NATURAL WONDERS OF AUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND

WET TROPICS OF QUEENSLAND

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Extent of Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage site : 2,250,874 acres (910,900 ha)

Age : over 100 million years

Height of Wallaman Falls : 917 ft (280 m)

The wet tropics of Queensland World world heritage site, centered on the Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation, contains one of the largest rainforest wilderness areas in Australia. It is the region of rugged mountains and mangrove forests, filled with deep gorges fast flowing rivers, and numerous waterfalls- the 1,115-foot (340-meter)Wallaman falls has the highest sheer drop of any waterfall in Australia. The combination of fringing coral reefs and rainforest coastline at cape Tribulation is unique in Australia;the site also borders s on the Great Barrier reef, another world Heritage site.The wet tropics contain many examples of ongoing ecological processes and biological evolution,including exceptionally high levels of specific diversity and uniqueness, reflecting long isolated ancient habitats. They contain one of the most complete and diverse living records of the major stages in the evolution of land plants, as well as one of the most important living records of the history of marsupials and songbirds.

The site also reflects eight of the major stages in the planet's evolutionary history, including: the ages of pteridophytes; conifers and cycads; angiosperms or flowering plants; the final break-up of Gondwanaland; the mixing of the wildlife and habitats on the Australian and Asian continental plates; and the impact of the many Pleistocene glacial periods, or ice ages, on tropical rainforest.

One fifth of Australia's bird species, one third of all its marsupial, reptile, and frog species, and two thirds of all its bat species are found here in an area that takes up less than one percent of the country's landmass.Aboriginal occupation is believed to date back approximately 50,000 years, and today the Wet Tropics continues to hold great significance for the oldest "rainforest people" on Earth. Where the rainforest meets the reef is also the site where Captain James Cook ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770. Captain Cook first sighted this stretch of coastline and named it Cape Tribulation "because here began all our troubles." In 1848 Edmund Kennedy became the first European to explore the Wet Tropics. A variety of bushwalking tracks are found in the Wet Tropics. The tracks range from 20-minute walks to all-day hikes.

A bird's-eye of the forest canopy can be glimpsed from a bungy jump. Or take the aerial cable car from Cairns to Kuranda for a longer look.Whitewater rafting, wildlife spotlighting at night, narrated botanical and cultural heritage walks, swimming and aerial flights are other popular activities.

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