|
Visit our sponsors:
|
|
What makes World Heritage places exceptional
is their universal significance. Properties on the World Heritage List
belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory in
which they are located.
There are currently (April 2000) 14
Australian properties on the World Heritage List
|
The
Great Barrier Reef |
Kakadu
National Park |
Willandra
lakes region |
Tasmanian
wilderness |
|
One
of Australia’s first World Heritage Areas, was inscribed on the World
Heritage List in recognition of its outstanding natural universal
values. It is the world’s largest World Heritage Area. There are an
estimated 1 500 species of fish and more than 300 species of hard,
reef-building corals. More than 4 000 mollusc species and over 400
species of sponges have been identified.
More>> |
Kakadu
National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in three stages over
11 years. It is one of the few sites included on the List for both
outstanding cultural and natural universal values. Kakadu contains features
of great natural beauty and sweeping landscapes. Its focal points are the
internationally important wetlands and the spectacular escarpment and
outliers.
More>> |
The
Willandra Lakes Region is a 240 000 hectare semi-arid landscape of dried
saline lake beds vegetated with saltbush, fringing sand dunes and woodlands
with grassy understoreys. Located in the Murray Basin area in far
south-western New South Wales, it was
inscribed on the World Heritage List for both outstanding cultural and
natural universal values. |
The
Tasmanian Wilderness was inscribed on the World Heritage List for both its
outstanding natural and cultural universal values. This World Heritage area
is one of the largest conservation reserves in Australia. At 1.38 million
hectares, it covers approximately 20 per cent of the land area of the island
of Tasmania. It is one of only three
temperate wilderness areas remaining in the Southern Hemisphere. |
|
|
|
|
| Lord
Howe Island group |
Uluru-Kata
Tjuta National Park |
Central
Eastern Rainforest reserves |
Wet
tropics of Queensland |
| The
Lord Howe Island Group was inscribed on the World Heritage List for
its outstanding natural universal values. Located 700 kilometres
north-east of Sydney and
covering an area of 146 300 hectares, the Lord Howe Island Group
comprises: Lord Howe Island; Admiralty Islands; Mutton Bird Islands;
Ball’s Pyramid; and associated coral reefs and marine environments. |
Uluru-Kata
Tjuta National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in two
stages, initially for its outstanding universal natural values and
then for its outstanding universal cultural values. The park, covering
an area of 132 566 hectares of arid ecosystems, is located close to
the centre of Australia in the traditional lands of Pitjantjatjara and
Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal people (locally known as Anangu).
More>> |
In
1986, a number of rainforest reserves located on the Great Escarpment of
eastern New South Wales, known as the
Australian East Coast Sub-tropical and Temperate Rainforest Parks were
inscribed on the World Heritage List for their outstanding natural universal
values. Large extensions, including reserves in south-east Queensland,
were listed in 1994 under the new title of the Central Eastern Rainforest |
The
Wet Tropics of Queensland was inscribed on the World Heritage List in
recognition of its outstanding natural universal values. The Wet Tropics
World Heritage property lies between Townsville and Cooktown on the
north-east coast of Queensland and covers an area of approximately 894 000
hectares. The area is a region of spectacular scenery and rugged topography
with fast-flowing rivers, deep gorges and numerous waterfalls. The mountain
summits provide expansive vistas of undisturbed rainforests. |
|
|
|
|
|
Shark
Bay |
Fraser
Island |
Australian
Fossil mammal sites |
Heard
and McDonald Islands |
| Shark
Bay is located on the most western point of the coast of Australia and
covers an area of 2.3 million hectares. The region is one of the few
properties inscribed on the World Heritage List for all four
outstanding natural universal values. The Shark Bay region is a
meeting point of three major climatic regions, forming a transition
zone between two major botanical provinces—the South West and
Eremaean provinces.
More>> |
Stretching
over 120 kilometres along the southern coast of Queensland, Fraser Island
(184 000 hectares) is the largest sand island in the world. It was inscribed
on the World Heritage List for its outstanding natural universal values. The
island is a place of exceptional beauty, with its long uninterrupted white
beaches flanked by strikingly coloured sand cliffs, its majestic tall
rainforests and numerous freshwater lakes of crystal clear waters.
More>> |
The
Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte) World Heritage
property was inscribed on the World Heritage List for its outstanding
natural universal values. Over 2 000 kilometres separate the two sites that
form the World Heritage property. Riversleigh (10 000 hectares), located in
north-western Queensland, is confined to the
watershed of the Gregory River. The site at Naracoorte, South
Australia, covers 300 hectares and is located in flat country,
punctuated by a series of stranded coastal dune ridges that run parallel to
the present coastline. |
Heard
and McDonald Islands World Heritage property was inscribed on the World
Heritage List for its outstanding natural universal values. The Australian
Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) lies in a remote and
stormy part of the globe, near the conspicuous meeting-point of Antarctic
and temperate ocean waters. The islands were unknown to humanity until the
19th century. |
|
|
|
|
| Macquarie
Island |
Blue
Mountains |
Criteria |
|
| Macquarie
Island was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 on the basis
of its outstanding natural universal values. Macquarie Island is
situated about 1500 km south-south-east of Tasmania,
about half way between Tasmania and Antarctica at around 55 degrees
south. It is the only island in the world composed entirely of oceanic
crust and rocks from the mantle—deep below the earth’s surface. |
The Greater Blue Mountains area west
of Sydney consists of 1 million ha of sandstone plateaux, escarpments
and gorges dominated by temperate eucalypt forest.
More>>
|
The
World Heritage Convention is based on international cooperation with
currently 140 countries as signatories to the Convention.
Although there are other international conservation agreements, the
role of the World Heritage Convention in conservation is highly
regarded internationally.
Four criteria are used for assessment and the property must fulfil at
least one. These criteria state that the property must:
- Be an outstanding example
representing major stages of the earth's evolutionary history;
- Be an outstanding example that
represents significant ongoing ecological and biological
processes;
- Contain superlative natural
phenomena, formations or features of exceptional natural beauty;
or
- Contain the most important and
significant natural habitats for conservation of biological
diversity, particularly rare and threatened species.
As a World Heritage signatory, the
Commonwealth Government has international obligations and the
management of listed properties must protect and preserve them, now
and for future generations.
|
1 Heard and McDonald Islands
2 Macquarie Island
3 Tasmanian Wilderness
4a Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Naracoorte)
4b Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)
5 Lord Howe Island
6 Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia
7 Willandra Lakes Region
8 Shark Bay, Western Australia
9 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
10 Kakadu National Park
11 Fraser Island
12 Wet Tropics of Queensland
13 Great Barrier Reef
14 The Greater Blue Mountains Area
|
Didn't find what you are looking for?
Home
|
|
|
