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| Note what a very small proportion of Australia this is, though it packs a big biodiversity punch, way beyond its size - Map by Copilot |
Australia is an ancient continent. There was a time, about 180 million years ago that the whole of Australia was covered by tropical rainforest but that was before it started drifting North. Slowly it became hotter and drier, but even that process didn't proceed in an orderly fashion.
Australia went through successive ice ages which wore down it’s mountain tops and exposed its continental shelves, allowing some exchange of species. However, in between there were warmer, wetter periods which washed topsoils into the sea until much of the rainforest was gone, leaving behind a largely arid continent where only highly adapted species have managed to survive and life thrives mainly at the margins.
We do not know how much early humans also contributed to these changes since as hunter gatherers, they often used fire to flush out game and to create fresh green shoots to encourage more, but we do know, that much of the original forest was replaced by the more fire -and -drought tolerant eucalyptus species which we see throughout Australia today.
We also know that once Europeans arrived, they immediately set about removing a lot of the remaining rainforest, first for timber, then for agriculture and settlement, so that today only a few patches of wet tropical rainforest remain – less than 1/3rd of 1% of the Australian landmass. It runs in a narrow arc along the eastern seaboard from around Townsville to just before Cooktown in Far North Queensland and between the Great dividing Range and the sea.
Around 87% of this area is now officially protected within the World Heritage Area or within National Parks and Forest Reserves. [Pockets of Sub -Tropical and Temperate Rainforests also exist in several states which, though interesting and beautiful in their own way, we will leave for another time].
Welcome to Jurassic Park
The forests around the Daintree National Park which is part of the Wet Tropics, are said to be the oldest in the world – 10 million years older than the Amazon. Some of its ferns, conifers and cycads were there before the dinosaurs but many of its reptiles and turtles belong to that era - around 145 million years ago.
DNA evidence and the fossil record show that around two thirds of the world's song birds also originated in Australia about 33 million years ago while the country was still covered in rainforest and then proceeded to evolve separately before 'island hopping' their way first to Asia most likely via New Guinea and Wallacea, and then on to the rest of the world.
For an area about a quarter the size of Belgium, the Wet Tropics are home to an astonishing array of living things. They remain a refuge for almost half of Australia’s birds, 60% of its butterflies, 65% of its ferns, 35% of its mammals and a quarter of its frogs. Seven hundred of its 2,800 plants aren’t found anywhere else and it is home to 7000 orchids. We shall go on to look at some of the stars shortly, but here is a brief summary of some of the more unusual ones. You can get to know more of them here
| Species | Distribution | Status/Role |
|---|
| Southern Cassowary | ~4,000 individuals | Vulnerable Vital seed disperser— |
| Spectacled Flying Fox | Colonies declining rapidly | Endangered Night-time pollinator |
| Mahogany Glider | <1,500 individuals | Endangered Connects fragmented forest worlds |
| Green Tree Python | Locally common | Least Concern |
| Boyd’s Forest Dragon | Restricted to upland zones | Least Concern Guardian of the uplands—prehistoric |
| Ulysses Butterfly | Sensitive to disturbance | Least Concern |
| Licuala Fan Palm | Locally abundant | Least Concern |
| Golden Penda | Widely cultivated | Least Concern |
| Wait-a-while Vine | Common in dense forest | Least Concern |
| Hope’s Cycad | Fragmented populations | Vulnerable Living fossil |
Meet the Locals
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| Southern Cassowary and Chick |
©Photo: Michael McDonough| under CC BY-NC-ND| source: Flickr
FAST FACTS
Habitat: Tropical rainforests, melaleuca swamps, and coastal lowlands of Far North Queensland, including the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Status: Endangered (protected under Australian law)
- Size Up to 2 metres tall
- Weighs up to 76 kg
- One of the heaviest birds in the world
- A keystone species in rainforest ecosystems
- Disperses seeds of over 200 plant species, including large fruits that few other animals can handle
- Males incubate eggs and raise chicks alone
- Revered by Indigenous communities as a guardian of the forest
- Threats: habitat fragmentation, vehicle strikes, dog attacks, and cyclone-related food shortages
- Safety note: Cassowaries can be dangerous if provoked—observe respectfully and never feed or approach in the wild.
The Rainforest Dweller you do NOT want to Meet
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| The Saltwater Crocodile is found throughout Northern Australia including the Wet Tropics and especially around estuarine rivers. Do not swim in Northern rivers -this ancient reptile may be waiting beneath the surface. You can safely see it in the Daintree by taking an organised tour |
©Photo: Simon Hurry| source: Pexels
FAST FACTS
🌊 Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus)
Habitat: Estuaries, tidal rivers, coastal wetlands—but also found far upstream, including rainforest rivers. Crocodiles are among the great survivors and also exist throughout Asia, India, the Philippines, New Guinea and the Pacific.
