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Welcome to the region! Among Australia's many natural wonders, Far North Queensland boasts two World Heritage areas side by side: the Wet Tropics rainforests along the coast and up on the Atherton Tablelands and the Great Barrier Reef. The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area measures 8,940 square kilometres (0.1% of the Australian land mass) stretching in a coastal band some 450 km long, from just south of Cooktown to just north of Townsville. Estimated to be at least 135 million years old in some parts, the Wet Tropics is the oldest continuously living tropical rainforest on earth. It contains all of Australia’s tropical rainforest, some eucalypt forests, swamps and mangrove forests. It experiences Australia’s highest annual rainfall, hence the name and has the highest biodiversity in Australia. Significantly, it has the highest concentration of plant and animal species with primitive characteristics, in the world, with 75% of them being the only representative of their genus (monotypic). The Wet Tropics received its World Heritage status from UNESCO on Dec 9, 1988. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest World Heritage Area measuring 348,400 square kilometers, stretching 2300 kilometers down the Queensland coast from the tip of Cape York in the north to Lady Elliot Island in the south. Estimated to be about 500,000 years old, it contains 2900 seperate reefs showing amazing biodiversity with at least 1500 species of fish, 400 species of hard corals and 5000 species of molluscs. It recieved its World Heritage status from UNESCO in 1981. The city of Cairns is located between the Wet Tropics and the Great Barrier Reef providing convenient access to both these World Heritage areas.
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