Daintree National Park
Daintree National Park is located in far north Queensland near Cape Tribulation and is comprised of ancient tropical rainforests, beaches and rocky headlands. It is known to have some of the largest rainforests in Australia (it covers 1200 square kilometres or 73500 ha) and some of the oldest rainforests in the world, possibly around 135 million years old! As suggested by its name, it receives a high amount of rainfall each year. In their ‘wet’ season (November-March) the rainforests are inundated with rain, and in their ‘slightly less wet’ season (April-October), they experience less rain, but not enough for it to be classified as a dry season. It is home to around 3000 species of plants, and many threatened or endangered animals including the cassowary (there are only 2000 of them left). Logging, farming, development, mining and tourism are all massive threats to the rainforest and the 120 endangered species living there. In 1988 the ‘Wet Tropics of Queensland’ were declared a World Heritage site and this was inclusive of the Daintree National Park. Coincidentally, the Great Barrier Reef is located right next to the Daintree National Park and is the only place in the world where two World Heritage sites meet.