Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy

Areas of Conservation Significance on Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy
Abrahams, H., Mulvaney, M., Glasco, D., & Bugg, A.
Office of the Co-ordinator General of Queensland
Australian Heritage Commission, March 1995

---

Areas of Conservation Significance on Cape York Peninsula

Part D - Conservation Values Collated into Areas of Natural Conservation Significance

19.0 Areas of Natural Conservation Significance

19.1 Introduction

The previous sixteen chapters of this report have assessed and identified the distribution of particular conservation values across Cape York Peninsula. In total, forty separate analyses of conservation values were undertaken and the results presented as maps of either point locations or areas that are significant for a particular value. These forty maps are also provided as Geographic Information System (GIS) coverages with the CYPLUS data sets.

Following the completion of the individual value coverages it was possible to combine, or over lay them all to determine the total area of conservation significance. Places of conservation significance were essentially determined from this aggregate layer.

Figure 19.1 was created by overlaying all of the fourty-two layers, with the exception of the wilderness quality, used in the assessment of natural conservation values. Figure 19.2 plots all of the twenty-three extensive or widespread values, including wilderness. These figures illustrate that the majority of the Peninsula (over 80% of the area) contains at least one significant value, with most areas being significant for more than one value. This reflects both the great diversity of conservation values found on the Peninsula, and the many individual values that extend over large areas. The extensive nature of conservation values is due both to the large scale of ecosystems found on the Peninsula and to the general lack of technological disturbance.

In determining areas of conservation significance large areas with no known conservation value were excluded, while boundaries between areas were drawn to equate to changes in the types of values present. The boundaries of the areas identified were particularly determined by the distribution of the more widespread conservation values such as wilderness quality, representative vegetation and some wetland and geological sites.

In total, thirty-six areas of conservation significance, covering 82% of the Peninsula, were identified. The largest area being the Holroyd Wilderness Area covering 1,676,110 hectares or just over 12% of the Peninsula. The names and size of all thirty-six areas are given in Table 19.1, while Figure 19.3 plots their distribution.

It is important to note that the identified areas reflect the general distribution of conservation values. Within the identified areas there may be relatively small areas of disturbance, where no natural conservation values are present. Similarly, there are some small site specific single value areas, such as geological type localities that lie outside the identified conservation areas. For example, as mapped in Figure 19.3, the Endeavour-Annan River natural conservation area contains Cooktown. Although significant geological and botanical sites do occur within the surveyed town area, clearly the majority of Cooktown and the surrounding agricultural land does not have natural conservation significance. The scale of mapping of Figure 19.3 can not distinguish areas like Cooktown but the GIS coverages provided to CYPLUS do.

The report has identified natural conservation values across the Peninsula, but no attempt has been made to ascertain the relative significance of individual sites on the Peninsula.

The aggregate layer of conservation significance can be interrogated to highlight the distribution of any particular value, and this can be done at any scale. However, it needs to be born in mind that the reliability of the natural conservation layers corresponds to the reliability of the raw data employed from the Natural Resource Assessment Program(NRAP) and other sources specified in this report. Thus those layers which have used the vegetation coverage of Neldner and Clarkson (1994) are reliable at the 1:250,000 scale, while faunal site records may have an accuracy only to within ten kilometres of a given point. The reliability of the major NRAP data sets used in the assessment of natural conservation value is discussed in detail in Cofinas et al (1994) and Glasco et al (1995).

Within the CYPLUS GIS it is presently possible to interrogate, for a given area, each separate coverage of conservation value. Every site record or area (polygon) within a coverage is annotated, so that by "clicking" on a particular point or polygon it can be determined what feature of significance is represented by each record i.e. what the rare animal species is recorded by a particular point record, or what rare vegetation class is recorded by a particular polygon coverage.

Currently specifications are being put together so that a program can be written to allow simultaneous searches of all forty layers of the natural conservation assessment. This will then provide a list of all the recorded conservation values of a particular area and would include a list of all endemic, biogeographically important or rare or threatened species that occur within a specified area, as well as lists of all area based values such as what rare or representative examples of vegetation classes are found within an area.

When this program has been written detailed assessment tables of each of the thirty-six areas will be provided. These tables will match the natural conservation features of an area against the assessment criteria of Table 1.1. In the interim, the major features of natural conservation value for each of the thirty-six areas is summarised below.