- Size: Up to 6–7 metres, over 1,000 kg
- Top predataor
- It's ancestors date from the Jurassic period
- Snout: Broad, with uneven teeth
- Temperament: Highly territorial and dangerous to humans
- Status: Least Concern, but heavily managed due to human conflict
Stinging Trees, Strangler Figs and Carnivorous Plants
I never thought I would wax lyrical about a bat -like creature, but when I saw the ranger getting all misty -eyed while gazing upwards into the trees and talking about “Ruby,” an orphan he had raised, I began to understand what he was talking about. At this stage I'm not sure if we were looking at a flying fox or a sugar glider. All I know is that high up in the canopy, there was a dark shape with the biggest, most endearing brown eyes and I began to see the attraction.
Like fruit bats and flying foxes, sugar gliders move through the treetops eating fruit, but these are in fact marsupials which keep their young in a pouch and use extendable skin flaps to make those leaps so that they don't have to brave predators on the ground. The aim of all rescues is of course to be able to return animals to the wild and their own kind, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to let them go, even if you are a hard -nosed crocodile -wrangling ranger.
Aboriginal Culture
Aboriginal people have had a long association with the Wet
Tropics which provided not only a year -round food supply and things like fibre
and tools needed for daily life, but were also the basis for many of their spiritual
beliefs and cultural practices. Around 20 tribal groups now
play an important role in conserving the region with Aboriginal rangers being
responsible for monitoring protected species, conservation activities including
feral animal control, weed eradication, fire prevention, restoration, planning and
tourism, as well as keeping their cultural practices alive.
If you would like to experience authentic Aboriginal culture, check this website, visit one of the visitor information centres or galleries, or take part in some of the accredited tours.
Conservation and Restoration
In 1982 the Australian Rainforest Conservation Society (ARCS) -not to be confused with the similarly named Rainforest Conservation Foundation (see below), did preliminary research and established conservation priorities across Queensland and NSW at the behest of the Australian Government's National Heritage Commission. It recommended World Heritage listing and called for an end to all rainforest logging.
Forty- three years on and working with a number of other organisations, it has succeeded in protecting 1.5 million ha and having three World Heritage Areas listed, as well as having logging formally stopped on public lands in Queensland since 1992. However, this did not prevent further clearing of freehold land.
In recent years, a major focus for ARCS and other organisations has been on rescuing and restoring degraded lands. Some examples follow:
- Although logging did stop in the Daintree when it became a World Heritage Area in 1988, legacy issues remained. In the 1980’s, around 1,100 blocks of land were released for subdivision. Although most are outside the immediate World Heritage Area they have resulted in piecemeal development and put the core area, which provides sanctuary for large numbers of animals and plants, at risk.
- Both Rainforest Rescue -very active in the Daintree, and the Rainforest Conservation Foundation (RCF) are buying back these blocks, local councils are rezoning them and both groups are rehabilitating them with stock from their own nurseries.
- So far Rainforest Rescue has succeeded in reclaiming 46 properties in the region and has restored over 240 ha. Meanwhile, the Rainforest Conservation Foundation has purchased 18 properties and donated them to Queensland National Parks, with more in the pipeline. It has restored approximately 70 acres and protected many more. It is now focusing on large scale restoration and working to create covenants over land to ensure that specific habitat or species are protected.
- At Mungalla Station near Ingham, Nywaigi Traditional Owners are working with Greening Australia, the CSIRO and others to restore former wetlands which are part of the World Heritage Area. By removing weeds and feral animals and replacing native vegetation, river flow and water quality have improved and native fish and birdlife have returned. This shows how important buffer zones and corridors are if we want the rainforests to persist and species to be able to move freely between locations, something which will be increasingly important as climate change continues to have an impact. Restoring wetlands also help to prevent sediment and agricultural runoff from reaching the Great Barrier Reef.
Other Actions
Nearly all conservation groups are calling for a ban on native forest logging throughout Australia. Some states such as Western Australia and Victoria already have bans. NSW is in a transitional phase and working towards having forest protection funded by carbon credits.
🌏 Did You Know?
Land clearing produces twice as much CO₂ as all of Australia's coal-fired power stations combined. Globally, deforestation releases 1.5 times more CO₂ than all the world's road, air, rail, and shipping traffic put together.
Other Threats
Invasive Species in Far North Queensland
Globally, invasive species are among the top five threats to biodiversity—alongside climate change and land clearing. Australia knows this firsthand. Think rabbits, prickly pear, or blackberries. Please respect our biosecurity laws: they exist for good reason. Here are some of the more recent and impactful invaders in Far North Queensland:
Cane Toads: Poisonous predators which compete with native amphibians for food and breeding sites. Originally brought into Queensland in 1935, to control a destructive beetle in canefields, they have gone on to to produce create havoc on their own, having no predators in this country.
Cane toads have now hitchhiked across the country as far as Western Australia and reached the highest mountaintops, even in Queensland's protected rainforests. Only manual eradication seems to slow them down. When the National “Great Cane Toad Bust” was held in January 2025, some 199,000 specimens were caught and cane toad spawn was removed from waterways.
Feral Cats: Feral cats are are domestic cats which have gone wild or been abandoned. They are more widespread in the Wet Tropics and at higher densities than elsewhere in Australia. This is problematic because scat analysis shows that they are mostly consuming small native mammals, may of which are endangered or threatened. Because of the risks to wildlife councils in many parts of Australia are banning keeping of cats as pets unless they are kept indoors or have special fenced and covered play areas. In Queensland microchipping of cats is mandatory and desexing is recommended, but other rules are largely left to local councils.
