The Gondwana Rainforests, inscribed as a World
Heritage Site in the year 1986, and extended in 1994,
were formerly known as the Central Eastern Rainforest
Reserves of Australia. They extend across New South
Wales and southern Queensland, and comprise 41
separate reserves covering an area of about 370,000
ha. The site is covered by cool and warm temperate
rainforests, as well as subtropical and dry rainforests,
occurring as discontinuous patches. The Gondwana
Rainforests protect the largest and best stands of
rainforest habitat remaining in this region. The site is
an outstanding example of the ongoing evolutionary
process. It is home to a large number of endemic and
threatened species of flora and fauna, and the site is of
significance to some of the indigenous communities of
the region.
The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly
called the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of
Australia, are an extensive stretch of rainforest, located
at 28015'S 15003'E. The site was inscribed in 1986. In 1994,
the property was extended significantly and the site
was renamed as the Gondwana Rainforest Reserves of
Australia. The Gondwana Rainforests cover an area of
about 370,000 ha, and comprise the major remaining
rainforest areas in southeast Queensland and northeast
New South Wales. These are the last remnants of
subtropical rainforests which once ruled the region
(Wilson et al. 2010). The site is so named because the
fossil record indicates that it was covered by rainforests
containing the same kinds of living species when
Gondwana existed. It provides an interesting living link
with the evolution of Australia.
These rainforests comprise a serial World Heritage Site, with 41 component national parks and reserves in New South Wales and Queensland. It has 56 sites spread along 500 km of the Great Dividing Range in eastern New South Wales and southern Queensland. These 56 sites are located in seven groups of reserves spread along the 500-km-long mountain ranges, lesser chains, and isolated peaks radiating from the Great Dividing Range and the Great Escarpment. There is the Shield Volcano group formed from predominantly basaltic lava deposited in many layers. High waterfalls crashing into steep gorges are spectacular examples of the ongoing natural processes of erosion. Erosion by coastal rivers created the Great Escarpment and the steep-sided caldera of the Tweed Valley surrounding Mount Warning (Australian Government, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment). The rainforests grow in fertile, well-watered soils.
The Gondwana Rainforests provides outstanding
examples of significant ongoing geological processes.
When Australia separated from Antarctica following
the breakup of Gondwana, new continental margins
developed. The margin which formed along Australia's
eastern edge is characterised by an asymmetrical marginal
swell that runs parallel to the coastline, the erosion of
which has resulted in the Great Divide and the Great
Escarpment. This eastern continental margin experienced
volcanicity during the Cenozoic Era as the Australian
continental plate moved over one of the planet's hot
spots. Volcanoes erupted in sequence along the east coast
resulting in the Tweed, Focal Peak, Ebor and Barrington
volcanic shields. This sequence of volcanos is significant
as it enables the dating of the geomorphic evolution of
eastern Australia through the study of the interaction
of these volcanic remnants with the eastern highlands.
The Tweed Shield erosion caldera is possibly the bestpreserved erosion caldera in the world, notable for its size
and age, for the presence of a prominent central mountain
mass (Wollumbin/Mt Warning), and for the erosion of the
caldera floor to basement rock. All three stages relating
to the erosion of shield volcanoes (the planeze, residual
and skeletal stages) are readily distinguishable. Further
south, the remnants of the Ebor Volcano also provide an
outstanding example of the ongoing erosion of a shield
volcano.
The Gondwana Rainforests contains outstanding
examples of major stages in the Earth's evolutionary
history as well as ongoing evolutionary processes. Major
stages represented include the 'Age of the Pteridophytes'
from the Carboniferous Period with some of the oldest
elements of the world's ferns represented, and the
'Age of Conifers' in the Jurassic Period with one of the
most significant centres of survival for Araucarians
(the most ancient and phylogenetically primitive of the
world's conifers). Likewise, the property provides an
outstanding record of the 'Age of the Angiosperms'. This
includes a secondary centre of endemism for primitive
flowering plants originating in the Early Cretaceous,
the most diverse assemblage of relict angiosperm taxa
representing the primary radiation of dicotyledons in the
mid-Late Cretaceous, a unique record of the evolutionary
history of Australian rainforests representing the 'golden
age' of the Early Tertiary, and a unique record of Miocene
vegetation that was the antecedent of modern temperate
rainforests in Australia. The property also contains an
outstanding number of songbird species, including
lyrebirds (Menuridae), scrub-birds (Atrichornithidae),
treecreepers (Climacteridae) and bowerbirds and catbirds
(Ptilonorhynchidae), belonging to some of the oldest
lineages of passerines that evolved in the Late Cretaceous.
