Wet Tropics of Queensland - wikipedia Wet Tropics of Queensland Wet Tropics of Queensland UNESCO World Heritage Site Location Queensland, Australia Coordinates 17 ° 30 ′ S 145 ° 45 ′ E ﻿ / ﻿ 17.5 ° S 145.75 ° E ﻿ / - 17.5 ; 145.75 Criteria Natural : ( vii ), ( viii ), ( ix ), ( x ) Reference 486 Inscription 1988 ( 12th Session ) Wet Tropics of Queensland ( Australia ) Location of Wet Tropics of Queensland ( edit on Wikidata ) 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. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all four of the criteria for natural heritage for selection as a World Heritage Site. World Heritage status was declared in 1988. The Wet Tropics were added to the Australian National Heritage List in May 2007. The tropical forests have the highest concentration of primitive flowering plant families in the world. Only Madagascar and New Caledonia, due to their historical isolation, have humid, tropical regions with a comparable level of endemism. 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 Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Protected areas 2 Flora 3 Fauna 4 Climate 5 Environmental threats 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Geography Josephine Falls, 2008 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. 16 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. Copperlode Dam, Koombooloomba Dam and Paluma Dam are found within the World Heritage Area. Protected areas Barron Gorge in Barron Gorge National Park 15 % of the area is protected as national park. Among the national parks included within the Wet Tropics are : Barron Gorge National Park Black Mountain ( Kalkajaka ) National Park Cedar Bay National Park Daintree National Park Edmund Kennedy National Park Girringun National Park Kirrama National Park Kuranda National Park 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 Daintree Rainforest, 2011 The site contains many unique features such as over 390 rare plant species, which includes 74 species that are threatened. 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. Of the 19 families of primitive flowering plants worldwide, 12 are found in the Wet Tropics including two families found nowhere else. This includes at least 50 individual species which are endemic to the area. 90 species of orchids have been noted. 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 fossil species considered one of the Eucalypts ' fossil ancestors, 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 Animal type Species Endemic species Monotypic genera Bird 370 11 0 Mammal 107 11 Reptile 113 24 Amphibian 51 22 0 Sources : The musky rat - kangaroo is a marsupial species only found in the Wet Topics ecoregion. 370 species of bird have been recorded in the area. 11 species of those are found nowhere else. 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. 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 tube nosed insectivorous murina florious bat, 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. Climate Rainfall in the area varies considerably, with elevation and orientation of the coastline being the major influences. Rainfall averages from 1,200 millimeters ( 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. Invasive pest species are another concern as internal fragmentation by road and power lines. Insect and mite species are of particular concern because some of them are hard to detect. Some areas are off - limits to the general public in order the prevent the introduction of Phytophthora. The southern cassowary is often killed by motor vehicles. See also Queensland portal Environment of Australia Forests of Australia List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and Australasia References ^ Jump up to : `` World Heritage List : Wet Tropics of Queensland ''. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations. Retrieved 21 March 2013. ^ Jump up to : Steve 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. Jump up ^ `` Wet Tropics of Queensland ''. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Retrieved 18 June 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Wet Tropics ''. Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2013. ^ Jump up to : Reid, Greg ( 2004 ). Australia 's National and Marine Parks : Queensland. South Yarra, Victoria : Macmillan Education Australia. p. 13. ISBN 0 - 7329 - 9053 - X. ^ Jump up to : `` Queensland tropical rainforests ''. Encyclopedia of Earth. Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment. 2012. ^ Jump up to : McDonald, Geoff ; Marcus B. Lane ( 2000 ). Securing the Wet Tropics ? : A Retrospective on Managing Australia 's Tropical Rainforests. Federation Press. pp. 17 -- 19. ISBN 1862873496. Retrieved 3 December 2012. ^ Jump up to : `` Wet Tropics Management Authority ''. Wet Tropics Management Authority. Retrieved 24 March 2013. Jump up ^ World heritage forests : the world heritage convention as a mechanism for conserving tropical forest biodiversity. CIFOR. 