Zachary Amir, PhD candidate at the University of Queensland

A continuous drizzle rained down from the low-lying clouds hanging over the emergent canopy of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Two volunteers and I approached the climax of the hiking track where we were collecting data on the rainforest wildlife community. The wet season officially broke a few weeks before, so we were completely soaked and had given up on dry shoes long ago.

I became so accustomed to pushing back the wet hair out of my face that I almost didn’t notice the leech enter my eye.

Thankfully, my volunteer was able to remove it before it latched down. Despite the incessant wet weather, hordes of biting insects, and sore feet, I couldn’t have been happier to be conducting research for my PhD at a Nandroya Falls where I established my unwavering passion for tropical rainforest ecology years ago.

As an international undergraduate student, visiting from the University of Colorado-Boulder, I had the good fortune to study in Far North Queensland with the School for International Training. Our experiential field-based semester took us to far-flung locations to teach us about rainforest and reef ecology and indigenous histories. During our orientation, our professor introduced us to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area via the Nandroya Falls circuit. We hiked through the contorting tangles of vegetation, past buttressed tree roots, and heard the raucous calls of metallic starlings from the canopy. When we reached the waterfall, I was awestruck by its magnificence and enjoyed a rewarding float at its base after an interpretive hike at ecologist-pace. I will never forget lying on my back in the water and staring up at the granite cliffs enclosing the waterfall and thinking of how fortunate I was to be there, but also how lucky I would be if I could live and work in this forest in the future.

Now, years later, I’m back in Far North Queensland to conduct research using camera traps to monitor wildlife. Although I originally started my PhD with the intention to sample Southeast Asian tropical forest wildlife communities, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted those plans. While the pandemic prevented me from leaving Queensland, it created unexpected opportunities for me to set up camera trap surveys across the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. As of early 2023, my team and I have successfully installed and collected nearly 300 camera traps spread out between Daintree, Mt. Lewis, Danbulla, Curtin Fig, Crater Lakes, and Wooroonooran National Parks. I’m particularly interested in understanding how invasive species like feral pigs and cats may be impacting native species, and the data generated from these surveys will inform wildlife conservation and tropical rainforest management. This research project has direct outcomes related to invasive species management and our ongoing collaborations with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Dulabed & Malandabara Aboriginal Corporation, James Cook University, and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy will ensure our results are translated into on-the-ground management actions.

A lot happened in the eight years between my first glimpse of Nandroya Falls as a bright-eyed undergraduate student to my itchy leech-bothered eyes of the present. However, my devotion to those most wild of places, tropical rainforests, remained unwavering. I hardly could have predicted the sinuous path that brought me back to Nandryoa Falls but I am eternally grateful for the opportunities that lead me back. By leveraging our research and collaborating with local organizations, we’re creating actions to safeguard one of the world’s oldest tropical rainforests to ensure that they remain wild and vibrant for generations to come.

Camera trap images:

Top Left – Lace monitor lizard

Top Right – Southern cassowary chicks

Middle Left – Lumholtz tree kangaroo

Middle Right – Spotted-tail quoll

Bottom Left – Wild boar

Bottom Right – Feral cat