Rainforest Rescue is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation and restoration of Australian rainforests. CSENS recognises the vital role rainforests play in ecosystems across the world and is proud to support Rainforest Rescue as a featured partner and environmental ambassador.
Founded in 1999, the organisation has helped to protect vulnerable rainforests from degradation and restore those that have already suffered damage through planting, maintenance and weed removal programs. By identifying areas of rainforest with high conservation value, Rainforest Rescue is then able to purchase property on threatened land and carry out important conservation work.
Since European colonisation, Australia has lost an estimated 50% of its forests and bushland. While only 3% of Australia’s native forest is classified as rainforest, Australia’s rainforests contain over 60% of the continent’s plant species, 40% of its bird species and 35% of its mammals. The biodiversity inherent in rainforests is irreplaceable and Rainforest Rescue seeks to preserve this as a core part of their mission statement.
Rainforest Rescue’s primary projects are ‘Save a Rainforest’ (buyback of at-risk rainforest properties) & ‘Plant a Rainforest’ (restoration) and their work is primarily focused on the UNESCO World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest. Their efforts have contributed the planting of over 290,000 trees in Australia and their private property buy-back initiative has ensured the survival and increased connectivity of large stretches of natural habitat by purchasing & protecting 38 properties in the Daintree, and one (very large) property in Tasmania.
Native animals, such as the endangered Australian Southern Cassowary rely on habitat protection to contribute to the sustainability of the ecosystem. The Cassowary is responsible for the dispersal of over 70 different plant species, but human encroachment has left fewer than 4,600 individuals remaining in the wild. Rainforest Rescue’s vision is to buy back and protect all unprotected high conservation value rainforest in the Daintree lowlands by 2040 and is part of the multilateral Cassowary Recovery Team, a group of organisations dedicated to restoring the population to healthy numbers.
Rainforest Rescue has earned several accolades for their work
- 2020 Films for the Forest Audience Award – “Growing a Rainforest Community” directed by Martin Stringer
- 2018 Thorsborne Award for Community Conservation & Rehabilitation – Wet Tropics Management Authority’s Cassowary Awards in Cairns – Sponsored by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
- 2011 Steve L. Mourning Memorial Scholarship – Recipient: Erryn Stephens, Fundraising Manager, Rainforest Rescue
Find out more about the work of Rainforest Rescue.
