The document summarizes the work of Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands (TREAT), a community-based tree planting group in Queensland, Australia. TREAT was founded in 1982 to encourage planting of native rainforest trees and has since planted over 500,000 trees. Their work focuses on restoring degraded lands and creating wildlife corridors. The document also describes Peterson Creek, where TREAT has worked since 1998 to establish a corridor connecting two isolated forest patches by planting over 89,000 trees along the creek.

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Blair Frantz
SFS 3540-Rainforest Management Studies in Australia & New Zealand
Field Journal Final
July 3, 2015
Email: befrantz@mac.com or frantzb1@montclair.edu
ASSIGNMENT: Field Journals- Australia
Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands (TREAT) – June 26, 2015:
In the late 1970’s some landholders had become alarmed at the degradation of their
properties. Farmers with cattle needed trees to shelter their animals from winter frosts and
cyclones. They turned to government agencies but were only offered pine trees or eucalypts. Few
rainforest tree seedlings were available. What was needed was a source of rainforest trees and a
group of dedicated, knowledgeable individuals.
Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands (TREAT) was created in 1982 by Joan
Wright and Geoff Tracey, who recognized the need for a community-based tree planting
conservation organization to restore degraded lands and create corridors for wildlife on the
tablelands. TREAT is a community-based tree planting group operating mainly on the Atherton
Tableland in the Wet Tropics Region of far North Queensland. It was formed in 1982 with the
principal objective of encouraging people to plant native rainforest trees. There are over 500
members associated with the TREAT organization. There is a constant, and urgent need by
landowners to plant native trees in order to rehabilitate degraded lands, improve water quality,
plan windbreaks, restore forest remnants, rebuild vegetated wildlife corridors, and enable
wildlife to move freely and enhance the landscape.
TREAT has a strong working relationship with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife
Service (CTR). CTR provides and maintains the nursery. They employ a small staff who carry
out the daily maintenance, assessment, preparation and monitoring of the site. TREAT
volunteers meet every Friday to work with the nursery trees. TREAT volunteers not only plant
trees, but design and manage restoration projects, monitor and supervise implementation, and
provide annual progress reports to agencies. They also monitor wildlife populations and study
vegetation changes. Some restoration projects are created by CTR, while others are made by
TREAT. CTR also helps TREAT in the education of school children. TREAT assists CTR in
teaching students, locally and from around the world, about rainforest restoration.
TREAT demonstrated for the first time that certain conservation tools are valuable. In the
1970’s scientists decided that many species of plant and animals disappeared from small and
isolated areas of the forest. It was believed that by building corridors between fragments, local
extinctions could be prevented. TREAT is one of the main organizations building wildlife
corridors in the Atherton Tablelands and has demonstrated that this approach works!
The main focus and “heart” of TREAT’s work is the nursery. Members of TREAT plant
small trees all over the tablelands, especially along streams to improve water quality. They plant
to reinforce forest edges as well. As stated above, TREAT also plant corridors to link fragments.

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They control weeds and monitor and record the animals that use the new forests. The starting
point for TREAT was to collect seeds from rainforest trees. Now hundreds of tree species
prosper at TREAT with great diversity, supporting a remarkable number of species. The seeds
are collected from roadside trees, from trees on the properties of members, generous landholders,
and from National Parks and other reserves. Every Friday morning approximately thirty
members gather at the nursery; this is when the work of raising the tree takes place. Seeds are
prepared and tiny seedlings are potted. Preparation includes the rearing of seedlings and the care
of the young trees until they are ready to be planted out. Over the past twenty years, almost a half
a million native plants have been propagated and planted. Their work takes place during the wet
season, therefore their planting season is in the summer, unlike New Zealand whose planting
season is right now, during winter.
The Atherton Tablelands’ primary need is rainforest restoration on cleared and degraded
land, with the linking of isolated fragments by the building of corridors as an important aspect of
this restoration project. TREAT members meet every week at the CTR nursery to process seeds
and fruits, pot and weed seedlings, plan their next planting and socialize. TREAT members
demonstrate that private, community-based organizations can indeed make a difference!
The first step in rainforest restoration is to determine which type of forest the site will
support. The original vegetation of a large part of the Atherton Tableland was Type 5B in Webb
and Tracey’s classification. Only 2% or so remains as it is an endangered ecosystem. It was
renamed Mabi Forest, an aboriginal name for one of its typical inhabitants- the tree kangaroo.
TREAT has a special interest in restoring the Mabi forests. Webb and Tracey described and
mapped out all the varied ecosystems in the rainforests of Queensland’s wet tropics. They found
there are thirteen main types. The most “lush”, that are the most complex, grow on fertile soils in
lower altitudes with high rainfall. The least complex are in drier areas of poor soil. The study of
the fruits and seeds of rainforest trees is vital to the right planting. Most species of trees TREAT
plant rely on animals for seed dispersal. Birds and flying foxes are the main sources for seed
dispersal. Without them the fruits would drop directly below the parent tree; the forest would not
be able to reclaim new areas. However canopy birds cannot disperse the large seeds between
widely separated fragments. Only one animal can do so: the cassowary. Unfortunately, the
cassowary is a rare and endangered species and cannot live in small fragments of the forest.
Humans have had to fill the gap; planting large fruited trees is a major component of ecosystem
restoration.
TREAT’s forest ecosystem is one of the most diverse in Australia supporting many
native species. However land clearing and the isolation of forest patches in a sea of agricultural
and urban development threatens the survival of many plants, animals, and the different types of
forest in which they exist. Planting trees in the right place, at the right time offers great benefits
to the soils, crops, water catchments and forest ecosystems. Tree planting acts like a bandage on
a wounded landscape and is a beneficial way for the community to get involved in conservation
and repair of the natural environment. Two native plant species in TREAT’s ecosystem include
the Queensland Maple (Flindersia brayleyana) and the White Cedar (Melia azedarach). The
Queensland Maple is used for decorative purposes such as furniture and fixtures. It is also
popular for picture frames and for musical instruments like guitar necks and piano parts
(“Featured Project”). The White Cedar seeds are used for ornamental purposes. The seeds are

