Wet Tropics of Queensland

Natural world heritage site in Queensland, Australia

Wet Tropics of QueenslandUNESCO World Heritage Site

Forest near Daintree. Queensland

Location| Queensland, Australia
Includes|

components:

1. Main
2. Malbon Thompson and Graham Range
3. Curtain Fig
4. Lake Barrine
5. Lake Eacham
6. Russell River
7. Hugh Nelson Range
8. Malaan
9. Moresby Range
10. Cowley
11. Kurrimine Beach
12. Mission Beach
13. Girramay
14. Paluma Range

Criteria| Natural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)
Reference| 486
Inscription| 1988 (12th Session)
Area| 893,453 ha (3,449.64 sq mi)
Coordinates| 17°12′S 145°48′E﻿ / ﻿17.2°S 145.8°E﻿ / -17.2; 145.8

class=notpageimage|

Components in Queensland

Location of Wet Tropics of Queensland in Australia

The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all four of the criteria for natural heritage for selection as a World Heritage Site.[1] World Heritage status was declared in 1988,[2] and on 21 May 2007 the Wet Tropics were added to the Australian National Heritage List.[3]

The tropical forests have the highest concentration of primitive flowering plant families in the world.[4] Only Madagascar and New Caledonia, due to their historical isolation, have humid, tropical regions with a comparable level of endemism.[2]

The Wet Tropics rainforests are a biodiversity hotspot and recognised internationally for their ancient ancestry and many unique plants and animals. The area covers 0.1% of the Australian landmass but contains 50 per cent of all the nation's species.[5] Many plant and animal species in the Wet Tropics are found nowhere else in the world. The Wet Tropics has the oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforests on earth.[6]

## Indigenous peoples

[edit]

On 9 November 2012, the Australian Government also acknowledged the Indigenous heritage of the area as being nationally significant. The Aboriginal Rainforest People of the Wet Tropics of Queensland have lived continuously in the rainforest environment for at least 5000 years, and this is the only place in Australia where Aboriginal people have permanently inhabited a tropical rainforest environment.[7]

## Geography

[edit]

The Wet Tropics of Queensland stretches in part from Townsville to Cooktown, running in close parallel to the Great Barrier Reef (another World Heritage Site).[8]

The terrain is rugged. The Great Dividing Range and a number of small coastal ranges, highlands, tablelands, foothills and an escarpment dominate the landscape.

The heritage site contains the northern section of the Queensland tropical rain forests including the Daintree Rainforest. 16 different structural types of rainforest have been identified.[9][10]

The World Heritage area includes Australia's highest waterfall, Wallaman Falls. In total it spans 13 major river systems including the Annan, Bloomfield, Daintree, Barron, Mulgrave, Russell, Johnstone, Tully, Herbert, Burdekin, Mitchell, Normanby and Palmer River.[10] Copperlode Falls Dam, Koombooloomba Dam and Paluma Dam are found within the World Heritage Area.[10]

### Protected areas

[edit]

15% of the area is protected as national park.[9] Among the national parks included within the Wet Tropics are:

* Barron Gorge National Park
* Kalkajaka National Park
* Cedar Bay National Park
* Daintree National Park
* Girramay National Park
* Girringun National Park
* Kirrama National Park
* Kuranda National Park
* Macalister Range National Park[11]
* Wooroonooran National Park

and over 700 protected areas including privately owned land.

The Wet Tropics Management Authority was established in 1983; it is responsible for managing the site according to Australia's obligations under the World Heritage Convention.[12] The agency employed 20 staff in 2012 as a unit within the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. It is headed by a board of directors responsible to the Wet Tropics Ministerial Council which contains both Queensland and Federal Government representatives.[12]

## Flora

[edit]

The site contains many unique features such as over 390 rare plant species, which includes 74 species that are threatened.[8] There are at least 85 species that are endemic to the area, 13 different types of rainforest and 29 species of mangrove, which is more than anywhere else in the country.[8] Of the 19 families of primitive flowering plants worldwide, 12 are found in the Wet Tropics including two families found nowhere else.[13] This includes at least 50 individual species which are endemic to the area.[2]

90 species of orchids have been noted.[14] The large rare trees Stockwellia or Vic Stockwell's Puzzle Stockwellia quadrifida (Myrtaceae) grow only in restricted areas of "well developed upland rain forest" in the Wet Tropics.[15] They continue living today as descendants of, and very similar to, the ancient Gondwanan ancestors of the Eucalypts, which diversified into so many different species forms of all the Eucalypt plants today.[16] 65% of Australia's fern species are protected here, including all seven of the ancient fern species.[9]

## Fauna

[edit]

