gondwana forests scaenic rim

8/8/2019 Gondwana Forests Scaenic Rim

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Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986

Gondwana Rainorests o Australia

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Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

Gondwana Rainorests

o Australia contains

remnants o the great

rainorests that once

covered the entire

continent o Australia.

These reserves eature

striking vertical clis, the

worlds best preserved

eroded volcanic craters,

wild rivers and many

impressive high wateralls.

The area is one o the

best places on earth to

see ancient erns and

Araucaria such as Hoop

pines.

An outstanding record

o fowering plants, true

songbirds and other rare

or threatened animals o

the most ancient lineages

show that these reserves

have played a signicant

role in providing reuge

to species or millions o

years.

Rainorest once covered most o the ancient southern

supercontinent Gondwana and remains the most ancient

type o vegetation in Australia. The Gondwana Rainorests

provide an interesting living link with the evolution o

Australia. Few places on earth contain so many plants and

animals which remain relatively unchanged rom their

ancestors in the ossil record. Some o the oldest elementso the world's erns and coniers are ound here and there

is a concentration o primitive plant amilies that are direct

links with the birth and spread o fowering plants over 100

million years ago. A range o geological and environmental

infuences in the Gondwana Rainorests determine where

orest communities grow. This process has occurred over

millions o years and will continue to change the orest

mosaic into the uture.

High wateralls crashing into steep gorges are spectacular

examples o an important ongoing natural process erosion.

Erosion by coastal rivers created the Great Escarpment and

the steepsided caldera o the Tweed Valley surroundingMount Warning. This towering mountain was once the buried

plug o an ancient vast volcano. Today, rainorest grows on

the ertile, well watered soils that remain.

The evolution o new species is encouraged by the natural

separation and isolation o rainorest stands. Many plants

and animals ound in the World Heritage property are

locally restricted to a ew sites or occur in widely separated

populations.

In 1986, a number o rainorest reserves located on the

Great Escarpment o eastern New South Wales, known

as the Australian East Coast Subtropical and Temperate

Rainorest Parks, were inscribed on the World Heritage list

or their outstanding natural universal values:

as an outstanding example representing major stages o

the earth's evolutionary history

as an outstanding example representing signicant

ongoing geological processes and biological evolution

containing important and signicant habitats or the in

situ conservation o biological diversity.

Large extensions to the area, including reserves in south

east Queensland, were listed in 1994 as Central Eastern

Rainorest Reserves (Australia). Then in 2007 the name

was changed to Gondwana Rainorests o Australia to

better refect the values o the property. The current listing

includes approximately 50 separate reserves located

between Newcastle and Brisbane. Only areas o reserved

Crown land are listed.

Rainorest occurs in New South Wales and south east

Queensland as discontinuous patches surrounded by re

prone eucalypt orest and agricultural lands. These patches

range in size rom tiny gully stands to lush orests covering

large valleys and ranges. The Gondwana Rainorests include

the most extensive areas o subtropical rainorest in the

world, large areas o warm temperate rainorest and nearly

all o the Antarctic beech cool temperate rainorest.

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Although rainorests cover only about 0.3 per cent

o Australia, they contain about hal o all Australian

plant amilies and about a third o Australia's mammal

and bird species. The Gondwana Rainorests have an

extremely high conservation value and provide habitat

or more than 200 rare or threatened plant and animal

species. The distributional limits o several species andmany centres o species diversity occur in the property.

The Border Group is a particularly rich area with the

highest concentration o rog, snake, bird and marsupial

species in Australia.

Exploring the World Heritage rainorests in the

Gondwana Rainorests World Heritage property is easy.

Many o the reserves are readily accessible rom major

towns by sealed or graded gravel roads.

The Gondwana Rainorests o Australia are managed

principally by the New South Wales National Parks

and Wildlie Service (part o the New South Wales

Department o Environment and Climate Change) and

the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency.

GondwanaRainforestsofAustralia

title page: Buttress roots in wet sclerophyll orest Springbrook National

Park, Queensland Paul Candlin

top strip: The wet sclerophyll orest in Lamington National Park Paul Candlin

top: Mt Warning National Park rom Blackbutts Picnic Area

caldera o the 20 million year old Tweed Shield Volcano Paul Candlin

above: Brindle Creek, Border Ranges National Park, DEWHA

below: Mundora Creek, Springbrook National Park Paul Candlin

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Further information

Department of the Environment,

Water, Heritage and the Arts

www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/

world/gondwana/index

UNESCO World Heritage

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/368

Contact


Gondwana Rainorests Executive Ocer

c/- NSW NPWS

PO Box 1236

Cos Harbour NSW 2450

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 02 6650 7101

Queensland Environmental

Protection Agency

www.epa.qld.gov.au

New South Wales National Parks

and Wildlife Service

www.environment.nsw.gov.au

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Barrington Tops NP

Mountoyal NP

Willi Willi NP

Mount Seaview NR

Werrikimbe NPOxley Wild Rivers NP

Oxley Wild Rivers NP

Mallanganee NP

Richmond Range NP

Nightcap NP

MountWarning NP

Lamington NP

Springbrook NP

CaptainsCreek NR

Tooloom NP

Toonumbar NP

MountBarney NP

BorderRanges NP

Numinbah NR

LimpinwoodNR

MountChinghee NP

Main Range NPGoomburra FR

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Washpool NP

Gibraltar Range NP

Iluka NR

Mount Hyland NR

Dorrigo NP

New England NPCunnawarra NP

Barrington Tops NP

MountRoyal NP

Willi Willi NP

Mount Seaview NR

Werrikimbe NPOxley Wild Rivers NP

Oxley Wild Rivers NP

Mallanganee NP

Richmond Range NP

Nightcap NP

MountWarning NP

Lamington NP

Springbrook NP

CaptainsCreek NR

Tooloom NP

Toonumbar NP

MountBarney NP

Border

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Numinbah NR

LimpinwoodNR

MountChinghee NP

Main Range NPGoomburra FR

Spicers Gap FR

Gilbert FR

GambubalState Forest

Koreelah NP

The Castles NR

MountNothofagus

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MountClunie NP

Emu Vale FRBurnett Creek FR

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Queensland

New South Wales

PortMacquarie

Kempsey

0 10 20 30 405km

World Heritage Area

Mainland

Ocean

Major River

Major Road

Minor Road

State Border

( Major Locality

Map produced by the Department of the

Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

Commonwealth of Australia 2008


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