2025 Mikla Lewis Grant – Gondwana Rainforest Belief

Restoring rainforest corridors for cassowaries and future generations

Gondwana Rainforest Belief’s Avian Megafauna Hall Restoration Undertaking is a crucial step in direction of reconnecting fragmented rainforest landscapes in Far North Queensland and defending one among Australia’s most iconic and endangered species — the Southern Cassowary.

The Belief is the recipient of the WIRES 2025 Mikla Lewis OAM Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Grant to assist help their mission to revive lowland tropical rainforest and re-establish wildlife corridors linking cleared land with the adjoining Moist Tropics World Heritage Space. Over a 12-month interval, 6,000 native rainforest bushes will likely be planted to rebuild habitat connectivity, restore meals sources, and create secure passage for wildlife transferring between forest programs.

The necessity for this work is pressing. Cassowary numbers have declined to an estimated 4,400 people, largely as a result of habitat loss, fragmentation of conventional motion routes, and automobile strikes. As massive, ground-dwelling birds, cassowaries require intensive, flat lowland areas to forage and roam. When these landscapes are cleared or divided, the dangers to their survival improve dramatically.

By restoring crucial lowland corridors and planting key cassowary forage bushes, this mission will improve meals availability for this solely fruit-eating species whereas bettering security and refuge from human impacts. Importantly, cassowaries play an irreplaceable function in rainforest regeneration — many uncommon rainforest bushes rely virtually fully on cassowaries to disperse their seeds throughout the forest. Defending the cassowary is subsequently important to defending the rainforest itself.

To make sure the restoration delivers long-term conservation outcomes, the mission contains two seasonal fauna surveys (summer time and winter) carried out by an unbiased ecologist. These surveys will determine present wildlife on the land and inform future habitat restoration and administration choices.

The mission can even actively have interaction First Nations folks, recognising their deep data of Nation and supporting their involvement in habitat restoration, ongoing upkeep, and the care of rising wildlife populations. Over time, the Avian Megafauna Hall Restoration Undertaking goals to do greater than heal land — it seeks to rebuild ecological relationships. With sustained restoration and safety, the objective is to see cassowary numbers improve over the subsequent decade, guaranteeing these historic rainforest gardeners proceed to form and maintain Queensland’s tropical forests for generations to come back.

The grant quantity is $20,000.