Outstanding examples of other relict vertebrate and
invertebrate fauna from ancient lineages linked to the
break-up of Gondwana also occur in the property.
The flora and fauna of the Gondwana Rainforests provides
outstanding examples of ongoing evolution including
plant and animal taxa which show evidence of relatively
recent evolution. The rainforests have been described as
'an archipelago of refugia, a series of distinctive habitats
that characterise a temporary endpoint in climatic and
geomorphological evolution'. The distances between
these 'islands' of rainforest represent barriers to the
flow of genetic material for those taxa which have
low dispersal ability, and this pressure has created the
potential for continued speciation.
The ecosystems of the Gondwana Rainforests contain significant and important natural habitats for species of conservation significance, particularly those associated with the rainforests which once covered much of the continent of Australia and are now restricted to archipelagos of small areas of rainforest isolated by sclerophyll vegetation and cleared land. The Gondwana Rainforests provides the principal habitat for many species of plants and animals of outstanding universal value, including more than 270 threatened species as well as relict and primitive taxa.
Rainforests covered most of Australia for much of the 40 million years after its separation from Gondwana. However, these rainforests contracted as climatic conditions changed and the continent drifted northwards. By the time of European settlement rainforests covered only 1% of the landmass and were restricted to refugia with suitable climatic conditions and protection from fire. Following European settlement, clearing for agriculture saw further loss of rainforests and only a quarter of the rainforest present in Australia at the time of European settlement remains.The Gondwana Rainforests protects the largest and best stands of rainforest habitat remaining in this region. Many of the rare and threatened flora and fauna species are rainforest specialists, and their vulnerability to extinction is due to a variety of factors including the rarity of their rainforest habitat. The Gondwana Rainforests also protects large areas of other vegetation including a diverse range of heaths, rocky outcrop communities, forests and woodlands. These communities have a high diversity of plants and animals that add greatly to the value of the Gondwana Rainforests as habitat for rare, threatened and endemic species. The complex dynamics between rainforests and tall open forest particularly demonstrates the close evolutionary and ecological links between these communities. Species continue to be discovered in the property including the re-discovery of two mammal species previously thought to have been extinct: the Hastings River Mouse (Pseudomys oralis) and Parma Wallaby (Macropus parma.
The on-ground management and monitoring of the Gondwana Rainforests is undertaken by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. The property comprises 41 reserves present within the protected area boundary. Both the State Parties have legislation relating to protected areas and native biodiversity that protects the values of the Gondwana Rainforests. The IUCN World Heritage Outlook, 2020, indicates that the Gondwana Rainforests are of significant concern and are facing high threats with deteriorating universal value. There is a need for effective management to tackle upcoming threats like wildfires, invasive species, pathogens and climate change.
The Gondwana
Rainforests have more than 40 million years of globally
significant rainforest evolutionary history. Hence proper
actions must be taken to ensure their conservation
and management (Kooyman et al. 2019). The spring
of 2019-2020 witnessed extensive and severe wildfires
owing to the extreme rise in temperature and deficient
rainfall. These fires are thought to be an impact of
climate change on weather patterns. The management
authorities are still assessing the long-term impacts
of these fires. According to the IUCN World Heritage
Outlook, 2020, the Gondwana Rainforests exist as
refuges where several deep phylogenetic lineages
remained during episodes of past climate fluctuations,
and the major challenge for conservation management
is to support and maintain that resilience in the future
(IUCN World Heritage Outlook 2020).
A variety of invasive plant species that are a significant threat to the native species of the region have been recorded: bitou bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. rotundata) and boneseed (Chrysanthemoides monilifera subsp. monilifera) (affect coastal areas), mistflower (Ageratina riparia), crofton weed (Ageratina adenophora), lantana (Lantana camara), blackberry (Rubus fructicosus), camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), broad-leaved privet (Ligustrum lucidum), small-leaved privet (L. sinense), Kahili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum), Madeira vine (Andredera cordifolia), moth vine (Araujia sericifera) and cat's claw creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati).