Animal
type | Species | Endemic
species | Monotypic
genera

|
|
|

Bird | 370 | 11 | 0
Mammal | 107 | 11 | 2
Reptile | 113 | 24 | 3
Amphibian | 51 | 22 | 0
Butterfly | 225 | 6 | 0
Sources:[1][17][18]

370 species of bird have been recorded in the area.[14] 11 species of those are found nowhere else.[1]

The southern cassowary and rare spotted-tailed quoll are some of the many threatened species, while the musky rat-kangaroo is one of 50 animal species that are unique to this area.[4] The musky rat-kangaroo is significant because it represents an early stage in the evolution of kangaroos.[2] Other rare animals include the yellow-bellied gliders and brush-tailed bettong.[14] 107 mammal species have been identified.[1] Australia's rarest mammal[dubious - discuss], the insectivorous Flores tube-nosed bat (Murina florium), is also found here.[14] One quarter of Australia's rodent species are found within the Wet Tropics.[9]

113 species of reptiles including 24 endemic species are found in the area and there are 51 amphibian species, of which 22 are endemic.[1] One reason for the very high level of endemism is that the geomorphology is diverse, resulting in habitat islands where distinct subspecies have evolved.[2] Some species are endemic to a specific mountain or groups of mountains.[19]

Around 225 species of butterflies have been discovered in the area, with six endemic species and 14 endemic subspecies. It constitutes approximately 57% of the entire Australian butterfly fauna.[18]

## Climate

[edit]

Rainfall in the area varies considerably, with elevation and orientation of the coastline being the major influences.[10] Rainfall averages from 1,200 millimetres (mm) to over 8,000 mm annually.[9] The highest mountains along the escarpment between Cairns and Tully receive the highest rainfall, mainly owing to orographic factors. Mount Bellenden Ker is the wettest recording station in the area with other high peaks and eastern slopes favouring high rainfall.[9] Most of the rainfall occurs from November to April. Tropical cyclones may impact the area.

## Environmental threats

[edit]

The expansion of the sugarcane industry in lowland plains poses a significant threat to some endangered ecosystems. Some are fragmented and their natural vegetation is degraded.[9] Invasive pest species are another concern along with internal fragmentation by road and power lines.[9][19] Insect and mite species are of particular concern because some of them are hard to detect.[19] Some areas are off-limits to the general public to prevent the introduction of Phytophthora.[19] The southern cassowary is often killed by motor vehicles.[19] Feral cats prey on native species. The cats compete with spotted-tailed quolls for food and habitat.[20]

## Gallery

[edit]

* Barron Gorge in Barron Gorge National Park

* Josephine Falls, 2008

* Daintree Rainforest, 2011

* The musky rat-kangaroo is a marsupial species only found in the Wet Tropics ecoregion.

* Map of the region, 2012

## See also

[edit]

* Queensland portal

* Environment of Australia
* Forests of Australia
* List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "World Heritage List: Wet Tropics of Queensland". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
2. ^ a b c d e Steve Goosen & Nigel I. J. Tucker (1995). "Wet Tropics Overview" (PDF). Repairing the Rainforest: Theory and Practice of Rainforest Re-establishment in North Queensland's Wet Tropics. Wet Tropics Management Authority. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
3. ^ "Wet Tropics of Queensland". Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
4. ^ a b "Wet Tropics". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
5. ^ Deacon, Ben (3 February 2019). "As the cloud forests get hotter, the white lemuroid possum gets closer to extinction". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
6. ^ "World Heritage Values". Website Tropics Management Authority. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
7. ^ "Department of the Environment and Energy". Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
8. ^ a b c Reid, Greg (2004). Australia's National and Marine Parks: Queensland. South Yarra, Victoria: Macmillan Education Australia. p. 13\. ISBN 0-7329-9053-X.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h "Queensland tropical rainforests". Encyclopedia of Earth. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment. 2012.
10. ^ a b c d McDonald, Geoff; Marcus B. Lane (2000). Securing the Wet Tropics?: A Retrospective on Managing Australia's Tropical Rainforests. Federation Press. pp. 17–19\. ISBN 1862873496. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
11. ^ "Macalister Range National Park". National Parks, Sport and Racing. Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
12. ^ a b "Wet Tropics Management Authority". Wet Tropics Management Authority. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
13. ^ World heritage forests: the world heritage convention as a mechanism for conserving tropical forest biodiversity. CIFOR. 1999. p. 36\. ISBN 9798764234. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
14. ^ a b c d Riley, Laura and William (2005). Nature's Strongholds: The Worlds' Great Wildlife Reserves. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. 599–600\. ISBN 0-691-12219-9. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
15. ^ F.A. Zich; B.P.M Hyland; T. Whiffen; R.A. Kerrigan (2020). "Stockwellia quadrifida". Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Retrieved 5 March 2021.
16. ^ Breeden, Stanley (1992). Visions of a Rainforest: A year in Australia's tropical rainforest. Illustrated by William T. Cooper. Foreword by Sir David Attenborough. (1st ed.). East Roseville: Simon & Schuster Australia. ISBN 0-7318-0058-3.
17. ^ "Endemic and rare species". Wet Tropics Management Authority. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
18. ^ a b Braby, M.F. (2000). Butterflies of Australia. Their Identification, Biology, and Distribution. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
19. ^ a b c d e Stork, Nigel E. (2005). "The Theory and Practice of Planning for Long-term Conservation of Biodiversity in the Wet Tropics Rainforests of Australia". In Bermingham, Eldredge; Dick, Christopher W.; Moritz, Craig (eds.). Tropical Rainforests: Past, Present, and Future. University of Chicago Press. pp. 522–523\. ISBN 0226044688. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
20. ^ Rigby, Mark (13 February 2023). "Robotic traps and artificial intelligence deployed in trial to control feral cats in Queensland's wet tropics". ABC News.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wet Tropics of Queensland.

