Windsor Tablelands

Prior to the Wet Tropics of Queensland becoming a World Heritage Site in 1988, the Windsor Tablelands and surrounding rainforest areas were being paved for roads, new tourism locations and utilised for its timber and other natural resources.[8] While the region had been logged and utilised for its resources since settlement began extensively in North Queensland in 1860, major social and political protesting against developers in the region would only gain traction and government consideration through broadcast media in the 1980s.[8] While the Daintree blockade had critical impact for universal recognition of the Wet Tropics of Queensland as a UNESCO World Heritage Site,[9] the Mt. Windsor blockade was one of the first protests conducted in 1981, that was in direct defiance to extensive logging in the Windsor Tableland and surrounding regions.[8] While protestors were arrested at the Mt. Windsor blockade and the protesting subdued, their efforts had impact through subsequent media traction and following protesting that would occur for the Wet Tropics of North Queensland.[8]

Although it would take the Windsor Tableland region until 2005 to be proclaimed as a nationally, conserved area,[2] the protesting of the Mt. Windsor blockade, Daintree region and surrounding rainforest habitats had led the way for the conservation of the such North Queensland rainforest and natural ecosystems.

Prior to be conserved as a World Heritage Site through the Wet Tropics of Queensland, the Mount Windsor Tableland region was extensively logged for its timber.[10] The rainforest region was once harvested purely for its economic value and the value of Tableland region as a home for a diverse range of wildlife and plant life predominantly overlooked. In order to gain access to large hectares of quality rainforest trees and other drylands-forest trees, bulldozes would dismantle terrain for clear passage to these sites.[10] While the impacts of the logging itself had major implications for destruction of rainforest habitats, the construction of logging tracks in the area also had considerable impact. As much as one logging site could require a few kilometres worth of bulldozing to create a path to such grounds.[10] These tracks were often meters wide too. Streams and bodies of water were often filled with the displacement of dirt, foliage and debris from these tracks via both the construction of them and the movement of operating vehicles on the land. Some water bodies would take years to settle back to clarified levels able to sustain wildlife.[10] Assumably, large reductions in rainforest and woodland coverage and extensive canopy loss was incurred. Canopy loss is a major threat to rainforests, this reduction can weaken the rainforest ability to withstand abnormal weather phenomenon and protect the wildlife dependent on these ecosystems.[11] A majority of the logging in the Mount Windsor Tableland area was for commercial sale.[10]

Additionally, other than the more direct impacts on the rainforest landscape in terms of cutting down vast areas of forest for timber, logging has had casual effects on animal species and their dwindling numbers in the region. One study by the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology, attributed the logging of parts of the Mount Windsor Tableland rainforest towards declining numbers of migrating bird species and native bird species to the area.[12] Studies conducted through the CSIRO Division recorded the presence of three species of bower bird. These included: the Golden Bowerbird, Satin Bowerbird and the Tooth-billed Catbird. Tracking numbers prior and then after logging occurred, showing strong indication of the displacement of these bird species and whether permanent or long-term, indicated the effects of logging on the wildlife of the Mount Windsor Tableland.

Spotted-tailed Quoll

The spotted-tailed quoll (northern subspecies) also commonly named the tiger quoll or tiger cat,[17] is a carnivorous mammal that inhibits the Windsor Tableland area. The Northern bettong is another endangered species of mammal that is specific to the North Queensland area and the Tablelands, that is considered endangered under the EPBC status. This small, rabbit sized animal can be found scattered between predominantly the Windsor Tablelands, Coane Range and the Lamb Range.[18] Other endangered mammals include the Northern Quoll. There are also many amphibians that are endangered and specific to the Windsor Tableland ecosystem, these include the waterfall frog, common mist frog, and Australian lace-lid.[14]

Federal Legislation from the EPBC Act 1999, denotes that for an animal to be considered critically endangered it must be at an extremely high risk of becoming extinct within the near future.[15] There is only one animal with this critical classification that is native to the Windsor Tablelands. This animal is the little waterfall frog. A fungus named Chytridiomycosis is a highly deadly disease that has led to the declining numbers of the little waterfall frog.[19] These frogs are being closely monitored in areas such as the Windsor Tablelands and through initiative such as the Threat abatement plan for infection of amphibians with chytrid fungus 2016, the Queensland government are attempting to recover the declining numbers of the little waterfall frog and other endangered amphibian species.[20]

Black-faced monarch

The Tableland area hosts a wide variety of bird species that are native to the area and also protected under international agreements. Three birds have gained international protection status as migrating species that inhabit the Mount Windsor Tableland region.[2] The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals or Bonn Convention for short, is the international treaty that has protected these birds.[21] The three birds include the: black-faced monarch, spectacled monarch and rufous fantail. Given these three birds are migrating species, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, ensures the cooperation of all regions that these birds inhabit,[21] namely being, the Mount Windsor Tablelands. While not endangered, the species of birds are protected under the Bonn convention species and their numbers, monitored in the Tableland region.[2]