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hard, which makes them desirable for use as beads, especially rosary beads (“White Cedar-a
Shade Tree”).
Two native animals to the TREAT lands include the cassowary (Casuarius) and flying
fox. Flying foxes keep ecosystems healthy through pollination and seed dispersal. The flying fox
has declined by at least 95% in the past century, with massive losses in the past 30 years. The
causes include habitat loss, i.e. land clearing, camp disturbance, starvation, increased heat events,
legal/illegal shooting, and man-made hazards like power lines, barbed wire and backyard fruit
tree netting (“Flying Foxes”). Cassowaries are a keystone species which means they are vital for
seed dispersal in the rainforest. Over one hundred fifty rainforest plants rely on them, especially
for dispersing the seeds of large-fruit species. Cassowaries are continuously threatened by habitat
loss, road deaths and attacks by dogs. More than eighty percent of the cassowary’s prime habitat,
which is the coastal lowland rainforest has been cleared over the last one hundred years. Nearly a
quarter of the remaining cassowary habitat has poor conservation protection (“The Cassowary-
Our Unique Big Bird”).
Two invasive plants at TREAT include Lantana camara and wild tobacco (Solanum
mauritianum). L. camara severely impacts agriculture as well as natural ecosystems. The plants
can grow individually in clumps or as dense thickets, crowding out more desirable species. In
disturbed native forests it can become the dominant understory species, disrupting succession
and decreasing biodiversity (“Ecology of Lantana Camara”). L. camara is also poisonous to
cattle and other livestock. Currently there are many techniques available to landholders to clear
L. camara. They range from hand removal to use of herbicides or mechanical options. One
particular technique that can be used in integrated control plans is the Splatter Gun technique
(“Wild tobacco”). The actual spread of L. camara came from its native Central and South
America to approximately fifty different countries where it has become an invasive species. Its
spread from the Americas to the rest of the world occurred when it was brought back to Europe
by Dutch explorers; it was cultivated widely and established itself as a notorious weed (“Lantana
Camara”). Wild tobacco, or Solanum mauritianum, is a woody weed native to South America. It
is an opportunistic plant which easily out-competes natural vegetation. S. mauritianum is also
toxic to livestock and humans if eaten in high quantities. However it is not a declared a pest plant
under Queensland legislation. S. mauritianum is hard to eradicate because wild tobacco fruits are
eaten and spread long distances by birds and animals. Neighboring areas by TREAT have birds
that spread the S. mauritianum seed into the TREAT areas creating more weed growth, and
making it very difficult to eradicate. However, there are some areas where wild tobacco is
welcome because they shade and kill out other unwanted weeds. Means for controlling wild
tobacco growth includes herbicide control, checking treated areas for new seedlings and
regrowth, and removal of seedlings during the wet season when the soil is soft (“Wild
Tobacco”).
Two invasive animals at TREAT include feral cats and dogs. Feral dogs kill tree
kangaroos and their joeys. In Australia, feral cats and dogs typically have few natural predators
or fatal diseases and high reproductive rates. As a result, they have a high survival rate and can
form large populations, often to the detriment of native species. Feral cats and dogs negatively
impact native species by predation, competition for food/shelter, destruction of habitats, and by
spread of disease. The impact of feral animals on a range of livestock is mainly through