* Wet Tropics Management Authority webpage
* World heritage listing for Wet Tropics of Queensland

* v
* t
* e

World Heritage Sites in Australia

New South Wales|

* Australian Convict Sites1
* Gondwana Rainforests1
* Blue Mountains
* Lord Howe Island Group
* Sydney Opera House
* Willandra Lakes Region

Northern Territory|

* Kakadu National Park
* Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park

Queensland|

Australian fossil mammal sites1
Riversleigh
K'gari
Gondwana Rainforests1
Great Barrier Reef
Wet Tropics of Queensland

South Australia|

Australian fossil mammal sites1
Naracoorte

Tasmania|

* Australian Convict Sites1
* Macquarie Island
* Tasmanian Wilderness

Victoria|

* Royal Exhibition Building
* Carlton Gardens
* Budj Bim Cultural Landscape

Western Australia|

* Australian Convict Sites1
* Ningaloo Coast
* Purnululu National Park
* Shark Bay

External territories|

* (Norfolk Island) Australian Convict Sites1
* Heard Island and McDonald Islands

1 Shared with other states/territories

* v
* t
* e

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA)

* Arnhem Coast
* Arnhem Plateau
* Australian Alps
* Avon Wheatbelt
* Ben Lomond
* Brigalow Belt North
* Brigalow Belt South
* Broken Hill Complex
* Burt Plain
* Cape York Peninsula
* Carnarvon
* Central Arnhem
* Central Kimberley
* Central Mackay Coast
* Central Ranges
* Channel Country
* Cobar Peneplain
* Coolgardie
* Coral Sea
* Cumberland Plain
* Daly Basin
* Dampierland
* Darling Riverine Plains
* Darwin Coastal
* Davenport Murchison Ranges
* Desert Uplands
* Einasleigh Uplands
* Esperance Plains
* Eyre Yorke Block
* Finke
* Flinders Lofty Block
* Furneaux
* Gascoyne
* Gawler
* Geraldton Sandplains
* Gibson Desert
* Great Sandy Desert
* Great Victoria Desert
* Gulf Coastal
* Gulf Fall and Uplands
* Gulf Plains
* Hampton
* Indian Tropical Islands
* Jarrah Forest
* Kanmantoo
* King
* Little Sandy Desert
* MacDonnell Ranges
* Mallee
* Mitchell Grass Downs
* Mount Isa Inlier
* Mulga Lands
* Murchison
* Murray Darling Depression
* Nandewar
* Naracoorte Coastal Plain
* New England Tablelands
* Northern Kimberley
* New South Wales North Coast
* New South Wales South Western Slopes
* Nullarbor Plain
* Ord Victoria Plain
* Pacific Subtropical Islands
* Pine Creek
* Pilbara
* Riverina
* Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields
* South East Coastal Plain
* South East Corner
* South Eastern Highlands
* South Eastern Queensland
* Southern Volcanic Plain
* Stony Plains
* Sturt Plateau
* Subantarctic Islands
* Swan Coastal Plain
* Sydney Basin
* Tanami
* Tasmanian Central Highlands
* Tasmanian Northern Midlands
* Tasmanian Northern Slopes
* Tasmanian South East
* Tasmanian Southern Ranges
* Tasmanian West
* Tiwi Cobourg
* Victoria Bonaparte
* Victorian Midlands
* Warren
* Wet Tropics
* Yalgoo

Bioregions of the National Reserve System
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template