Help us bring the Daintree Oxbow back — before someone else decides its future.
750 hectares of extraordinary floodplain habitat is on the market right now. Rainforest Rescue is ready to restore it. But we are not the only ones interested.
For seventy years, this land was asked to be something it wasn’t. Now it can finally come home.
For seventy years, this land was asked to be something it wasn’t. Now it can finally come home.
This moment matters. Here’s why.
For decades, the fragmented ownership of the Oxbow made large-scale restoration impossible. Individual landholders could not coordinate. Conservation could not get a foothold.
That has changed. For the first time, the landholders across the floodplain are ready to sell, and they want to see this country returned to nature.
But this land is on the open market. Other buyers are watching it too.
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A generous group of supporters have stepped forward to match donations, dollar for dollar, up to $150,000 — but only until the end of the tax year. That means your gift can go twice as far.
If these parcels do not go to conservation, the most likely outcome is fragmented private ownership and a return to agriculture. On a floodplain that floods. In a catchment already carrying too much sediment toward the reef.
The window is open. It will not stay that way.
Your gift today helps secure the Daintree Oxbow for nature, permanently. Every dollar brings us closer to the next parcel before another buyer gets there first.
What happens if we don’t act now.
This land does not stay as it is. That is the part that matters.
The most likely next use of the Oxbow is cattle grazing. On a floodplain sitting less than two metres above sea level. In December 2023, Cyclone Jasper struck this catchment. The Daintree River broke a flood record that had stood for over a hundred years. Hundreds of head of cattle were swept out to sea.
Cyclone Jasper was the wettest tropical cyclone ever recorded in Australia. The conditions that produced it are becoming more likely every year, not less.
Cattle on this floodplain means fertiliser, sediment and agricultural runoff flowing straight to the Daintree River and on to the Great Barrier Reef.
That is what waiting costs. For the rainforest, the river and the reef.
Cattle are the likely replacement for cane across the Oxbow floodplain, unless we can rescue and restore the native habitats.
Further downstream the mangrove forests and intact wetland areas provide clues to the potential of the Oxbow mosaic.
What a restored Oxbow looks like.
Restoration does not just stop the damage. It reverses it, and faster than most people expect.
Reconnect the tidal flow and the invasive grasses that have choked the wetland for decades begin to die back naturally. The fish nursery this place used to be starts to return. Barramundi. Sawfish. Even Dugongs. Species absent for generations.
Restore the hydrology and the floodplain begins to absorb and slow the river again, filtering what reaches the reef and buffering the catchment against the storms ahead.
Plant pioneer species and within a few years the forest canopy begins to close. Native birds return. Insects. Bats. The food webs that make a rainforest function.
The Southern Cassowary needs large, connected landscapes to survive. So does the Spectacled Flying-fox, the freshwater turtle, the little kingfisher, the bare-rumped sheathtail bat. The Oxbow sits at the corridor connecting Daintree National Park to the river system. Restore it and you restore the pathway dozens of threatened species depend on.
This place has been quiet for a long time. The remarkable thing is that it is still recoverable.
Many native species will benefit—but only if we can protect and restore this mosaic of habitats.
Image credits & copyright: Christian Ziegler; KazRedRacer; Martin Stringer; Lindsay Popple; JJ Harrison; John Atkinson; Threatened Species Australia; JJ Harrison.
We are part way there, we must keep momentum to make this happen.
We have come this far because people like you decided this was worth fighting for.
Every dollar raised moves us closer to securing the next parcel. Here is how we are tracking.
Right now, while this land is available and the people who own it want to see it returned to nature, we have a real chance to act. That window won’t stay open for long.
Across the globe biodiversity is in steep decline. Since 1970, global wildlife populations have fallen by nearly 70%, with freshwater species suffering an even sharper drop of more than 85%. Far too many wetlands and rainforests—two of the most biodiverse and interdependent ecosystems on Earth— have been drained, cleared, and fragmented.
But this story of environmental degradation does not have to end this way.
While the life that was once part of the Oxbow has gone quiet, restoring it and the surrounding floodplain is not only possible; it is essential. The hydrological work, the terrestrial restoration, the reconnection of mangroves to rainforest — depend on us acting now.
The land is available now. Your contribution moves us closer to securing it.
110 Cape Tribulation Road was a derelict, abandoned cane farm. Now it is returning to native habitat with regrowth and restored native vegetation.
This project is already in motion.
Rainforest Rescue has already secured the first parcel, 110 Cape Tribulation Road, and restoration work is underway on the ground right now. Our land management team is in the field: treating weeds, rebuilding soil, planting pioneer species.
Years of ecological surveys, hydrological assessments and restoration design are already complete. The planning process is moving. The sellers are ready to act.
What we need now is the funding to keep pace with the opportunity in front of us.
Your donation helps Rainforest Rescue purchase and restore the Daintree Oxbow. Every gift, at every level, counts toward securing this landscape before the window closes.
Donations of $2 or more are fully tax deductible. Donate before 30 June 2026 to claim this financial year.
Matched giving up to $150,000 total until 30 June or whichever is reached sooner.
Why Rainforest Rescue can deliver this.
Since 1999, Rainforest Rescue has protected and managed 47 ecologically significant areas across the Queensland Wet Tropics and beyond, building one of Australia’s most respected private conservation portfolios through disciplined land acquisition and hands-on restoration.
The Oxbow has been years in the making. Ecological surveys, hydrological assessments, restoration design and a Development Application covering the core parcels were all completed before this appeal launched.
In early 2026, Douglas Shire Council granted partial approval of that application, a meaningful step forward and a public acknowledgement from Council that this floodplain has no viable future in agriculture. An appeal has been lodged to unlock the full scope of the restoration. The planning process is moving. The sellers are ready.
The scientific basis is solid. The operational capability is in place. The organisational experience is there. What we need now is the resources to act at the pace this opportunity demands.
Rainforest Rescue is deeply committed to protecting and restoring the vulnerable Wet Tropics ecosystems. Our teams, volunteers and partners are actively working on the land in the lower Daintree right now.
“The Oxbow represents the next chapter in Rainforest Rescue’s evolution. Arguably our most important.”
— Branden Barber, CEO, Rainforest Rescue
At our recent Annual Community Tree Planting, Branden shared our vision with over a hundred volunteers from the local area and further afield.
A personal word from Branden.
I have been working toward this moment for years.
The Oxbow wetland is damaged. It is also still recoverable. And for the first time in decades, the entire floodplain is genuinely within reach.
What you backed when you first supported Rainforest Rescue has grown into something real. Something with a genuine chance of becoming one of the most significant land restoration projects in this country’s history.
I know this ask is significant. I know there are many worthy causes. But opportunities like this one are rare, and once they close, they do not reopen.
While we can, we must.
Thank you for being part of this.
Branden Barber
CEO, Rainforest Rescue
Now. Or never.
The Daintree Oxbow is on the market. The restoration is ready to scale. Help us secure it before another buyer does.
Donations of $2 or more are fully tax deductible. Donate before 30 June 2026 to claim this financial year.
PURCHASED PROPERTIES
It’s in our nature to protect. With the help of Rainforest Rescuers – people like you – we are significantly protecting pristine habitat for Nature and achieving strong wins for biodiversity. Visit our Protection Portfolio page for a full list of properties protected by Rainforest Rescue since 1999.
