A rare stand of Gondwana-era rainforest plants that has survived for tens of millions of years, has now been ravaged by fire in the wet, sub-tropical rainforests of northern New South Wales.

Key points: The nightcap oak is one of 20 extremely rare ancient plant species found in a small area north of Lismore

The nightcap oak is one of 20 extremely rare ancient plant species found in a small area north of Lismore There are only 120 fully grown nightcap oaks and another 100 saplings

There are only 120 fully grown nightcap oaks and another 100 saplings More than 2,000 hectares of the rainforest burned, including some of the precious nightcap oaks

Unlike the successful mission to save the Wollemi Pine in the Sydney Basin, the fate of the nightcap grove has received almost no attention.

The nightcap oak Eidothea hardeniana is one of 20 extremely rare ancient plant species found in a small area in the Nightcap National Park, north of Lismore.

In the same botanical hotspot, there are also 29 threatened animal species, including the endangered giant barred frog.

In early November, the Mt Nardi fire, which started with a lightning strike weeks earlier, flared up in hot, gusty conditions after a record dry spell.

It eventually threatened homes in communities near Nimbin in the west, Terania Creek in the south, Mullumbimby in the east and Uki in the north.

In between lay an ancient, precious asset.

The Mt Nardi bushfire burnt more than 2,000 hectares of World Heritage rainforest. ( Supplied: Darcy Grant )

Ancient and rare botanical gems

Robert Kooyman is an evolutionary ecologist who works with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Macquarie University and the Missouri Botanical Gardens in the US.

"It's a catastrophe," Dr Kooyman said. "They've all been severely affected."

Nightcap National Park is home to other rare species of plants and animals. ( ABC North Coast: Catherine Marciniak )

As soon as the fires cooled down, Dr Kooyman laced up his hiking boots to see how the dinosaur-era stand of trees, he first identified in the 1980s, had fared.

There are only 120 fully grown nightcap oaks and another 100 saplings, as well as other equally ancient and rare botanical gems in a remote area divided by sheer cliffs.

More than 2,000 hectares of the rainforest burned, including some of the precious nightcap oaks.

The lower reaches of the national park haven't been logged for 50 or 60 years, but there's evidence of logging throughout.

Only 1 per cent of 40-million-year-old rainforest remains

Dr Kooyman said historical logging amplified the effect of the fire, making it hotter, and extending its reach further than any fire previously.

"With all of the heads of old trees, the big, old logs, they've added significantly to the heat of the fire," he said.

Robert Kooyman studies Gondwana-era remnant rainforest around the Pacific. ( Supplied: Robert Kooyman )

"Also, the rainforest was logged out and clear-felled and converted to eucalypt forest, which has decreased the area of rainforest and expanded the reach of the fire, and the consequence of that has been dramatic."

Just 1 per cent of the original 40-million-year-old Gondwanan rainforest survives in Australia.

"To add insult to injury, we've contracted them further and increased the likely impact of fire by growing eucalyptus, and more pyrolytic vegetation adjacent to them," Dr Kooyman said.

Exhausted firefighters called away

The Gondwana rainforest burning in the Mt Nardi bushfire in Nightcap National Park. ( Supplied: Darcy Grant )

By November 10, when the Mt Nardi fire went to emergency, the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) rangers fighting the fires found they had a massive fire front on their hands.

But with thousands of neighbours adjoining the park, Nimbin Fire Brigade senior deputy captain Charlie Cohen said they were called to a different section.

"Well, how many different fires could they work on at once?

"These two guys told me they were exhausted when they got there and exhausted when they left.

"One of them told me he hadn't had a day off in 30 days."

Unmaintained fire trails a death trap

Mr Cohen was part of a remote access fire fighting unit parachuted into Tasmanian temperate rainforest that was burning. But he said he'd never seen subtropical rainforest near his own home burn.

Charlie Cohen said poor maintenance on fire trails hampered firefighting efforts. ( Supplied: Max Pike )

He said the cutbacks to NPWS staff, and the resulting reduction in maintenance, nearly cost him and his crew their lives.

"There's no money to keep the trails open," he said.

"We nearly lost our lives up there because one of the exits was blocked and had been since Cyclone Debbie, and we couldn't escape from there."

The forgotten species

Dr Kooyman said the level of attention the nightcap Gondwana species received from government was minimal.

"Compared to Wollemi, there hasn't been the drum-beating so there hasn't been the attention focused on the nightcap," he said.

"Which is ironic, given that in terms of the Gondwanan rainforest, the nightcap represents the highest-value forest in NSW and has more concentration of threatened species than anywhere in Australia."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 10 seconds 1 m 10 s The Wollemi pines were saved from the devastating bushfire in the Sydney Basin

Dr Kooyman said monitoring to understand the impact of the fires, a recovery plan and significantly more funding was needed to protect the Nightcap Range.

He said there would also need to be a better response to any future fire threat.

"We need to learn some lessons here and get better at what we do in terms of identifying what assets we have, and I mean natural assets, and protecting them," Dr Kooyman said.

A spokesman for the NSW environment department said:

"Significant planning undertaken by NPWS and RFS and efforts by Saving Our Species staff and NPWS firefighters on the ground, and in the air, have saved the Nightcap Oak during the Mt Nardi bushfires. Firefighters physically extinguished the fire as it approached plant populations, supported by helicopter water bucketing operations. Backburning was also done around the location of Nightcap Oak. "Emergency collections (cuttings) were taken for propagation as 'insurance' for this species. These cuttings were sent to a nursery specialising in propagation and care of cuttings. It is too soon to speculate on the level of success regarding future translocations and reintroductions. Other species targeted for collections were Minyon Quandong and Peach Myrtle. "Post-fire assessments on the impacts to these plants includes mapping to understand the full extent of the fires and the impacts on these species; and research into species fire tolerance, fire impacts, changes in habitat condition and extent, and assessing impacts on genetic diversity. "This will inform the development of a broader program to save these species, including future containment fire strategies and direct conservation actions including translocation and off-site conservation. It is too early to speculate on what the post fire assessment will reveal about the endangered species in that rainforest."

Editor's note 30/01/20: This story has been updated since its original publication date of 17/01/20 to include the statement from the NSW environment department.