Feral Pigs: Uproot vegetation, damage soil structure, and spread pathogens like Phytophthora cinnamomic (see below). As with cats, so with pigs. There are more feral pigs per square km inside the World Heritage Area of the West Tropics than outside the region. Despite various methods to eradicate them, most methods have their drawbacks such as also harming non -target species, or the pigs becoming wary once a method has proven to be successful. A nation -wide integrated strategy is being developed.
Weeds and Grasses: Many of these have escaped from pastoral leases where they were often introduced for animal fodder or to increase crop yields. Weeds such as Siam weed and Guinea grass smother native plants and alter fire regimes. They are usually eradicated in the course of restoration or by dedicated volunteers working in community groups like Bushcare and Landcare (see at end).
Yellow Crazy Ants: Highly aggressive and form supercolonies that dominate forest floors and canopies, killing native fauna and disrupting ecological processes.These incredibly fast breeders found their way to Australia in 1934, but are now making inroads into some of Far North Queenland's Protected Areas as well as suburban backyards.They blind their prey with formic acid and then kill it. Although tiny their very large numbers enable them to kill much larger species including small mammals and turtle chicks and can quickly lay significant areas to waste. There is a government eradication program around Cairns. Townsville had yet to have one, with eradication relying on community action. If you see any of these ants in your area, you can report them to the National Biosecurity Hotline for further action.
Electric Ants (Wasmannia auropunctata): Aggressively compete with native insects and small vertebrates and also create destructive supercolonies. An escapee from South and Central America, first detected in 2006, there have been several outbreaks of these ants in Far North Queensland close the World Heritage Area. These ants can inflict a venomous sting on animals and humans. Because of their potential impact on agriculture, any outbreaks should immediately be reported so they can be eradicated. We should also learn to recognise them and make sure we do not move them elsewhere. Find out more here
Pathogens
- Phytophthora
cinnamomi: A soil-borne water mould threatening hundreds of endemic
species, especially in upland forests. Often also carried on boots and camping gear by tourists. If there are washing facilities for your boots on site, that is what they are for. It's now advisable to carry a spray bottle of disinfectant to sterilise the soles of your boots if entering a new area. For more on cleaning your gear including fishing rods, vehicles, boats etc check here.
- Chytrid Fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis): Has caused severe declines in eight frog species, especially those above 300m elevation
Tourism
- Tourism,
recreation, and infrastructure expansion, particularly roads and tracks place stress on sensitive
ecosystems and lead to fragmentation of habitat
- Even
well -intentioned visitation can lead to erosion, pollution, and wildlife
disturbance
- Direct human -animal encounters should be avoided. Let them be themselves. It is not only unethical to handle them, but some animals such as bats, carry viruses. Around National Parks and the like, animals can become very used to having humans around and often become friendly or even beg for food. Do not feed them, as human food is very unhealthy for most native animals - kangaroos go blind for example, if fed white bread, and also it makes them overly dependent. For the same reason, do not leave food scraps around and be sure to take take your rubbish out to avoid animals becoming entangled or worse.
Many of Australia's animals are nocturnal, so be especially careful on the road at dawn or dusk. Drive slowly and keep your eyes peeled for animals grazing at the roadsides where there is often more grass. If you come upon an injured animal, don't touch it yourself, but report it to the nearest rescue centre and a carer will come and collect it. Report dead animals too. They may still be carrying a joey in their pouch and the information helps to establish where wildlife corridors are and where special crossings or other arrangements such as lower speed limits may be needed.
Humans: the most Invasive Species of all?
I also think it is very unfortunate that our World Heritage Areas and National Parks are required to make a profit or at least pay their way. This is about safeguarding our own future as well. It costs much more to sustain species which are on the brink - ask about the Swift Parrot Program in Tasmania. Ask New Zealand about the Kākāpō or any biologist in this field about the high cost of captive breeding. At the very least, we should treat our ark and our living museum of evolution with a great deal more respect.
CLIMATE CHANGE
- Rising temperatures: Upland species like tree-kangaroos, ringtail possums, and endemic frogs face habitat loss and physiological stress
- Heatwaves: Catastrophic die-offs—e.g. 23,000 spectacled flying foxes died in a single 2018 event
- Cyclones: More intense storms are damaging canopy structure and regeneration capacity
- Cloud stripping disruption: Changes in cloud levels affect water availability for montane ecosystems
- Sea-level rise and flooding: Threaten coastal littoral rainforests and mangrove margins
- Fire regime shifts: Drier conditions and invasive grasses increase fire risk in previously fire-free zones
- Orchids and other plants are flowering earlier, but their pollinators aren’t always present—leading to failed reproduction. (More generally)
- Insect booms and busts, such as psyllid outbreaks, are defoliating forests and altering canopy dynamics
- New diseases and Pathogens. Whether due to heat stress or other factors, plant pathogens such as Myrtle Rust which decimates trees, have also been detected in far North Queensland.
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