Community Connections · Douglas Shire Council visit our Native Nursery
Planting trees as a community connection. Left to right: Councillors Roy Zammataro, Abigail Noli and Michael Rees, Rainforest Rescue CEO Branden Barber, Councillor Damian Meadows, Mayor Lisa Scomazzon and Rainforest Rescue Nursery Manager Marine Deliens.
While it seems like a lifetime since Douglas Shire Council first granted planning approval for the Native Nursery to be constructed on the Cow Bay site, it’s only been a few short years. In that time, tens of thousands of healthy, resilient young trees have been propagated within the Nursery before heading out to be planted in restoration sites nearby.
So it was with great pleasure that the Rainforest Rescue team recently welcomed Douglas Shire Council visitors to the Nursery – with Mayor Lisa Scomazzon and Councillors Damien Meadows, Abigail Noli, Michael Rees and Roy Zammataro spending the afternoon with us amongst the trees.
Keen to gain a deeper understanding of Rainforest Rescue’s projects and strategies for restoration, the Mayor and Councillors stopped by as part of their ‘community sessions’– where they visit places around the Shire to meet with local people and organisations.
Douglas Shire Council and Rainforest Rescue getting up close with young trees in the Native Nursery shadehouse and exploring the Cow Bay Airstrip habitat restoration site.
Understanding our projects and plans
Our Nursery Team took the visitors on a tour of the Native Nursery complex, discussing its self-sustaining energy cycle and sharing notes on some of the engineering details that Daintree locals brought to the development project. During the tour we had the chance to update everyone on the progress of our ‘Beneficial Bugs’ pilot, which has been a great success; as well as the continued pilot of natural coir planters as a replacement for reusable plastic tubestock containers.
Eager to see our experimental planting site, the group took a stroll through the early stages of the habitat restoration taking place on the former Cow Bay airstrip. Here we could highlight the difference between planting methodologies, as well as point out our co-project planting with James Cook University that will determine the relative resilience of rainforest plants within varied topography.
And of course, no visit is complete without afternoon tea! This provided the chance for in-depth discussion of our current habitat restoration challenges, outcomes from sites that have been protected for over 20 years and how Douglas Shire Council and Rainforest Rescue could collaborate more effectively. The latter topic is crucial, with both our organisations members of the Wet Tropics Restoration Alliance – committed to upscaling restoration in the region whilst supporting a resilient green economy that will protect the region’s natural assets.
Much energy was put into discussing Rainforest Rescue’s shifting focus towards the Daintree riparian and flood plain restoration to increase resilience of the area, especially against adverse weather conditions and catastrophic flooding events. This long-term strategy, as one Councillor pointed out, “makes total sense.” Validating our decisions with the local government authority helps us to keep momentum with our plans.
Discussing the benefits of Wildlife Corridors and seeing the difference natural coir (coconut fibre) tubestock containers can make.
Shared stewardship
As the sun dipped on a shared afternoon, it was positive to realise that there is a common understanding of the importance of the Daintree Rainforest as a global hotspot for biodiversity. Perhaps more importantly, there was obvious energy in acknowledging that the region’s environmental future requires shared stewardship.
To cap the visit, Mayor Scomazzon and the Councillors each planted a tree as a collective recognition of the ongoing commitment to restoration in the Shire. It’s always rewarding to spend time with your ‘neighbours’, and this visit was a testament to exactly that.
With thanks to Douglas Shire Council for their visit and ongoing recognition of our conservation and restoration work in the Daintree Rainforest.
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