The Importance of the Daintree Rainforest.

The Daintree Rainforest gained a World Heritage Listing on the 9th of December 1988. This was a declaration of Australia’s commitment to the area and recognition of its environmental values. The Daintree area is adjacent to another World Heritage site of equal importance, the Great Barrier Reef. There are few places in the world as significant and with such biodiversity as the Daintree Rainforest.

The canopy of the Daintree Rainforest is up to 45 metres above the forest floor. It is a food source for insects, birds and possums, and also serves as a habitat for species that live in the high trees such as snakes. These animals living in the canopy play a crucial role in the survival of animals that inhabit the rainforest floor by knocking fruit down from the trees.

On a principle level, rainforests are essential to human life because they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. Carbon dioxide in the air created by burning wood, car engines etc, is removed the air and stored in the leaves, branches, roots and stems of plants. This collecting of carbon dioxide helps reduce the amount of pollution in the air, and in turn assists in reducing the greenhouse effect.

But there is another, more scientifically minded reason that highlights the importance of the Australian Daintree Rainforest. Scientists are quickly learning that cures to diseases that affect humans can be found in the rainforests of the world, including the Daintree Rainforest. There are plants that live in these ecosystems that are found in extremely small numbers, and losses of these types of plants could mean losses of potential cures.

"Imagine losing the potential cure for cancer or AIDS that might have been found in an undiscovered plant from the rainforest." (Tropical Rainforest Coalition, 1996)

Although there is scientific proof that cures do come from rainforests - one-fourth of drugs have products that come from rainforests - we still continue to pillage trees in the name of development. In the Daintree Rainforest, many tropical plants have been identified as having anti-cancer properties. However, scientists looking for anti-cancer properties have only been able to test 1 in 10 tropical forest plants to date.

Drugs used daily around the world have come from the rainforest, including aspirin. The rosy periwinkle flower helps treat people with Leukaemia. Tropical rainforests have provided chemicals used to treat muscular inflammation and tension, diabetes, malaria, heart conditions, rheumatism, skin conditions, and arthritis. Chemicals are found in rainforests that act as stimulants, tranquillisers, and contraceptives. Even a cure for AIDS could be discovered in rainforests.

In fact, it already has.

Researchers found a tree from the Malaysian rainforest in 1987 that was totally effective at killing the HIV-1 virus. Unfortunately, they were never able to find the tree again…but they’re still looking.

Even though we live in an age where we believe that science has all the answers and we know almost everything about the planet we live on, there are still plants and animals in the rainforests that have not yet been discovered by humans.

Rainforest Rescue is a not for profit organisation committed to saving our rainforests for current and future generations. With assistance from Rainforest Rescue, The Daintree Rainforest Foundation have purchased seven properties in the past few years. They are now being managed for their conservation values which will be protected forever. The acquisitions will contribute to a long term project to form corridor for Cassowaries in the area. If you could like to find out more about Rainforest Rescue and the Daintree Buy Back Project, visit Rainforest Rescue's website; www.rainforestrescue.org.au