Climate Change Adaptation: Building landscape resilience to climate change

Making connections: Landholders restoring connectivity in the Wet Tropics

The misty mountains of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area are home to an amazing diversity of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Unfortunately, clearing of land to make way for towns and farms, prior to World Heritage listing, has left some of these unique animals stranded in small fragments of forest, increasingly vulnerable to other impacts such as weeds, pests, diseases and climate change.

Climate modelling suggests that even a 1oC rise in temperature will reduce the habitat available for high-altitude specialists by 50%. This may force temperature-sensitive species to seek refuge in higher areas. However, limited connectivity in the landscape is a major barrier to migration.
Revegetating cleared land and restoring wildlife corridors in high, cool areas will increase the amount of habitat available as a climate refuge, building landscape resilience, and giving our unique Wet Tropics animals a better chance of surviving the extremes of a changing climate.

In August 2011, the Wet Tropics Management Authority launched a project to restore landscape connectivity in the high-altitude areas of the Southern Atherton Tablelands. The project draws on climate modelling by James Cook University to identify the areas most suitable as climate refuges for temperature-sensitive species, such as golden bowerbirds, rainforest skinks, Lumholtz tree kangaroos, Lemuroid, Daintree River and Herbert River ringtail possums.

Over the next two years, a grant of $600,000 from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country initiative, will improve connectivity between patches of rainforest on private land and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. 6 hectares will be planted, and the condition of 35 hectares will be improved through weed control and fencing (to exclude cattle) to restore two critical wildlife corridors at Rock Road and East Evelyn Road. Additional investment by the Queensland Government’s Department of Transport & Main Roads is paying for refurbishment of the existing wildlife underpasses at East Evelyn.

Longer term, the aim is to establish a “Coast to Cool” corridor between the coastal lowland rainforests of Mission Beach up to the cool high refuge of the Herberton Range, which will allow the natural migration of plants and animals to higher areas.

More than 6,000 trees over 2 hectares have already been planted by Tablelands Regional Council’s Community Revegetation Unit, Conservation Volunteers Australia and National Green Jobs Corp trainees, adjacent to Maple Leaf Nature Refuge on Kenny Road near Mount Hypipamee. Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service (QPWS) are also negotiating several possible new nature refuges in the area.

Scientists from James Cook University, the University of Queensland, and Griffith University will investigate more cost-effective way of converting pasture to rainforest, and encouraging ground-dwelling animals like rainforest skinks and frogs, to move into revegetated areas by introducing structures that mimic their natural habitat of fallen and decaying wood.

Traditional Owners and community groups including Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands (TREAT), the Tree Kangaroo and Mammal Group (TKMG), and Malanda & Upper Johnstone Landcare Association are also involved in this collaborative project. If you’d like to get involved in this or other connectivity projects, why not become a member of one of groups and participate in a community planting day?

The next community tree-planting days will be held at East Evelyn on Saturday 28 January and Saturday 18 February 2012. Download details here

WTMA would like to extend our sincere thanks to the landholders for their commitment to conservation of the Wet Tropics.

More photos and updates from the project can be found on our