Gondwana Rainforests

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world.[1] Collectively, the rainforests are a World Heritage Site with fifty separate reserves totalling 366,500 hectares (906,000 acres) from Newcastle to Brisbane.[2]

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
UNESCO World Heritage Site
LocationNew South Wales and Queensland, Australia
CriteriaNatural: (viii), (ix), (x)
Reference368bis
Inscription1986 (10th session)
Extensions1994
Area370,000 ha (1,400 sq mi)
Coordinates28°15′S 150°3′E
Barrington Tops
Main Range National Park
From the Main Range in the north to the Barrington Tops in the south, various grouping of the Gondwana Rainforests on the Australian continent
Australian National Heritage List
Official nameGondwana Rainforests of Australia
TypeNational heritage (landscape)
Designated17 December 1994
Reference no.105135
ClassNatural
Legal StatusDeclared property
Official nameGondwana Rainforests of Australia; Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves; Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (new name from 2007); North East Rainforests World Heritage Area
TypeState heritage (landscape)
Designated2 April 1999
Reference no.1002
TypeWilderness
CategoryLandscape - Natural

Background

The Gondwana Rainforests are so-named because the fossil record indicates that when Gondwana existed it was covered by rainforests containing the same kinds of species that are living today. Not all Gondwanan rainforests in Australia are located in the New South Wales – Queensland region; the largest Gondwanan rainforest in Australia is located in Tasmania's Tarkine wilderness. The number of visitors to the Gondwana rainforest reserves in New South Wales and Queensland is about 2 million per year.[1]

The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated initially in 1986, with the area extended in 1994, and carries the following inscription:[1]

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia is a serial property comprising the major remaining areas of rainforest in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. It represents outstanding examples of major stages of the Earth’s evolutionary history, ongoing geological and biological processes, and exceptional biological diversity. A wide range of plant and animal lineages and communities with ancient origins in Gondwana, many of which are restricted largely or entirely to the Gondwana Rainforests, survive in this collection of reserves. The Gondwana Rainforests also provides the principal habitat for many threatened species of plants and animals.

— Brief synthesis of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia as inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007[3] under the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1), 2003 (Cth);[4] and the New South Wales portion was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[5]

Conservation value

The forests were inscribed to the World Heritage list in 1986, covering only the New South Wales sites of approximately 310,800 hectares (768,000 acres) and extended in 1994 to cover the Queensland sites of approximately 59,200 hectares (146,000 acres) which is a total of approximately 370,000 hectares (910,000 acres). The rainforest reserves have an extremely high conservation value, with more than 200 rare or threatened plant and animal species.[2]

Eight separate areas have been identified as having outstanding heritage significance to Australia and are included on the Australian National Heritage List.[3] The altitude of the reserves ranges from sea level to almost 1,600 m (5,200 ft).[6]

On 22 December 2000, the High Conservation Value Old Growth forest covering 24 national parks and 19 nature reserves spread across 12 local government areas in the upper north east region of New South Wales were listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.[7]

National parks

The Queensland areas include the Main Range, at its most northern point; and extending south, the Lamington, Mount Chinghee, Springbrook and Mount Barney national parks.

The New South Wales areas include the Barrington Tops, at its most southern point; and extending north, the Dorrigo, Mount Warning, New England, Mebbin, Nightcap, Border Ranges, Oxley Wild Rivers, Washpool, Willi Willi and Werrikimbe national parks.[8]

The most heavily visited parts are Dorrigo National Park and the Natural Bridge section of Springbrook National Park.[6]

Destruction

The region was historically logged extremely heavily, to such an extent that only 1% of the original range of the Gondwana rainforest remains in Australia. Most of the logged regions have been taken over by eucalyptus forest. [9]

During the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season, many regions of the Gondwana rainforest were devastated by bushfires for the first time, with some preliminary reports indicating that up to 53% of the forests may have burned as of January 2020. Among the devastated habitats are several locations that are significant for some critically imperiled species, such as the nightcap oak and the giant barred frog. The presence of these devastating blazes in areas that have never burned prior has been linked to the encroachment of the flammable eucalyptus trees into the logged areas adjoining the forests.[9][10]

Australian National Heritage List sections

The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia are divided into sections for listing on the Australian National Heritage List, from north to south, as below:

