Wet Tropics of Queensland

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. ==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). 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. Sixteen different structural types of rainforest have been identified. 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. • 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. 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. ==Flora==

The site contains many unique features such as over 390 rare plant species, which includes 74 species that are threatened. This includes at least 50 individual species which are endemic to the area. 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. 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. 65% of Australia's fern species are protected here, including all seven of the ancient fern species. ==Fauna==

370 species of bird have been recorded in the area. 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. The musky rat-kangaroo is significant because it represents an early stage in the evolution of kangaroos. Other rare animals include the yellow-bellied gliders and brush-tailed bettong. 107 mammal species have been identified. Australia's rarest mammal, the insectivorous Flores tube-nosed bat (Murina florium), is also found here. One quarter of Australia's rodent species are found within the Wet Tropics. 113 species of reptiles including 24 endemic species are found in the area and there are 51 amphibian species, of which 22 are endemic. One reason for the very high level of endemism is that the geomorphology is diverse, resulting in habitat islands where distinct subspecies have evolved. Some species are endemic to a specific mountain or groups of mountains. 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. ==Climate==

Rainfall in the area varies considerably, with elevation and orientation of the coastline being the major influences. Rainfall averages from 1,200 millimetres (mm) to over 8,000 mm annually. 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. 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. Some areas are off-limits to the general public to prevent the introduction of Phytophthora. ==Gallery==

File:Kuranda - Barron Gorge lookout.jpg|Barron Gorge in Barron Gorge National Park File:Wooroonooran Josephine Falls.jpg|Josephine Falls, 2008 File:Daintree Rainforest 3.jpg|Daintree Rainforest, 2011 File:Musky-rat.jpg|The musky rat-kangaroo is a marsupial species only found in the Wet Tropics ecoregion. File:Map of the Wet Tropics of Queensland - UNESCO World Heritage List.jpg|Map of the region, 2012 ==See also==