Natural Queensland
From the coral formations of the Great Barrier Reef to the lava tubes of the dry outback, Queensland offers a wealth of natural wonders. Less than a day off the beaten track in this vast area are diverse ecosystems, a huge variety of wildlife, and superb natural scenery. Brisbane has many spots where you can find peace and quiet close to the city, in a variety of parks and gardens, and adjacent bushland reserves, and just one-hour’s drive north, south, or west of Brisbane are dozens of national parks and reserves..
National Parks and World Heritage Areas
Australia has 12 UNESCO World Heritage listings, the most coveted international conservation status. Queensland is home to five such listings, the Great Barrier Reef, the Wet Tropics rainforests, the Riversleigh fossil fields, the Lamington Plateau rainforests and Fraser Island. As well, there are many outstanding national parks, including Moreton Island, Bunya Mountains, Carnarvon, Eungella, Whitsunday Islands, Hinchinbrook Island, Undara, Lakefield, and Lawn Hill, which all offer visitors world-class natural experiences.
Fauna and Flora
The present-day landscape has its origins from a time when the ancient landmass of Australia, once part of the mega-continent of Gondwana, split away from its neighbors some 50 million years ago. This long isolation has produced some extraordinary flora and fauna – much of it found nowhere else on earth – including underwater coral gardens, towering rainforest giants, broad wetland esturies, and harsh, arid plains.
Queensland’s best known animals are its marsupials – mammals that give birth to tiny young which go on to develop in their mother’s pouch. Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and their closest relatives, the koalas, are all marsupials. The primitive monotremes are even more extraordinary: although mammals, the spiny echidna and the water-dwelling, billed platypus lay eggs. Reptiles include two types of crocodiles, a huge variety of lizards, and many snakes. A diverse range of habitats supports many bird species which are indigenous to Queensland, including cassowarys, tooth-billed bowerbirds, and Atherton scrubwrens, while the rare Bennett’s tree-kangaroo inhabits the higher regions of the Wet Tropics.
Queensland’s flora ranges from the mangroves and melaluccas of the coastal wetlands and heathlands, to myriad species of trees in the hinterland rainforests which remain in the more inaccessible parts of the Great Dividing Range, in places that could not be cleared for agriculture. Here tall hoop pines, delicate tree ferns, and towering palms grow, favoured by high rainfall, good soils and warm tropical weather. The savanna Gulf country has distinctive scrubby woodland and grasses, while the plains of the outback support bush-like mallee scrub and dryland grasses which survive the harsh, dry summers.
