BIODIVERSITY
PROTECTING & RESTORING NATURE
The Wet Tropics is one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world. It is the only place with two interconnected World Heritage Areas – the world’s oldest continuously living rainforest and the 8,000 year old Great Barrier Reef. It has been ranked as the second most irreplaceable World Heritage Area by the IUCN and in 2022 the Australian Government recognised it as one of the country’s Priority Places for threatened species action.
Despite taking up just 0.26% of Australia’s total area, this bio-region contains half of Australia’s bird species, one third of its mammals, about 3000 plant species and over 600 different coral species. Many of these species are under threat from land clearing, urban development, invasive species and climate change.
The Wet Tropics World Heritage Forest is composed of large areas of habitat fragmented by towns, roads, trainlines and agricultural land. Our vision is to reconnect and buffer these areas to build one large intact system that would benefit multiple species.
Our work involves:
- Providing technical advice to recovery teams
- Advising landholders about habitat management
- Developing recovery action plans
- Raising community awareness about threats
- On-ground activities like revegetation, weed management and controlled burns
Current Wet Tropics biodiversity projects:
THREATENED SPECIES – OUR REGIONAL PRIORITIES
SPECTACLED FLYING FOX
Listed as critically endangered and in rapid decline after heatwaves caused mass deaths in 2018, the spectacled flying fox has enormous ecological importance as a long distance rainforest pollinator. They are essential for the survival of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Rainforests.
NORTHERN BETTONG
Listed as endangered, there are only two known populations in existence and they are in decline. They live in open Eucalyptus forest in the Mareeba area.
CASSOWARY
Listed as endangered, these large flightless birds are an iconic umbrella species only found in Far North Queensland – in the Wet Tropics and Cape York regions. The extent, condition and connectivity of their habitat has been significantly reduced by development. The leading recorded cause of cassowary deaths is vehicle strikes.
MAHOGANY GLIDER
The last population estimate of this endangered gliding possum was 1500 to 2000. Less than half of its original habitat in a small pocket south of Cardwell remains, and it is badly fragmented. Protecting this habitat and establishing wildlife corridors is critical to the survival of mahogany gliders.
THREATENED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES
MABI RAINFOREST
Mabi forest is a critically endangered rainforest ecological community. It is only found in North Queensland. Just four per cent of the original forest remains, with the largest areas in the Wet Tropics’ Curtain Figtree National Park and Wongabel State Forest on the Atherton Tablelands. Mabi forest is highly fragmented, and 41% is on freehold land.
LITTORAL RAINFOREST
Littoral rainforest is also a critically endangered ecological community. This rainforest grows right on the coast, and faces pressure from both directions through coastal development as well as coastal erosion and inundation.
BROAD LEAF TEA TREE
Broad-leafed tea tree is listed as an endangered ecological community. It grows in the high-rainfall area of coastal North Queensland, and the Wet Tropics region is home to just over 30 per cent of remaining woodlands.