Meet Nature Halfway | Heal Country, Heal Culture
HalfCut is an Australian environmental charity helping people, communities and businesses turn awareness into practical action for nature. In Far North Queensland, our work supports First Nations-led restoration in the Daintree landscape – part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area and widely recognised as the world’s oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforest.
An extraordinary living landscape
The world’s oldest tropical rainforest: The Daintree is widely recognised as the world’s oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforest, with origins stretching back to Gondwanan times.
Country and culture: Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples have cared for the Wet Tropics for thousands of years. Restoration in the Daintree supports Eastern Kuku Yalanji Bama to continue caring for Country.
Ancient plant life: The Wet Tropics holds the world’s highest concentration of ancient and relict flowering-plant families, making it an extraordinary living record of plant evolution.
A landscape under pressure: Around half of the Daintree Lowland Rainforest has been cleared since European settlement, making restoration and habitat reconnection especially important.
Exceptional biodiversity: Covering less than 0.2% of Australia, the Wet Tropics supports around 40% of Australia’s bird species, 30% of its marsupials, 60% of its butterflies and 65% of its ferns.
Globally significant habitat: The region supports hundreds of rare and threatened species, including the Southern Cassowary and musky rat-kangaroo.
Where rainforest meets reef: At Cape Tribulation, ancient rainforest reaches the coastline alongside the Great Barrier Reef.
The Work We Support
Restore cleared and degraded rainforest: Rebuilding native rainforest on cleared land and reconnecting fragmented habitat.
Support First Nations-led restoration: Working with Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation and Eastern Kuku Yalanji Bama, placing caring for Country and Traditional Owner aspirations at the heart of the work.
Plant for the long term: Supporting native plant propagation, planting, maintenance and ongoing care.
Create stronger wildlife corridors: Reconnecting rainforest remnants so wildlife can move, feed, breed and adapt.
Support climate action: Growing rainforest captures and stores carbon while supporting biodiversity, habitat and healthy landscapes.
Create opportunities on Country: Heal Country, Heal Culture connects restoration with employment, skills, cultural connection and long-term opportunities for Traditional Owners.
Our goal is simple: meet nature halfway – restore Country, strengthen culture and help give one of the most ancient and biodiverse landscapes on Earth a stronger future.
Images from Daintree Riverfalls project supplied by HalfCut
