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Tropical rainforests in far north Queensland cover less than
0.2 per cent of Australia’s land surface and yet they contain two thirds of the
country’s butterfly species, half of the birds, and a third of all mammal
species. And there are many more plants and animals to discover, specially on
the rainforest canopy. But scientific study of the canopy is not easy. Ladders
will not reach the top branches and scientists often risk injury by using ropes
and harnesses. The Australian Research Council has stepped in with an
$800 000 grant for the purchase of a canopy crane. The crane, the first of
its kind to be used in the southern hemisphere, will be shipped from Germany to
a site in the Daintree area. The crane, which is expected to arrive mid-1997,
will be 43 metres in height with a jib of 55 metres. Suspended from the jib will
be a gondola that will move across the top of the canopy without damaging the
forest. The gondola will be lowered to pick up researchers from the ground. The
CRC for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, based at James Cook
University, will manage the project.