This year marks the twenty fifth anniversary of the blockade that led to the protection of the Daintree and the World Heritage listing of the Wet Tropics area in Far North Queensland. In 1984, this important biodiversity hotspot attracted both Australian and international focus as a result of a passionate and committed community outcry and protest. An infamous moment in history when protesters came head to head with bulldozers, police, and the Queensland government in their efforts to stop a major swathe of rainforest being felled to accommodate a road.

In 1968 a track was bulldozed from Cape Tribulation to the Bloomfield River, 25km to the north, making a continuous coastal route from Cairns to Cooktown. It quickly washed out and became overgrown, but was re-cleared in 1976. Inevitably, it again became impassable.

In late 1984 the Douglas Shire Council again pushed ahead with a controversial plan to construct a permanent 4WD road, supported by the Bjelke-Peterson State Government. Although the Bloomfield Track was eventually built, the publicity generated by the 1984 community protest and blockade provided a turning point in the campaign to protect Queensland’s tropical rainforests.

Finally, in 1988 the Hawke Federal Government listed the Wet Tropics Rainforests as a World Heritage Area (WHA). Due to its constitutional powers relating to international agreements, the Federal Government was able to overrule the Queensland State Government.

This was a victorious and crucially important date for the rainforests, however, it did not ensure its conclusive conservation. Private land that lies immediately adjacent to the Daintree rainforest has been subdivided and threatens to seriously compromise the forest with the introduction of invasive non-native plant species, weeds, and domestic pets.

Despite widespread agreement of the scientific importance of the Daintree and that clearing rainforests is responsible for increasing greenhouse emissions, there are an estimated 200 properties in the Daintree that can still be cleared for residential development.

The anniversary of the Daintree blockade offers an auspicious moment to recreate a focus on the importance of rainforest and the ongoing need to preserve these natural systems, their ecological biodiversity and significance.

To celebrate this anniversary, Rainforest Rescue will be holding an Art Auction on the 14th of February and the Daintree Blockade 25th Anniversary Community Forum on the 7th of February in St Kilda Melbourne.

Three of the original Daintree protesters, Mike Berwick (Douglas Shire Mayor), Ian Cohen (MLC NSW Legislative Council) & John Seed (Rainforest Information Centre) will be present to discuss the effect the blockades had on their lives and the conservation movement.

Rainforest Rescue’s Daintree Buyback & Protect Forever Project has been buying back rainforest land in the Daintree that is threatened by development since 2000. The not-for profit-organization has focused its efforts on purchasing properties adjacent to the World Heritage Area to protect them as part of the larger forest in perpetuity. To date, ten properties have been rescued and returned to the forest through the Daintree Buyback & Protect Forever Project.