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Forest of Life site looking west to the mountains and showing rehabilitation sites to the left and right
The ARF nursery in the Daintree
Many trees have been planted on the site and volunteers regularly help with ite preparation and planting
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The Forest of Life is the centrepiece of the ARF’s efforts in the Daintree. It is 200 acres of land at Cape Tribulation – The George Mansford Reserve - named after retired Brigadier George Mansford AM, early chairman of the Australian Rainforest Foundation.
The block abuts the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area with Thompson Creek flowing through its centre. The land has been identified by scientists as having the highest ecological values.
Technically the vegetation type is Type 1a/2a complex mesophyll/ mesophyll to notophyll vine forest with a canopy to approximately 18-25m in height and exhibits many rare and threatened species of flora and fauna, including the endangered cassowary.
A little over a quarter of the allotment had been previously cleared for farming. There is however intact remnant riparian rainforest adjacent to Thompson Creek and in fragmented patches of re-growth in the cleared areas. A range of environmental weeds and introduced species occur in these cleared areas and on the forest’s margins.
The ARF has built a specialist nursery close to the site to gather seeds and forest stems for use in the revegetation. The ARF estimates that 30,000 trees may be needed to complete the revegetation of the Forest of Life.
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Some mature trees remain on the site and the initial plantings will expand out from this tree line
The endangered Cassowary is regularly seen on the property
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