Gondwana Rainforests

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world.<ref name="ausgovdep">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Collectively, the rainforests are a World Heritage Site with fifty separate reserves totalling Template:Convert from Template:NSWcity to Brisbane.<ref name="explore">Template:Cite book</ref>

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 WalesTemplate:Spaced endashQueensland 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.<ref name="ausgovdep" />

The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated initially in 1986, with the area extended in 1994, following a nomination which was prepared in 1992 by the Rainforest Conservation Society.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The World Heritage listing carries the following inscription:<ref name="ausgovdep" /> Template:Quotation

The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007<ref name=anhl>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> under the Template:Cite Legislation AU;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the New South Wales portion was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.<ref name=nswshr-1002>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>

Conservation value

The forests were inscribed to the World Heritage list in 1986, covering only the New South Wales sites of approximately Template:Convert and extended in 1994 to cover the Queensland sites of approximately Template:Convert which is a total of approximately Template:Convert. The rainforest reserves have an extremely high conservation value, with more than 200 rare or threatened plant and animal species.<ref name="explore" />

Eight separate areas have been identified as having outstanding heritage significance to Australia and are included on the Australian National Heritage List.<ref name=anhl/> The altitude of the reserves ranges from sea level to almost Template:Convert.<ref name="eos">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name=nswshr-1487>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The most heavily visited parts are Dorrigo National Park and the Natural Bridge section of Springbrook National Park.<ref name="eos"/>

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. <ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 before has been linked to the encroachment of the flammable eucalyptus trees into the logged areas adjoining the forests.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The general claim of "never burned before" has been challenged by several commentators, based on an article in The Cairns Post on 25 October 1951 that reported a "fire has burnt out about 2000 acres of thick rainforest country" in the Lamington National Park.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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	File:Queen Mary Falls3.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Spicers Gap Road Conservation Park	Qld	File:Moss's Well.jpg			Template:Coord	<ref name=mr/>
	Spicers Gap State Forest (part)	Qld
	Teviot State Forest (part)	Qld
	Wilsons Peak Flora Reserve	NSW	File:Wilsons Peak-1995 Dec.jpg			Template:Coord	<ref name="hunter 2004">Template:Citation</ref>
Focal Peak group; on the NSW–Qld border	Burnett Creek State Forest (part)
	Captains Creek Flora Reserve (part)
	Mallanganee National Park	NSW		Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Mount Clunie National Park (part)	NSW		Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Mount Nothofagus National Park (part)	NSW		Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Tooloom National Park (part)	NSW	File:White Beech - Tooloom.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Toonumbar National Park (part)	NSW	File:Toonumbar National Park Murray Scrub January 1995.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Shield Volcano group; on the NSW–Qld border on the McPherson and Tweed ranges	Amaroo Flora Reserve
	Border Ranges National Park (part)	NSW	File:Brindle Creek Border Ranges National Park.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Lamington National Park	Qld	File:Ships Stern Lamington National Park.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord
	Limpinwood Nature Reserve	NSW		Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Mebbin National Park (part)
	Mount Chinghee National Park		File:Mount Chinghee at Running Creek, Queensland.jpg
	Nightcap National Park (part)
	Numinbah Nature Reserve	NSW	File:Habitat of Endiandra globosa and E floydii - NSW Qld border.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Springbrook National Park (part)	Qld	File:IMAG0310.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	various Rabbit Board Reserves along the Rabbit Board fence
	Wollumbin National Park	NSW	File:AU Mt Warning from Tweed.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Coastal group; on the coast at Iluka	Iluka Nature Reserve	NSW	File:Ficus watkinsiana on Syzygium hemilampra-Iluka.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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	File:Mount Hyland Nature Reserve Dec 31 1994.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	New England National Park (part)	NSW	File:N Eng NP (1).jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HastingsTemplate:EndashMacleay group; southeast of Armidale	Fenwicks Scrub Flora Reserve	NSW	File:Schizomeria at Fenwicks scrub.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	<ref name="hunter 2004" />
	Mount Seaview Nature Reserve	NSW
	Oxley Wild Rivers National Park (part)	NSW	File:ParadiseRocks.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	The Castles Flora Reserve	NSW				Template:Coord	<ref>Template:Gazetteer of Australia</ref>
	Werrikimbe National Park (part)	NSW	File:Werrikimbe.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Willi Willi National Park (part)	NSW		Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Barrington Tops group; north of Dungog	Barrington Tops National Park (part)	NSW	File:Barrington lookout.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Mount Royal National Park (part)	NSW	File:Mount Royal - eucalytus forest 2.jpg	Template:Convert	Template:Coord	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• Environment of Australia
• Forests of Australia
• List of World Heritage Sites in Australia
• Mount Banda Banda
• Rainforest Way, a tourist drive featuring the Gondwana rainforests of south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales

External links

• World heritage listing for Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
• Introduction to Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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