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
Section Park or reserve name State Image Area Coordinates Source(s)
km2 sq mi
Main Range group;
near Killarney		 Acacia Plateau Flora Reserve NSW
Emu Vale State Forest (part) Qld
Gambubal State Forest (part) Qld
Gilbert State Forest (part) Qld
Goomburra State Forest (part) Qld
Main Range National Park Qld 184 71 27°48′57″S 152°15′56″E [11]
Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park Qld 28°04′35″S 152°23′26″E [11]
Spicers Gap State Forest (part) Qld
Teviot State Forest (part) Qld
Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve NSW 28°15′19″S 152°29′21″E [12]
Focal Peak group;
on the NSW—Qld border		 Burnett Creek State Forest (part)
Captains Creek Flora Reserve (part)
Mallanganee National Park NSW 11 4.2 25°55′09″S 152°45′13″E [13]
Mount Clunie National Park (part) NSW 14 5.4 28°19′27″S 152°31′12″E [14]
Mount Nothofagus National Park (part) NSW 22 8.5 28°19′02″S 152°38′01″E [15]
Tooloom National Park (part) NSW 44 17 28°26′47″S 152°27′13″E [16]
Toonumbar National Park (part) NSW 149 58 28°29′16″S 152°43′33″E [17]
Shield Volcano group;
on the NSW—Qld border
on the McPherson and Tweed ranges		 Amaroo Flora Reserve
Border Ranges National Park (part) NSW 317 122 28°21′35″S 152°59′10″E [18]
Lamington National Park Qld 206 80 28°8′32″S 153°6′55″E
Limpinwood Nature Reserve NSW 26.5 10.2 28°17′56″S 153°10′26″E [19]
Mebbin National Park (part)
Mount Chinghee National Park
Nightcap National Park (part)
Numinbah Nature Reserve NSW 8.6 3.3 28°15′S 153°16′E [20]
Springbrook National Park (part) Qld 62 24 28°08′24″S 153°16′27″E [21]
various Rabbit Board Reserves
along the Rabbit Board fence
Wollumbin National Park NSW 24 9.3 28°23′23″S 153°16′7″E [22]
Coastal group;
on the coast at Iluka		 Iluka Nature Reserve NSW 1.35 0.52 29°24′14″S 153°21′44″E [23]
Washpool and Gibraltar Range group;
contiguous areas between Glen Innes and Grafton		 Gibraltar Range National Park NSW
Washpool National Park NSW
New England group;
near Dorrigo		 Cunnawarra National Park (part) NSW
Dorrigo National Park (part) NSW
Mount Hyland Nature Reserve (part) NSW 25 9.7 30°9′36″S 152°26′42″E [24]
New England National Park (part) NSW 673 260 30°35′34″S 152°27′30″E [25]
Hastings–Macleay group;
southeast of Armidale		 Fenwicks Scrub Flora Reserve NSW 1.1 0.42 31°17′S 152°8.8′E [12]
Mount Seaview Nature Reserve NSW
Oxley Wild Rivers National Park (part) NSW 1,452 561 30°59′47″S 152°00′36″E [26]
The Castles Flora Reserve NSW 30°59′55″S 152°20′5″E [27]
Werrikimbe National Park (part) NSW 333 129 31°12′S 152°14′E [28]
Willi Willi National Park (part) NSW 299 115 31°10′43″S 152°29′27″E [29]
Barrington Tops group;
north of Dungog		 Barrington Tops National Park (part) NSW 765 295 32°3′10″S 151°29′37″E [30]
Mount Royal National Park (part) NSW 69 27 32°12′1″S 151°19′25″E [31]
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See also

References
  1. "Gondwana Rainforests of Australia". Department of the Environment. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2008.
  2. Reid, Greg (2004). Australia's National and Marine Parks: Queensland. South Yarra, Victoria: Macmillan Education Australia. p. 11. ISBN 0-7329-9053-X.
  3. "Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, Lismore, NSW, Australia". Australian Heritage Database: Department of the Environment. Australian Government. 2014. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. "Determination regarding including World Heritage places in the National Heritage List" (PDF). Special government gazette (PDF). Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Commonwealth of Australia. 21 May 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  5. "Gondwana Rainforests of Australia". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01002. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  6. McGinley, Mark (9 December 2008). "Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, Australia". Encyclopedia of Earth. United Nations Environment Programme: World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  7. "High Conservation Value Old Growth forest". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01487. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  8. "Gondwana Rainforests of Australia". World Heritage List. UNESCO. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
  9. Shoebridge, Joanne; Marciniak, Catherine (18 January 2020). "Gondwana-era nightcap oak devastated by unprecedented bushfire". ABC News. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  10. Cox, Lisa; Evershed, Nick (16 January 2020). "'It's heart-wrenching': 80% of Blue Mountains and 50% of Gondwana rainforests burn in bushfires". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  11. "Main Range National Park and Spicers Gap Road Regional Park Management Statement 2013". Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing. Government of Queensland. 11 November 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  12. Hunter, R. John (December 2004) [June 2003]. "9.2 Main Range Group". World Heritage and Associative Natural Values of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia (PDF). Government of New South Wales. p. 66. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  13. "Mallanganee National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  14. "Mount Clunie National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  15. "Mount Nothofagus National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  16. "Tooloom National Park: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  17. "Toonumbar National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  18. "Border Ranges National Park: Park management". NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014.
  19. "Limpinwood Nature Reserve: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  20. "Numinbah Nature Reserve: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  21. "Springbrook National Park: Nature, culture and history". Department of Environment, Resources, and Mining. Government of Queensland. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 24 March 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  22. "Wollumbin National Park". NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. Government of New South Wales. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  23. "Iluka Nature Reserve: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  24. "Mount Hyland Nature Reserve: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  25. "New England National Park: Park management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  26. "Oxley Wild Rivers National Park: Park Management". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  27. "The Castles Flora Reserve (NSW)". Gazetteer of Australia online. Geoscience Australia, Australian Government.
  28. "Werrikimbe National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  29. "Willi Willi National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  30. "Barrington Tops National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  31. "Mount Royal National Park". Office of Environment and Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material from Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, entry number 01002 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.

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