Camera Traps – September 2022

Camera Traps – September 2022 accrued 57-cassowaries, 17-dingoes and 39-feral pigs.  Against the cumulative monthly average, cassowary numbers dropped by 41%, dingoes fell by 33% and feral-pigs also decreased by 65%.  Against September 2021, cassowary numbers were 55%-down, dingoes fell by 6% and feral-pig numbers dropped by 35%.

It has been a long-standing frustration and embarrassment, that the nation’s environment that is most deserving of the cleanest form of electricity, has the dirtiest and most expensive. Surely a country as wealthy and well-educated as Australia could have done better than stand-alone systems that rely upon engine-generators on a per-property basis? The apparent complication that has stayed Australia’s progress in this regard, is a mistaken belief, held quite fervently by many people particularly living elsewhere, that the Daintree Rainforest environment is too valuable to compromise with an improved electricity-supply that supports people within that environment and that the noise and emissions and economic hardships of engine-generators are somehow emblematic of this higher environmental importance. Truth be told, it is not – it is pollution and competitive inequity.

Through the tireless representation of the Daintree Community’s Federal Member of Parliament, the Hon. Warren Entsch MP and all the talented and enthusiastic developers and supporters of the Daintree Renewable Microgrid, great news came out of the Queensland Department of Energy and Public Works this month with the publication of Far North Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan Outline, which includes the Daintree Microgrid Project – including an $18.75M investment for 200-jobs. This is the clearest indication that the State is on-side and is a very welcome announcement!

Daintree Rainforest Foundation Ltd has been registered by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and successfully entered onto the Register of Environmental Organisations. Donations made to the Daintree Rainforest Fund support Daintree Rainforest community custodianship and are eligible for a tax deduction under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.