Over 60 members of the community were present at the  unveiling of a sign to celebrate the protection of a crucial lot in an important habitat corridor that connects two World Heritage Areas in the heart Mission Beach.

A buy back of Lot 66 was made possible by decades of community commitment and partnerships focused on saving the cassowary and their special environment at the popular seaside tourist destination. 

Daryl Dickson -  Mungarru Lodge Sanctuary
Oct 12th 2012

It has been months – almost a year, since we have seen any mahogany gliders at Mungarru Lodge Sanctuary.

During the last 17years mahogany gliders, sugar gliders, feather tailed gliders and striped possums have been our companions in the night time treetops of the woodland remnant that is our home at Mungarru Lodge Sanctuary in the Kennedy Valley just north of Cardwell.

Our gliders and possums survived TC Yasi but unfortunately our local population do not seemed to have fared well in the aftermath of the storm.

WILDWATCH:  by ANNE WILKINSON

This mid-spring is a season of temperature contrasts.

The wonderfully cool early mornings are replaced with baking days. Often in the afternoon the wind springs up, drying any moisture if we were lucky enough to get a shower, and sending leaves and even branches tumbling to the ground.

As we all know, the environment of the Cassowary Coast is very special but it is also very fragile. It is a cyclone adapted environment, but development, tourism and two severe cyclones in only 5 years have taken their toll and participating in the plant outs has shown me how fragile such an environment is.

A healthy foreshore vegetation is key to stable sand dunes, the most effective barrier against erosion.

Congratulations to all who have been involved in the many plant outs along the foreshores of our beaches.  It is an acknowledgement of how intrinsic the value of the natural environment is to our community, lifestyle and well being at Mission Beach.

Hundreds of volunteers have spent countless hours over many months planting thousands of native trees and shrubs to help repair the damage to our dunal system as a result of cyclone Yasi. 

The Cassowary Coast community as a whole deserves  acknowledgement for the exceptional effort that is being made. 

WILDWATCH by ANNE (WILKINSON) & LAWRIE MARTIN

At last green-winged pigeons are back in the Wildwatch garden.

Possibly we have simply not noticed them or were not there at the right time, but these beautiful birds, also known as emerald doves, enjoyed a fairly high profile here until Cyclone Yasi when they disappeared.

We had not seen them since.