| Wet Tropics of Queensland * | |
|---|---|
Forest near Daintree |
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| Country | Australia |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | vii, viii, ix, x |
| Reference | 486 |
| Region ** | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1988 (12th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO |
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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, stretching from Townsville to Cooktown, running in close parallel to the Great Barrier Reef (another world heritage site). [1]
The Wet Tropics of Queensland were also added to the Australian National Heritage List in May 2007.[2] The rainforests have the highest concentration of primitive flowering plant families in the world.[3]
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Among the National Parks included within the Wet Tropics are:
and over 700 protected areas including privately-owned land.
The World Heritage Area includes Australia's highest waterfall, Wallaman Falls.
The site contains many unique features such as over 390 rare plant species, which includes 74 species that are threatened.[1] 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.[1] 370 species of bird have been recorded in the area.[4]
The endangered 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.[3] Other rare animals include the Yellow-bellied Gliders and Brush-tailed Bettong.[4]
90 species of orchids have been noted.[4] Australia's rarest mammal, the tube nosed insectivorous Murina florious bat is also found here.[4] Stockwellia or Vic Stockwell's Puzzle tree Stockwellia quadrifida—rare large trees, the present–day descendants of the ancient Gondwanan ancestor species of all Eucalypts—still live today only in restricted areas of "well developed upland rain forest" in the Wet Tropics.[5][6]
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