AN ANCIENT & UNIQUE WORLD

The Wet Tropics bioregion covers almost 2 million hectares and is adjacent to the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. Almost 45 per cent of the Wet Tropics bioregion is World Heritage listed, being ranked second globally for its irreplaceable endemic and threatened species.

The Wet Tropics listing is based on its exceptional beauty, high diversity of ancient taxa representing long evolutionary lineages, the outstanding examples of significant ongoing ecological processes and biological evolution, and largely intact flora and fauna involving hundreds of endemic species. The Wet Tropics is a biodiversity hotspot. Covering less than 0.2% of Australia, it has: 

•  30% of Australia’s marsupials, 58% bats, 29% frogs, 20% reptiles, 58% butterflies and 40% birds
•   185 Regional Ecosystems, of which 152 are endangered or of concern
•  3,000 vascular plant species, of which 576 are endemic 
•  672 terrestrial vertebrate species, of which 73 are endemic and mostly confined to the rainforests
•  32 % of Australia’s terrestrial vertebrate fauna 
•  16 of the world's 28 lineages of primitive flowering plants and, within these families, at least 50 flowering plant species found nowhere else
•  Rich cultural heritage, including 18 Aboriginal rainforest peoples.

Significantly, the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Areas are intrinsically connected. What happens in the mountain range and coastal lowlands impacts on the Reef.