Fraser Island is located on the eastern coast
of Australia. A hundred and twenty-two kilometres
long, it is the largest sand island in the world. Inscribed
as a World Heritage Site in 1992, it is home to a tall
rainforest growing on sand, and half the world's
perched freshwater dune lakes. It is the only place in
the world where tropical rainforests are found growing
on sand dunes. This site is home to some unique plants
and animals. It serves as a resting ground for migratory
birds during their flight. Due to the acidic condition of
its water, not many aquatic species can survive, except
for some species of frog. The island was home to the
aboriginal people, who called it K'gari.
According to the IUCN World Heritage Outlook Report 2020, the site faces various threats, including increasing numbers of visitors, invasive alien species and climate change. The Queensland Department of Environment and Science is responsible for the dayto-day management of the site. The Queensland Department of Environment and Science and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service & Partnerships (QPWS&P) work in coordination with the Butchulla Aboriginal Land and Sea Ranger Program. The current management practices have been most effective in dealing with these threats.
Inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992, Fraser Island has an area of 181,851 ha. It is the largest and longest sand island in the world, having a length of 122 km. The site lies on the east coast of Australia (250 13' S and 1530 7' 60" E). It has sand dunes more than 200 m tall. Fraser Island is an outstanding example of ongoing biological, hydrological and geomorphologic processes. The mobile dune fields in the region have a width of 10-20 km and are mostly covered by eucalyptus forests (Levin 2011).
The region experiences subtropical maritime climatic
conditions, with the mean annual temperature ranging
from a minimum of 14.10C to a maximum of 28.80C. The
highest dunes in the island's centre received heavy
rainfall (around 1800 mm) (Sinclair & Morrison 1990).
Tropical cyclones are a common occurrence in this
region (Levin 2011). Fraser Island has a combination
of features such as subtropical rainforests and
lakes, shifting sand dunes, spectacular blowouts,
uninterrupted white sand beaches along a length of 250
km, and strikingly coloured sand cliffs, which make the
site exceptional (UNEP/WCMC 2008). There are over
100 lakes scattered over the dunes (UNEP/WCMC 2008).
The world's largest unconfined aquifer on a sand island
and half of the world's perched freshwater dune lakes
are found on the island, producing a spectacular and
varied landscape. The island has a unique process of soil
formation, the successive overlaying of dune systems.
The deepest podzols in the world, around 25 m thick, are
found here (UNESCO whc.unesco.org). The island has
a unique variety of vegetation types, including coastal
heath and tropical rainforests. It is the only place in the
world where there are tropical rainforests growing on
sand dunes at elevations greater than 200 m (UNEP/
WCMC 2008).
The property represents an outstanding example of significant ongoing geological processes including longshore drift. The immense sand dunes are part of the longest and most complete age sequence of coastal dune systems in the world and are still evolving. The superimposition of active parabolic dunes on remnants of older dunes deposited during periods of low sea level, which are stabilised by towering rainforests at elevations of up to 240 metres, is considered unique.
Fraser Island also has a variety of freshwater dune lakes which are
exceptional in terms of number, diversity and age. The
dynamic interrelationship between the coastal dune sand
mass, aquifer hydrology and the freshwater dune lakes
provides a sequence of lake formation both spatially and
temporally
The process of soil formation on the island is also unique, since as a result of the successive overlaying of dune systems, a chronosequence of podzol development from the younger dune systems on the east to the oldest systems on the west change from rudimentary profiles less than 0.5 metres thick to giant forms more than 25 metres thick. The latter far exceeds known depths of podzols anywhere else in the world and has a direct influence on plant succession, with the older dune systems causing retrogressive succession when the soil horizon becomes too deep to provide nutrition for tall forest.
Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, containing a diverse range of features that are of exceptional natural beauty. The area has over 250 kilometres of clear sandy beaches with long, uninterrupted sweeps of ocean beach, including more than 40 kilometres of strikingly coloured sand cliffs, as well as spectacular blowouts. Inland from the beach are majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on tall sand dunes, a phenomenon believed to be unique in the world.
Half of the world's perched freshwater dune lakes occur on the island, producing a spectacular and varied landscape. The world's largest unconfined aquifer on a sand island has also been found here.
The property represents an outstanding example of significant ongoing biological processes. These processes, acting on a sand medium, include biological adaptation (such as unusual rainforest succession), and biological evolution (such as the development of rare and biogeographically significant species of plants and animals).
Vegetation associations and succession represented on Fraser Island display an unusual level of complexity, with major changes in floristic and structural composition occurring over very short distances. Both heathland and closed forest communities provide refugia for relict and disjunct populations, which are important to ongoing speciation and radiation. Evolution and specialised adaptation to low fertility, fire, waterlogging and aridity is continuing in the ancient angiosperm flora of the heathlands and the associated vertebrate and invertebrate fauna. Since listing, patterned fens have been discovered on the property, which along with those at Cooloola, are the only known examples of sub-tropical patterned fens in the world. These fens support an unusual number of rare and threatened invertebrate and vertebrate species.
The growing tourist activities at the site are a threat to the lakes. According to Arthington and Hadwen (2003), the lakes are potentially susceptible to nutrient addition because of increasing tourist activities. This can ultimately lead to increased eutrophication of the water bodies. The ecology of the perched dune lakes on Fraser Island is adversely affected by the increasing number of tourists (Arthington & Hadwen 2003). The pressure arising from the tourists threatens the long-term preservation of the natural areas (Gosselin 1998).
Invasive alien species are posing a significant threat
to the native vegetation in the region. Myrtle rust, an
air-borne pathogen, is one of the potential threats to
the vegetation on the island, impacting regeneration
after wildfires. Large vehicles are causing erosion
and siltation. The rising sea level has also contributed
to soil erosion. Illegal firewood collection and sand
mining (Sinclair & Corris 1994) are also problems at the
site. Climate change is responsible for an increase in
temperature and reduced rainfall, which are leading to
more frequent incidences of forest fires in the region.
The K'gari dingo population is at risk and may become extinct in the future due to its geographical isolation and other threats such as diseases that may be brought in by human visitors (IUCN world heritage outlook 2020). The Queensland Department of Environment and Science oversees the day-to-day management of Fraser Island. There is no specific management plan for the Fraser Island World Heritage Site. It is covered by the Great Sandy National Park Management Plan, which covers the Great Sandy Region National Park, of which Fraser Island is a section (UNESCO whc.unesco.org). The protection and management of the site are most effective.
