Indigenous Tourism Workshops

The Wet Tropics Management Authority facilitated two Indigenous tourism workshops, in October. The first workshop was held at Echo Creek in Tully and the second at Mossman Gorge. The workshops were both well attended. Prompted by the workshops participants are now discussing the establishment of an Indigenous tourism network to help place North Queensland on the map as a destination for cultural tourism.

Cairns Post NIE awards

WTMA was thanked by the Cairns Post for being a platinum sponsor for the News In Education pages at a ceremony on 10 November. The Authority also contributes stories to the newspaper and sponsors scrapbooks for schools to educate children about the values of the Area.

 

Cairns Festival T-shirts

This year Cairns Festival t-shirts, developed in partnership with WTMA, featured a logo of a tree-kangaroo. Funds raised from the sale of the t-shirts during the festival were donated to The Tree-Kangaroo and Mammal Group, a community group based on the Atherton Tablelands.


 

Run for a Safe Climate

WTMA Executive Director, Andrew Maclean, welcomed a team from the national Run for a Safe Climate in Cairns on 3 November. The team of runners and staff all received gifts from the Authority to thank them for their dedication in raising awareness about the impacts of climate change and the threats to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The run commenced in Cooktown on Monday 2 November and continued south though the Wet Tropics. A team of 25 trained runners from emergency services commenced the relay over six thousand kilometres to link Australia's unique, world-renowned natural icons.

The relay will finish in Melbourne on St Kilda Beach.  At each major ecosystem, the runners are joined by scientists leading the research on the impacts of climate change. For more information please visit Safe Climate Australia and the Run for a Safe Climate.

Habitat restoration in Julatten-Mt Molloy

The Mitchell River Watershed Management Group has planted over 13,000 trees on 6.5 hectares of cleared land over 12 different properties. Individual projects have replanted rainforest on land previously used for grazing and sugarcane, restored the vegetation in riparian (stream bank) areas and fenced off wetland areas to exclude feral pigs. The aim was to make it easier for wildlife to move between protected areas by improving the connectivity between sections of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The group received a grant last year under the Caring for Our Country program. Grants worth a total of $80,000 were then awarded to landowners for revegetation. 

Kuranda Visitor Information Centre

WTMA’s network of Wet Tropics Visitor Centres have been busy raising funds for native wildlife charities in the Wet Tropics. The Kuranda Visitor Information Centre has raised over $650 in the last year for BatReach, a local wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Kuranda. The donation is going towards renovating the roofing on enclosures and will help to purchase medicine and food for the animals in care.

Cassowary Education

The Australian Rainforest Foundation has produced a cassowary education kit as a resource for school teachers. The kit aims to increase awareness about this endangered bird and will be sent to schools around Australia. If you would like a copy for your school, please contact the Australian Rainforest Foundation.

Protecting Quolls

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area is home to both the northern quoll and the endangered spotted-tailed quoll, whose distribution has significantly contracted over recent years. If you would like to learn more about protecting quolls in Queensland landscapes, then contact the Quoll Seekers Network to discover more about their new quoll information kit. The Quoll Seekers network has recently been named as the Queensland Wildlife Preservation Society's top project of the year.

Living in a Dynamic Tropical Forest Landscape

Prof Nigel Stork and Prof Steve Turton from James Cook University worked together to lead the Rainforest CRC for over ten years. They recently launched their new book titled 'Living in a Dynamic Tropical Forest Landscape'. The book, contains a vast collation of the diverse research that occurred under the Rainforest CRC.

University of Hanover

WTMA staff welcomed visiting biology students from the University of Hanover in Germany. The students visited the Authority to learn about the vegetation ecology and biogeography of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. The visit is part of their final year to complete an undergraduate degree at the Institute of Geobotany.