R2037—Rock Road Wildlife Corridor project case study
Fast facts
- Location: Tarzali, Atherton Tablelands
- Proponent: South Endeavour Trust
- Duration: 16 years
- Carbon method: Environmental plantings
In the far north of Queensland, a team of conservationists is preparing to fulfil a long-held dream.
South Endeavour Trust was one of six successful projects to sign an Investment Round 2 contract with the Land Restoration Fund (LRF), securing more than $2.95 million to transform farmland back into tropical rainforest.
The funding will enable South Endeavour Trust to complete the Rock Road Wildlife Corridor project at Tarzali on the Atherton Tablelands, which began in 2013.
Tim Hughes, Director of South Endeavour Trust, explained the project would see a 1.8 kilometre long corridor of former farmland reforested through direct plantings of fast-growing species native to the region. Eventually, this corridor will reconnect the largest fragment of intact high altitude tropical rainforest left on the Atherton Tablelands with the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
“The Rock Road Wildlife Corridor project is the largest rainforest restoration project ever undertaken in the region,” Mr Hughes said.
When investing in carbon farming projects, the LRF looks for value beyond the amount of carbon sequestration that is likely to occur. The importance of the environmental, social and First Nations co-benefits from the Rock Road Corridor plantings was key to its success in securing funding.
The reforestation work involves planting more than 204,000 trees and maintaining over 60 hectares for 16 years. This new habitat link will have a major positive impact on the outlook for climate sensitive wildlife species such as the Green Ringtail Possum and the Lemuroid Ringtail Possum.
Importantly, for the surrounding community, the project is also likely to generate 12 long-term employment opportunities including two ranger traineeships for local First Nations people.
Although the project area is less than 100 hectares, the overall value of the project was judged to be high given the excellent conservation outcomes the project aims to achieve.
“We know from community efforts over 40 years that it only takes three to four years to have good forest cover from plantings,” Mr Hughes said.
We are incredibly excited to start.”
Map source: https://www.southendeavour.com.au/dirrans_end.html