The Wet Tropics rainforests are recognised internationally for their ancient ancestry and many unique plants and animals. 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.[5]
Indigenous Peoples
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.[6]
Geography
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).[7]
The terrain is rugged. The Great Dividing Range and a number of small coastal ranges, highlands, tablelands, foothills and an escarpment dominate the landscape.
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.[11] 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.[11]
Flora
The site contains many unique features such as over 390 rare plant species, which includes 74 species that are threatened.[7] 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.[7] Of the 19 families of primitive flowering plants worldwide, 12 are found in the Wet Tropics including two families found nowhere else.[12] This includes at least 50 individual species which are endemic to the area.[2]
90 species of orchids have been noted.[13] 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.[14] They continue living today as descendants of, and very similar to, the ancient Gondwanan fossil species considered one of the Eucalypts' fossil ancestors, which diversified into so many different species forms of all the Eucalypt plants today.[15] 65% of Australia's fern species are protected here, including all seven of the ancient fern species.[8]
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.[18]
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.[17]
Climate
Rainfall in the area varies considerably, with elevation and orientation of the coastline being the major influences.[9] Rainfall averages from 1,200 millimetres (mm) to over 8,000 mm annually.[8] 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.[8] Most of the rainfall occurs from November to April. Tropical cyclones may impact the area.
Environmental threats
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.[8] Invasive pest species are another concern along with internal fragmentation by road and power lines.[8][18] Insect and mite species are of particular concern because some of them are hard to detect.[18] Some areas are off-limits to the general public to prevent the introduction of Phytophthora.[18] The southern cassowary is often killed by motor vehicles.[18]
^ abcdeSteve 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. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
^"Wet Tropics of Queensland". Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
^ ab"Wet Tropics". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
^ abcdefgh"Queensland tropical rainforests". Encyclopedia of Earth. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment. 2012.
^ abBraby, M.F. (2000). Butterflies of Australia. Their Identification, Biology, and Distribution. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
^ abcdeStork, 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. ISBN0226044688. Retrieved 23 March 2013.