Rainforests are one of the world's most important and diverse ecosystems, yet thousands of acres disappear each day, mostly a result of human activity. Along with the loss and fragmentation of rainforest areas due to practices such as intensive logging and increased farming, global climate change is very likely contributing to accelerating loss of plant and animal species. The potentially devastating effect of climate change is playing out in north Queensland, where models predict a significant rise in local temperatures over the next century that would result in a nearly 50 percent extinction rate among endemic species in affected areas. And because rainforests are so diverse, the threat to this one section of the continent places nearly half of all Australian bird species and endemic mammals at risk.  

For thousands of years the tropical rainforest of Queensland has been home to about 18 indigenous tribes, along with numerous primitive plant species, birds, and marsupials found nowhere else in the world. Giant strangler figs, abundant vines and epiphytes, large pythons, colorful parrots, giant cassowary, bandicoots, and tree kangaroos fill these forests with color, sound, and complexity. Northeastern Queensland's ancient rainforests preserve millions of years of evolutionary history, though sadly, these repositories have been greatly affected by habitat loss, fragmentation, and climate change. The eastern seaboard of northern Australia once supported extensive rainforests, but logging, mining, and agricultural production have destroyed and disrupted rainforest habitats and the traditional land of Aboriginal people. Today, over much of the area, only fragments of the original forests remain. 

Australia confronted the threat of rainforest loss much faster than most tropical countries, but the integrity and survival of these rainforests hinge upon developing solutions that consider larger-scale impacts, including global climate change, yet also provide economic benefits for the local community.