Australia’s rainforests under the spotlight
The role of eastern Australia’s rainforests as a refuge for wildlife against the upheavals of climate change will be one of the topics discussed at this week’s Rainforests of Subtropical Australia (ROSA) Symposium.
Australia’s leading experts on rainforests will gather at the Gold Coast on Thursday and Friday to share the latest in subtropical rainforest science and restoration practices.
The symposium will discuss the conservation and restoration of rainforests.
The rainforest event
The symposium will be hosted by Healthy Land & Water, a science-based waterway and landscape management organisation, that works to improve the condition of South East Queensland’s natural assets.
“It has been a decade since the last major rainforest conference in eastern Australia, and since then threats to these remarkable ecosystems have increased, including from urban development and climate change,” said Healthy Land & Water CEO Julie McLellan.
“Rainforests serve a critical function in the health of eastern Australia’s environment, and bring multiple benefits to people, underpinning tourism businesses and the wellbeing of individuals, and supporting a vast array of native species.”
The symposium will discuss the conservation and restoration of rainforests, the latest findings in ecology and threatened species protection, and the impacts of climate change on eastern Australia’s rainforests.
Other topics to be discussed include the sometimes fraught relationship between fire and rainforests, Traditional Owner perspectives on rainforests, and the threat of invasive weeds on rainforest ecology.
The event will take place at Robina on the Gold Coast on March 24 and 25 and is open to landholders, community groups, government and industry leaders with an interest in rainforest health.
WHAT: Rainforests of Subtropical Australia (ROSA) Symposium
WHO: Tim Low, biologist and ecologist; Prof Roger Kitching AM; Prof Carla Catterall; Prof Ralf Buckley; and many others.
WHEN: March 23 and 24.
WHERE: Robina Community Centre, 196 Robina Town Centre Drive, Queensland.
