How was the Daintree Rainforest created?

 Escape the concrete jungle by stepping inside the Daintree Rainforest, a spellbinding natural paradise.

This ancient area is one of the oldest rainforests on the entire planet, stretching out thousands of kilometres and towering above our heads. But how did this vast greenery of life come to be?

It’s Beginning

Millions of years ago, well before humans walked the planet, Australia was a warm, humid climate with continuous rainfall. Due to this, rainforests flooded the entire country, with even Uluru areas covered. However, over time, the climate started to change. Areas became drier and parched from the scorching heat, extinguishing the rainforest lands, except for one. Queensland remained the ideal climate, continuing the heavy rainfall and tropical paradise, resulting in one rainforest to remain; the Daintree. The Daintree Rainforest is now 180 million years old, beating the Amazon by 10 million years!

It’s history with Humans

All up, there were around 18 different aboriginal camps living within the Daintree Rainforest, all belonging to the Kuku Yalanji tribe. They co-existed with the rainforest, depending on the vegetation within to survive. The vast knowledge of different plants and animals can be noted, with the people known to even eat toxic vegetation by preparing it the correct method. This tribe had been existing in the rainforest for around 9000 years until the European settlers came to Australia. The potential for gold attracted the Europeans to the rainforest, beginning to mine the area and causing violent attacks on the tribe. Settlers became to invade the area, with the first village constructed to act as a base for logging. It was not until 1988 when it was listed as a World Heritage site.

It’s threats

Despite its age and development, one threat that the Daintree cannot defeat is Climate Change. Human’s continuously harming the earth for our own gluttony has resulted in a huge negative shift in our environment. With greenhouse gas emissions increasing rapidly in the past century, our earth’s temperature has risen. Tropical rainforests depend on a particular atmosphere that is suitable for plant life, with the rise in temperature a loss of moisture is inevitable. Without enough moisture, the rainforest will suffer devastating droughts, with an accumulation of plant life to weaken and die out. As each resident of the rainforest is a part of the food chain, a loss of certain plants will mean a devastating food shortage to both animals and humans. A domino effect will occur, resulting in some animals to become endangered or extinct by starvation.

Related article: Is the Daintree Rainforest the Oldest in the World?