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predation and transmission of disease. Feral dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), once domesticated,
now live in the wild. Feral cats (Felis catus), introduced to Australia during the European
settlement, were established in the wild around 1850. Intentional releases were made in the late
1800s in the hope that cats would control rabbits, rats and mice (“Feral Animals- Wild Dogs,
Foxes and Cats”).
Peterson Creek – June 26, 2015:
Peterson Creek flows between Lake Eacham, across farmland to the Curtain Fig forest.
From there, it winds its way to Tinaroo Dam. The Peterson Creek Wildlife Corridor project is a
joint initiative between the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, the planting group TREAT,
and Landholders neighboring Peterson Creek. TREAT members realized that by planting a
corridor along the creek they could solve two problems at once; they would join two isolated
patches of rainforest and rehabilitate a degraded stream. The Curtain Fig forest is of the Mabi
type which is an endangered ecosystem. A long term plan was made, and most landholders
cooperated. The first planting along Peterson Creek took place in 1998. Every year since an
additional five thousand trees were planted and approximately two hectares of native riparian
vegetation has been reestablished. The project will continue until the two isolated areas of forest
are joined. The expected completion date is 2015. The project aims to re-establish links between
the small and isolated Lake Eacham Section of the Crater Lakes National Park and The Curtain
Fig State Forest and Yungaburra National Park. The Curtain Fig State Forest and Yungaburra
National Park are joined together, but the combined area is still too small of an area, in the forest
as a habitat for sustainable populations of animals such as tree kangaroos. The initial goal of the
Peterson Creek project was to close the gap of native vegetation between the Lake Eacham
section and Curtain Fig State Forest. Additional goals now include the creation of a wildlife
corridor between the two isolated areas of forest, improvement of the Peterson Creek
environment, provision of shade and protection for livestock, establishment of an extensive flora
and fauna monitoring program, and establishment of a role model where government,
community and landholders work together to achieve benefits for biodiversity and conservation
(TREAT – Peterson Creek Revegetation Project).
All trees planted at Peterson Creek are locally occurring native species. Two native plants
that are found at Peterson Creek include the Firmiana (Firmiana papuanum) and the Hairy Penda
(Xanthostemon whitei). Firmiana is a flowering plant threatened by habitat loss. The Hairy Penda
is more vulnerable to the effects of cyclones due to increased edge effects created by humans
(“Wet Tropics”). Those species of trees that have been included in the plantings include
Firmiana (Firmiana papuanum), Hairy Penda (Xanthostemon whitei) and Coorangooloo
Quandong (Eleaocarpus coorangooloo). TREAT and QPWS have jointly planted along Peterson
Creek more than 89,000 trees, as of March 2014. The diversity of the tree population includes
thirty-nine plant families and a total of one hundred sixty two species.
Two native animals to Peterson Creek include the Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo and the
green ringtail possum. The tree kangaroo is a threatened species with habitat loss as their biggest
threat, although an increasing number of Lumholtz’s tree kangaroos are being killed by dogs, and
hit by cars when moving from tree to tree on the ground or between forests. To reduce the

