From CCWILD Wiki

The knowledge of the traditional indigenous custodians of the Daintree is cumulative, with possibly more than eight hundred generations of refinement. Cooper Creek Wilderness can only hope to approach some semblance of respectability against this humbling body of wisdom. At the very least it takes comfort from the exclusive advantages that accrue to permanent rainforest inhabitants.

From above, the density of the canopy of the Daintree Rainforest resembles broccoli. Huge granite boulders protrude beyond the rainforest emergents and with greater prominence towards the upper reaches of the mountain massifs. Deeply incised fissures within the verdant overlay indicate the more pronounced channels and without any uncertainty, the external impression given by the soft alluring foliage belies an interior of infinite complexity.

Here the rainforest, as a complex conglomeration of life forms appears united, as one. Indeed, it is intertwined by a huge variety of specialist climbers, the vines, giving the whole a strength that far exceeds the inherent stability of any one single tree.

With familiarity, the characteristic crowns of individual species allow identification. Huge strangler figs with their glossy rounded heads stand apart from the giant emergent Milky Pines, Yellow Pendas, Bull Oaks, and the occasional Black Palm.

There is great order in the rainforest. Every plant has its optimum position in relation to other trees in the canopy and available light. Between the tallest emergent trees and the lowliest subterranean plants there is a wealth and complexity of life that is interrelated into a vegetation theme or community.

Species that are more competitive within particular predetermining resource conditions establish representative communities. The different permutations and combinations of soil and other environmental factors within the landscape of the Daintree provide for one of the richest assemblages of vegetation communities in the world. Within the lowlands of the Daintree, some one hundred and fifty different vegetation communities have been identified.

So complex is the flora and so varied is its manner of growth that its interpretation has become one of the greatest challenges for Cooper Creek Wilderness.

At the miniature end of the rainforest continuum, epiphylls manifest as microscopic forests existing entirely on the leaves of rainforest plants.

Fungi exist as a series of long, dark, filament-like hairs or hyphae, discretely interwoven about rotting logs and throughout leaf litter and soil or more conspicuously as a tangle in the undergrowth. Identification of fungi is achieved on the basis of the fruiting bodies, the mushroom or toadstool, which are so much more obvious.

Lichens demonstrate ‘helotism’, a relationship with fungi enslaving algae for its photosynthetic capabilities. The association produces lichenic acid, which etches rock, forming habitats for mosses and other lithophytes to take hold and initiates the process of soil building.

The rainforests of Cooper Creek Wilderness are characterised by plant species that are considered to be rare or endemic and in most cases, both. Including the uplands of Thornton Peak, over 140 species of rare and endemic plant species inhabit the Cooper Creek catchment. This exceptional concentration of rarity and endemicity is higher than elsewhere in Australia.

Perhaps it is implicit that inhabitants are rare and threatened by the very nature of the almost impossible antiquity of the rainforests of the Daintree. For the entire rainforest complex to occupy its rightful place at the forefront of Australia’s environmental conscience, this single status applies.

These over-simplifications cause problems for endangered inhabitants suffering impacts from introduced species, which enjoy the protective benefits of a rare and threatened ecosystem. The large and flightless Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii,) whose survival is very much at risk, is a prime example.

Capable of weighing up to 90 kilograms, this rainforest ratite is vital for the widespread continuance of more than 150 species of plants. In many cases, the Cassowary is the sole species capable of ingesting fruits and seeds because of its size, aggressive digestive system and well-adapted liver and stomach enzymes.

If the Cassowary became extinct, trees without an animal to disperse their seeds would become concentrated in pockets around the parent tree or in gullies or the bottom of slopes. The dynamics of the entire forest would almost certainly change.

The Southern Cassowary is classified as ‘endangered’ within the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Among its more considerable threats, is the introduced species Sus scrofa, the feral pig.

The biology and ecology of feral pigs are major predisposing factors in the impact they can have on the environment. Their bulk, rooting habits, omnivorous diets and opportunistic feeding allow them to thrive on fruits and seeds, foliage, roots and stems, fungi and animal material. Their presence is easily detected by extensive soil disturbance. They cause loss of rainforest integrity, compete vigorously for limited food, destroy rainforest seeds through crunching and contaminate the forest with a variety of diseases.

The feral pig is a declared pest under the Rural Lands Protection Act 1985 and is to be eradicated. There is growing evidence to suggest that feral pigs spread the root-rot fungus Phytopthora Cinnomomi, responsible for rainforest dieback. They also compromise ecological integrity through the spread of introduced worms and exotic seeds.

Feral pigs eat earthworms, amphipods, centipedes, beetles and other arthropods, snails, frogs, lizards and small ground nesting birds and their eggs. Feral pigs may have contributed to the decline in some species of endemic tropical rainforest frogs.

The greater ability of feral pigs to access alternative food supplies once the seasonal flush of rainforest fruits declines, gives them a competitive advantage over the more sedentary, frugivorous cassowary. There are also reports of pigs destroying their nests and eating their eggs.

Feral sows produce two weaned litters every 12 – 15 months with an average litter size of 5 to 6 piglets. It has been acknowledged that more than 70% of the pig population must be eradicated in order to defeat population recovery.

Despite these assertions, there exists no apparent recovery plan to stop the decline of, and support the recovery and survival of the Southern Cassowary, from the adverse impacts of feral pigs.

The same cannot be said for threat abatement against human impacts, at least the residential variety, with government investment within the $23million Daintree Rescue Program and the more recent Daintree Futures Study. However, the visitor element is provided with aggressive incentives for growth.

While it is obvious that extensive revegetation has occurred on freehold land in the Daintree, there has been a steadfast refusal by governments to measure it and to recognise that its expansion is due to social and attitudinal changes in the local community. The Daintree Coast Community has, in itself become somewhat of a maligned and threatened species.

Cooper Creek Wilderness admits that it is at odds with the governments’ applied approach to the management of the rainforests of the Daintree. Legislative and policy obligations, which encourage the pursuit of environmental goals in ways that maximise returns to the local community, seem to be overshadowed by commercial and administrative enthusiasms.

Conservation of the Daintree is not being achieved by protection through partnerships. Landowners and managers are not being provided with the maximum possible assistance for the achievement of Australia’s global obligations.

Cooper Creek Wilderness has endured administrative resistance to its own model of sustainable management for the past fourteen years. Despite the difficulties, it has emerged victorious.

For its directors, inhabiting the rainforests of Cooper Creek Wilderness as life-long stewards, is more than sufficient reward in lieu of cumulative income.

The voluntary contributions of its clientele carry the full burden of cost for the provision of facilities and services. For the benefits of regulated access and expert interpretation by a rainforest inhabitant, this significant financial contribution demonstrates an undisputed net gain for the environment as a consequence of participation.

The successful integration of residency, conservation and sustainable ecotourism has achieved a working model of World Heritage management that protects biological diversity and ecological integrity, without cost to the taxpayer.

The respectful conduct of Cooper Creek Wilderness contrasts with a public administration approach. The former is subordinate and subservient to the rainforests of the Daintree. The latter encourages a magnitude of visitation that exceeds the resilience of the rainforests of the Daintree to such an extent that World Heritage values are being destroyed.

The protection of the rainforests of the Daintree depends on human sensibility. Its geophysical attributes will continue to provide refuge for biodiversity providing disrespect, over-enthusiasm or greed do not destroy its enduring qualities.

Fauna