Restoring rainforest corridors for cassowaries and future generations
Gondwana Rainforest Trust’s Avian Megafauna Corridor Restoration Project is a critical step towards reconnecting fragmented rainforest landscapes in Far North Queensland and protecting one of Australia’s most iconic and endangered species — the Southern Cassowary.
The Trust is the recipient of the WIRES 2025 Mikla Lewis OAM Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Grant to help support their project to restore lowland tropical rainforest and re-establish wildlife corridors linking cleared land with the adjacent Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Over a 12-month period, 6,000 native rainforest trees will be planted to rebuild habitat connectivity, restore food sources, and create safe passage for wildlife moving between forest systems.
The need for this work is urgent. Cassowary numbers have declined to an estimated 4,400 individuals, largely due to habitat loss, fragmentation of traditional movement routes, and vehicle strikes. As large, ground-dwelling birds, cassowaries require extensive, flat lowland areas to forage and roam. When these landscapes are cleared or divided, the risks to their survival increase dramatically.
By restoring critical lowland corridors and planting key cassowary forage trees, this project will increase food availability for this exclusively fruit-eating species while improving safety and refuge from human impacts. Importantly, cassowaries play an irreplaceable role in rainforest regeneration — many rare rainforest trees rely almost entirely on cassowaries to disperse their seeds across the forest. Protecting the cassowary is therefore essential to protecting the rainforest itself.
To ensure the restoration delivers long-term conservation outcomes, the project includes two seasonal fauna surveys (summer and winter) conducted by an independent ecologist. These surveys will identify existing wildlife on the land and inform future habitat restoration and management decisions.
The project will also actively engage First Nations people, recognising their deep knowledge of Country and supporting their involvement in habitat restoration, ongoing maintenance, and the care of emerging wildlife populations. Over time, the Avian Megafauna Corridor Restoration Project aims to do more than heal land — it seeks to rebuild ecological relationships. With sustained restoration and protection, the goal is to see cassowary numbers increase over the next decade, ensuring these ancient rainforest gardeners continue to shape and sustain Queensland’s tropical forests for generations to come.
The grant amount is $20,000.