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Wanaruah Country · Hunter Valley, NSW

Hunter Rainforest
Revival

A Landcare-led mission to restore Floodplain Dry Rainforest across the Lower Hunter — with community landholders, schools, and volunteers at the heart of it.

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0 trees planted

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We acknowledge the Wanaruah Nation as the Traditional Custodians of this region, and recognise their ongoing cultural connections to the land and waterways.

97% floodplain dry rainforest cleared. Let's bring it back.

Pre-colonisation

0 ha of Cedar Scrub covered the Lower Hunter

Today

0 ha survives in fragmented patches in poor condition

All on private land

Pre Colonisation History

How the landscape changed.

1750

Dense Dry-Rainforest Flourishing

The area between Morpeth and Maitland (the cedar scrub) was so dense with vines and creepers that it was virtually impenetrable. It featured massive cedar trees, Rosewood and gums that thrived in the rich alluvial deposits of the meandering Hunter River.

Pre-1800s

Awabakal & Wonnarua Country

The Awabakal and Wonnarua peoples — who called the red cedar koolai — had lived in deep connection with this rainforest long before European arrival. They knew these waters as Coonanbarra (the Morpeth reach) and Coquun (the Hunter River), and the cedar scrub was woven into their way of life.

1800–1820s

The Cedar Getter Era

Timber parties began cutting red cedar along the Hunter's banks — so valuable the rush was compared to gold. By 1812 a permanent camp sat at the Hunter–Wallis Creek confluence. Convicts stripped logs and bound them into rafts with native vines, floating them downstream to Newcastle for export to Sydney and beyond.

1820s

Clear-Felling Begins

Selective logging gave way to complete clear-felling. Government land grants required settlers to clear native vegetation for agriculture. The impenetrable cedar scrub was replaced by open pasture — and the river's course itself began to change.

Mid-1900s

A Forest Lost

By the mid-20th century the ancient cedar forests were almost entirely gone. The removal of the Cedar Scrub permanently altered the Hunter's path and surrounding ecology — replacing millennia of dry rainforest with the open farmlands seen today.

2024

Hunter Rainforest Revival Begins

The first mixed Dry Rainforest stand planted at Oakhampton on the Hunter floodplain.

Aerial view of Dry Rainforest planting, Maitland

What Remains — & What We're Doing

Present Day

Isolated remnants. But we can reconnect them.

What was once a vast, interconnected ecosystem is now fragmented into isolated patches on inaccessible slopes. The floodplains — where Dry Rainforest once thrived — have been almost entirely cleared.

Our approach creates strategic new patches across key floodplain and riparian areas — starting in Maitland — to rebuild a functioning network of Dry Rainforest habitats which connect to remnant patches in the hillslopes across the Hunter. Each patch will be no more than 3km apart to allow for flora and fauna movement and seed dispersal.

How has the Hunter River changed over time? →

Hunter Rainforest Revival planting event

The Work Begins

Oakhampton, 2024 → Multiple Sites in 2025 and 2026

Revegetation is underway.

In 2024, we planted our first mixed Dry Rainforest stands at Oakhampton and Bolwarra with 817 plants. In 2025 and 2026, the program scaled dramatically across Wallis Creek, Morpeth, Oakhampton and beyond. Schools, families and corporate volunteers all played a part.

Each patch planted isn't just trees — it's habitat reconnected, waterways stabilised, and one more step toward a living corridor for wildlife across the Hunter Valley.

Join the next planting →

How You Can Help

Every revivalist matters

There's a role here for everyone — whether you own land, want to volunteer, or teach the next generation.

I've got a property

Host a Dry Rainforest revegetation site. We'll work with you to plant, monitor and care for a patch on your land — and you'll witness the transformation over years.

I want to volunteer

Diverse volunteer roles — digging, planting, watering, quality assurance, refreshments, fundraising, site maintenance, media content etc. Open to all community members — no experience needed, just enthusiasm.

I'm a teacher / educator

Bring your students for hands-on learning about ecology, native species and First Nations connections to Country. Curriculum-linked activities available.

Get in touch →

Regent Bowerbird spotted at Oakhampton — a sign the rainforest is returning

School groups and events

Meet our mascot “Bowie” a Regent Bowerbird

The Regent Bowerbird — a species dependent on rainforest habitat. A real hit with the school groups.

Dry Rainforest provides critical habitat for species that have nowhere else to go on the valley floor. Every patch planted increases the connectivity these animals need to survive.

Regent Bowerbird Rare rainforest plants Native fauna corridors Threatened species

Watch Our Story

See the revival in action

1 minute 33 seconds. The Hunter's lost rainforest — and the community bringing it back.

Corporate Partnership

Partner with us to restore the Hunter's lost rainforest

We're inviting a select group of corporate partners to join the Hunter Rainforest Revival. Authentic ESG outcomes, staff engagement through volunteer planting days, and measurable biodiversity reporting — with a lasting legacy in the Hunter Valley.

Sponsors receive annual impact reports, site visits, co-branding on events, and public recognition across all program communications.

Enquire About Partnership →

🌱 Seed Partner

$5,000 – $10,000

Logo on website & social media, quarterly impact report, invitation to community planting events.

🌿 Growth Partner

$10,000 – $25,000

All Seed benefits + signage at your named planting site, staff volunteer day, newsletter & media mention, social media spotlight.

🌳 Canopy Partner

$25,000+

All Growth benefits + prominent co-branding, feature video, annual ESG impact report, executive site visit, event naming rights.

The People Behind It

Meet the Rainforest Revivalists

Stacy Mail

Lower Hunter Landcare Coordinator

Connecting landholders, schools and community groups to grow the network of Dry Rainforest champions right across the Hunter region. The heart of this project.

Peter Wilson

Revegetation Lead

Veteran landcarer who developed the Hunter Conceptual Model for Floodplain Dry Rainforests (2024) — the scientific backbone guiding every revegetation site in the program.

The Community

Revivalists — That Includes You

Volunteers from Newcastle to Singleton. School kids from 8 local schools. Landholders opening their gates. This is what revival looks like.

Funded & Supported by

🌿 Canopy Partners

This project received funding through the Landscape Resilience Program of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife

This project has been supported by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust