Located in Far North Queensland is two World Heritage Listed areas - The Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics. These two areas represent only 13 of over 700 World Heritage sites that meet all 4 of UNESCO’s qualifying criteria’s.

 
The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef was Australia's first World Listed site, inscribed in 1981. Extending over 2,300 km's along the north east coast of Australia, and covering an area of 35 million hectares, the Great Barrier Reef is the worlds largest World Heritage area.

The Great Barrier Reef is made up of some 2,800 individual reefs and coral cays. It is home to an estimated 1,500 different species of fishes, 340 species of hard corals and a further 60 species of soft corals. Other well represented animal groups include molluscs, giant clams, echinoderms and crustaceans. Marine mammals including dugongs, whales and dolphins contribute to making this Reef great.

 
The Wet Tropics

Inscribed in 1988, the Wet Tropics covers 894,000 hectares from Townsville, 350 kms south of Cairns, to Cooktown in the north. The Wet Tropics occupies less that 0.1% of Australia’s land mass yet is home to a staggering number of Australian species. 30% of Australia's marsupials, 58% of its bat species, 26% of its frog species, 58% of its butterfly species, and 48% of bird species. There is no less than 85 species of animals that are found only in this area, and it is believed that more than 700 species of plants are endemic to this region. In just 1 acre you will find more species of tree than is found on the entire North American continent!

Mountains blanketed in clouds, incredible panoramic out looks, boulder strewn rivers and creeks, ancient cycads and ferns, and towering giants thousands of years old. It is as though nature wanted all her diversity in this one small corner of the planet.

 
For further information see:

» UNESCO World Heritage Centre
» Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
» Wet Tropics Management Authority