1999. p. 36. ISBN 9798764234. Retrieved 21 March 2013. ^ Jump up to : Riley, Laura and William ( 2005 ). Nature 's Strongholds : The Worlds ' Great Wildlife Reserves. Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press. pp. 599 -- 600. ISBN 0 - 691 - 12219 - 9. Retrieved 12 July 2011. Jump up ^ Hyland, B.P.M. ; Whiffin, T. ; Zich, F.A. ; et al. ( Dec 2010 ). `` Factsheet -- Stockwellia quadrifida ''. Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants. Edition 6.1, online version ( RFK 6.1 ). Cairns, Australia : Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO ), through its Division of Plant Industry ; the Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research ; the Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University. Retrieved 23 October 2011. Jump up ^ Breeden, Stanley ( 1992 ). Visions of a Rainforest : A year in Australia 's tropical rainforest. Illustrated by William T. Cooper. Foreword by Sir David Attenborough. ( 1st ed. ). East Roseville : Simon & Schuster Australia. ISBN 0 - 7318 - 0058 - 3. Jump up ^ `` Endemic and rare species ''. Wet Tropics Management Authority. Retrieved 7 April 2013. ^ Jump up to : Stork, 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. Tropical Rainforests : Past, Present, and Future. University of Chicago Press. pp. 522 -- 523. ISBN 0226044688. Retrieved 23 March 2013. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wet Tropics of Queensland. Wet Tropics Management Authority webpage World heritage listing for Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Sites in Australia New South Wales Australian Convict Sites Gondwana Rainforests Blue Mountains Lord Howe Island Group Sydney Opera House Willandra Lakes Region Northern Territory Kakadu National Park Uluṟu - Kata Tjuṯa National Park Queensland Australian fossil mammal sites Riversleigh Fraser Island Gondwana Rainforests Great Barrier Reef Wet Tropics of Queensland South Australia Australian fossil mammal sites Naracoorte Tasmania Australian Convict Sites Macquarie Island Tasmanian Wilderness Victoria Royal Exhibition Building Carlton Gardens Western Australia Australian Convict Sites Ningaloo Coast Purnululu National Park Shark Bay External territories ( Norfolk Island ) Australian Convict Sites Heard Island and McDonald Islands Shared with other states / territories Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia ( IBRA ) Arnhem Coast Arnhem Plateau Australian Alps Avon Wheatbelt Ben Lomond Brigalow Belt North Brigalow Belt South Broken Hill Complex Burt Plain Cape York Peninsula Carnarvon Central Arnhem Central Kimberley Central Mackay Coast Central Ranges Channel Country Cobar Peneplain Coolgardie Coral Sea Daly Basin Dampierland Darling Riverine Plains Darwin Coastal Davenport Murchison Ranges Desert Uplands Einasleigh Uplands Esperance Plains Eyre Yorke Block Finke Flinders Lofty Block Furneaux Gascoyne Gawler Geraldton Sandplains Gibson Desert Great Sandy Desert Great Victoria Desert Gulf Coastal Gulf Fall and Uplands Gulf Plains Hampton Indian Tropical Islands Jarrah Forest Kanmantoo King Little Sandy Desert MacDonnell Ranges Mallee Mitchell Grass Downs Mount Isa Inlier Mulga Lands Murchison Murray Darling Depression Nandewar Naracoorte Coastal Plain New England Tablelands Northern Kimberley New South Wales North Coast New South Wales South Western Slopes Nullarbor Ord Victoria Plain Pacific Subtropical Islands Pine Creek Pilbara Riverina Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields South East Coastal Plain South East Corner South Eastern Highlands South East Queensland Southern Volcanic Plain Stony Plains Sturt Plateau Subantarctic Islands Swan Coastal Plain Sydney Basin Tanami Tasmanian Central Highlands Tasmanian Northern Midlands Tasmanian Northern Slopes Tasmanian South East Tasmanian Southern Ranges Tasmanian West Tiwi Cobourg Victoria Bonaparte Victorian Midlands Warren Wet Tropics Yalgoo Bioregions of the National Reserve System Coordinates : 17 ° 30 ′ S 145 ° 45 ′ E ﻿ / ﻿ 17.500 ° S 145.750 ° E ﻿ / - 17.500 ; 145.750 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wet_Tropics_of_Queensland&oldid=800438622 '' Categories : World Heritage Sites in Australia Far North Queensland Australian National Heritage List Wet Tropics of Queensland IBRA regions 1988 establishments in Australia North Queensland Central Queensland Protected areas established in 1988 Hidden categories : Articles using Infobox World Heritage Site using locally defined parameters Coordinates on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Català Čeština Deutsch Español فارسی Français Հայերեն Hrvatski Italiano עברית ქართული Lietuvių മലയാളം Монгол Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Русский Simple English Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 13 September 2017, at 15 : 13. 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Question: where is the wet tropics of queensland located
Answer: along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range