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number of deaths of tree kangaroos efforts that can be taken include: spreading the word about
the presence of tree kangaroos in the area to minimize human dangers from cars, planting of
local native trees, close monitoring of pets by keeping dogs fenced or on a leash at all times, and
donations to Tree Roo Rescue and the Conservation Centre to help care for injured tree
kangaroos. The green ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus archeri) used to be hunted for food in the
past by indigenous Australians, but currently human predation is not a serious threat. Clearing of
the rainforest is the greatest threat at present (“Green Ringtail Possum”).
To assess the potential risks to Peterson Creek there are several things to consider. Feral
animals are one concern, and weeds are another. Weeds are more of a problem to the
environment than the animals that live there. However feral dogs and cats are still a problem for
Peterson creek as they were for TREAT. Simon, a volunteer member from TREAT stated that
dogs kill tree kangaroos and their joeys at Peterson Creek; this is a problem. However no
trappings for these dogs takes place. Some invasive plants at Peterson Creek that are harmful
include para grass and lantana (Lantana camara). L. camara severely impacts agriculture as well
as natural ecosystems. The plants can grow individually in clumps or as dense thickets, crowding
out more desirable species. In disturbed native forests it can become the dominant understory
species, disrupting succession and decreasing biodiversity (“Ecology of Lantana Camara”). L.
camara is also poisonous to cattle and other livestock. Currently there are many techniques
available to landholders to clear L. camara. They range from hand removal to use of herbicides
or mechanical options. One particular technique that can be used in integrated control plans is the
Splatter Gun technique (“Wild tobacco”). The actual spread of L. camara came from its native
Central and South America to approximately fifty different countries where it has become an
invasive species. Its spread from the Americas to the rest of the world occurred when it was
brought back to Europe by Dutch explorers; it was cultivated widely and established itself as a
notorious weed (“Lantana Camara”). Para grass is native to Africa and was introduced into
Queensland in 1880 to reduce soil erosion along banks of waterways. Para grass invades areas of
disturbed vegetation on suitable soils and cane growing areas. It is a very aggressive invader and
displaces other native plants. It is a real threat to natural wetland ecosystems. It is important to
control and treat this weed when they are small because it is hard to eradicate once they become
larger and established. Some physical controls include grazing which prevent it from dominating
other vegetation, and another is herbicide control which is very effective (“Para Grass”).
One barrier to restoration includes a creek that comes upstream from local farmland. It
has run off and sediment which makes the creek difficult for animals to survive. Too much
sediment and runoff can cause problems such as the degradation of habitats. Edge effects and
fragmentation are other barriers to restoration, however volunteer efforts continue with the
planting of trees to form and maintain the corridor. Water quality checks are conducted on the
creek, and weeds are pulled in an attempt to monitor and maintain the area.
The Peterson Creek wildlife corridor is one of a small number of wildlife corridors in the
Wet Tropics, which has been studied by many organizations and groups to better understand the
development and function of wildlife corridors. The Peterson Creek wildlife corridor facilitates
wildlife to cross Lake Barrine and Peeramon Roads (TREAT – Peterson Creek Revegetation
Project). I believe the Peterson Creek project is a fine example of regeneration of the native
forest, a work in progress. Volunteer efforts have focused on the restoration of this lovely creek

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to its original state by removing invasive weed, replanting thousands of native trees over the past
seventeen years, and providing a wildlife corridor between areas of open space which has
mitigated the effects of fragmentation and edge effects. This invaluable work must continue!
Works Cited
"Ecology of Lantana Camara." Issg Database: Ecology of Lantana Camara. Web. 30 June
2015. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=56.
"Featured Project." Queensland Maple, Also Known as Flindersia Brayleyana. Web. 30 June
2015. http://www.woodsolutions.com.au/Wood-Species/queensland-maple.
"Feral Animals - Wild Dogs, Foxes and Cats." - Byron Shire Council. Web. 30 June 2015.
http://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/feral-animals-wild-dogs-foxes-and-cats.
"Flying Foxes." Flying Foxes // Animals Australia. Web. 30 June 2015.
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/flying-foxes.php.
"! Green Ringtail Possum ! Tropical Rainforest, Far North Queensland Australia." ! Green
Ringtail Possum ! Tropical Rainforest, Far North Queensland Australia. Web. 2 July
2015. http://rainforest-australia.com/green_ringtail_possum.htm.
"Lantana Camara". Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 30 June 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantana_camara.
"Para Grass (Urochloa Mutica)." Para Grass (Urochloa Mutica). Web. 2 July 2015.
https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/plants/weeds-pest-animals-ants/weeds/a-z-listing-of-
weeds/photo-guide-to-weeds/para-grass.
"The Cassowary - Our Unique Big Bird." The Cassowary - Our Unique Big Bird. Web. 30 June
2015. http://www.arf.net.au/content.php?pageid=1280380330.
"TREAT." Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands. Web. 30 June 2015. http://treat.net.au.
"TREAT." Lantana. Web. 30 June 2015. http://treat.net.au/weeds/lantana.html.
"TREAT." Peterson Creek Revegetation Project. Web. 2 July 2015.
http://treat.net.au/projects/Peterson.html.
“Wet Tropics”. Wet Tropics. Web. 2 July 2015.
http://www.wettropics.gov.au/site/user-assets/docs/NigelTuckerCycloneLarry.pdf
"White Cedar- a Shade Tree." Sustainable Gardening Australia. Web. 30 June 2015.
http://www.sgaonline.org.au/white-cedar-a-shade-tree/.

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"Wild Tobacco (Solanum Mauritianum)." Wild Tobacco (Solanum Mauritianum). Web. 30 June
2015. https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/plants/weeds-pest-animals-ants/weeds/a-z-listing-of-
weeds/photo-guide-to-weeds/wild-tobacco.