Wet Tropics of Queensland

Wet Tropics of Queensland
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Forest near Daintree. Queensland
LocationQueensland, 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. Edmund Kennedy
  14. Paluma Range
CriteriaNatural: (vii), (viii), (ix), (x)
Reference486
Inscription1988 (12th Session)
Area893,453 ha (3,449.64 sq mi)
Coordinates15°39′S 144°58′E / 15.650°S 144.967°E / -15.650; 144.967
Wet Tropics of Queensland is located in Queensland
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Components in Queensland
Wet Tropics of Queensland is located in Australia
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Location of Wet Tropics of Queensland in Australia

The Wet Tropics of Queensland is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which has the oldest continuously surviving tropical rainforests on Earth.[1] The forests date from the Mesozoic era when the climate of Australia (and the world) was much more tropical than today. Originally, the rain forest area covered a much wider area than today. Today it is just a narrow strip along the east coast of Queensland. It starts just north of Townsville and continues to just south of Cooktown, a distance of about 450 km (280 mi).

The wet tropics cover an area of 894,420 ha (2,210,160 acres) in 730 separate blocks of land.[2] It includes 41 national parks covering185,000 ha (457,145 acres).[3] About 80% of the site is tropical rainforest. It is interesting because it is very old forest, and is a living record of 415 million years of evolution, going back to Pangea and Gondwana. All of Australia's marsupials, and many of its other animals, evolved in tropical rainforests, and many of their closest surviving ancestors still live in the Wet Tropics of Queensland.

References

  1. ↑ "World Heritage Values". Website Tropics Management Authority. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  2. ↑ "Wet Tropics Management Authority - Managing a World Heritage Area". wettropics.gov.au. 2012. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "Wet Tropics of Queensland - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". whc.unesco.org. 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.

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