging operation, Tom Just admits "This bush will never be the same again because the big trees will not be there." Nationally, efforts to save Queensland tropical rainforest focus on getting the forests accepted as a World Heritage Site. Already they have been recommended for such status by the Australian Heritage Commission. However, mindful of the Franklin river dam debate in Tasmania where the Federal Government overruled the Tasmanian Government and saved the Franklin, the Queensland Government steadfastly refuses to allow its rainforests to be nominated as a World Heritage Site. Without State Government consent, the Australian Federal Government will not intercede to save the tropical rainforests or nominate them for World Heritage Status. And so the battle rages. Queensland is a remarkably lucky state in a very lucky country. It is huge in area, rich in resources and immensely scenic and diverse. It is also one of the few politically stable and physically safe countries where visitors can discover and enjoy the richest of tropical rainforest ecosystems. New Zealanders should be concerned for the future of Queensland's rainforests. They are some of the most accessible such forests for us and share many close links with our forests. Their continued unnecessary loss is a tragedy. yf