Table 19.1 Size and percentage of Cape York Peninsula for areas of natural conservation significance

     Name of Area                              Size      % Of Cape  
(ha)                     

       1. Lockerbie                        39895               0.29 
       2. Jardine Wilderness Area          542072              3.97 
       3. Vrilya Wilderness Area           295798              2.17 
       4. Port Musgrave Area               215441              1.58 
       5. Central-North Cape York          78799               0.58 
     Peninsula                             278867              2.04 
       6. Shelburne-Olive River Area       98094               0.72 
       7. Pennefather-Duyfken Area         298511              2.19 
       8. Wenlock Corridor                 322669              2.37 
       9. Iron Range                       73284               0.54 
     10. Mission River Area                66825               0.49 
     11. Embley Range Area                 187698              1.38 
     12. Hey-Embley Rivers Area            88245               0.65 
     13. Pera Head Area                    670                 0.00 
     14. Mt. White                         2685                0.02 
     15. Geike Range                       176406              1.29 
     16. Aurukun Wetlands                  1113835             8.17 
     17. Archer-Coen Area                  555472              4.07 
     18. McIlwraith-Lockhart Area          1676109            12.29 
     19. Holroyd Wilderness                139786              1.03 
     20. Gorge Creek and Timber Reserve    697393              5.12 
     21. Lakefield                         643236              4.72 
     22. Starke Area                       66368               0.49 
     23. Cape Flattery-Cape Bedford        572613              4.20 
     24. Mitchell Delta                    1302715             9.55 
     25. Upper Alice-Coleman               433337              3.18 
     26. Golden-shouldered Parrot Habitat  174109              1.28 
     27. Kimba Plateau                     53966               0.40 
     28. North Kennedy River Area          44034               0.33 
     29. Red Bluff Area                    220368              1.62 
     30. Deighton - Normanby Area          6995                0.05 
     31. Isabella Falls Area               160272              1.18 
     32. Endeavour-Annan Area              188385              1.39 
     33. Palmer-King River Area            291737              2.14 
     34. Quinkan Area                      81571               0.60 
     35. Wet Tropics                       28810               0.21 
     36. Mitchell-Palmer Karst                                      

19.2 Areas of Conservation Significance - summary of values

19.2.1 Lockerbie

The Lockerbie Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains a major occurrence of rainforest on the northern Peninsula;
• it supports a significant representation of nationally rare semi-deciduous notophyll vine forest;
• approximately 60% of the area supports regionally rare vegetation, predominantly notophyll vine forest and Eucalyptus novoguineensis woodland;
• the biota displays an important biogeographic and evolutionary relationship to New Guinea;
• it is a land fall for migratory rainforest species crossing Torres Strait;
• it is a rich and diverse area of perennial waterbodies;
• it supports a regionally rich collection of vegetation communities, which is likely also to contain a rich fauna;
• it is an important habitat of rare and uncommon insects and of endemic plant and animal species;
• it is a type locality for numerous plant and animal species;
• it supports a diverse orchid flora; and
• it contains a series of sand bars running parallel to Punsand Bay form a sand bar platform which is amongst the best examples of this landform type in Australia.

19.2.2 Jardine Wilderness Area

The Jardine Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is one of the most important wilderness catchment systems in Australia, and is also a prime example of a river system in near natural condition;
• over 70% of the area has very high wilderness quality;
• it contains a major proportion of wilderness heathlands in Australia;
• it is an important wilderness wetland area;
• about 40% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area includes in excess of 25 classes including low open forests, open sedgelands, dune woodlands, open heath, dwarf open heath, woodlands on sandstone, notophyll vine forest and semi-deciduous vine thicket;
• it is important for maintaining on going geological and landform processes, from the mobile dune fields of the east coast to the prograding beach ridges of the west;
• it contains a high diversity of wetland types including mangrove communities, saline flats, various sedgeland communities, perennial waterbodies and swampy forested areas;
• it includes a richness of swamp sites, with a probable diversity in development ages;
• the extent and structural development of mangroves in the Newcastle Bay area is exceptional in a national context and it includes the most extensive stands of medium and tall mangrove forests in Queensland;
• Newcastle Bay supports one of the most diverse mangrove communities in the world;
• it contains refugial notophyll vine forest;
• a regionally large maternity colony of the Common Bent-wing Bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) occurs at Captain Billy's Landing;
• it is an important habitat of rare, threatened and endemic insects, bats and fish;
• from 5 - 10% of the area contains regionally rare vegetation which is predominantly types of closed forest or Eucalyptus nesophila woodland on old and stable dunes;
• it is an important benchmark research area;
• the fish and invertebrate fauna of the Jardine River display a strong biogeographic relationship with fauna in New Guinea;
• it is the habitat of many species with disjunct distributions across northern Australia;
• the vine forests in the area support many plant species that are endemic to Cape York Peninsula;
• the shoreline of the area is an important habitat of the vulnerable Beachstone Curlew (Burhinus giganteus);
• it is a major breeding habitat of the vulnerable Estuarine Crocodile(Crocodylus porosus) in Queensland;
• Crab Island is the largest known rookery of the vulnerable Flatback Turtle (Natator depressus);
• the Sach Waterhole, a sand dune lake, is the only area known on Cape York Peninsula that supports floating mats of vegetation (dominated by spikerush, Lepironia auriculata), a nationally endangered vegetation structure;
• relict parabolic dunes at Sharp Point and Orford Bay are amongst the largest known parabolic dunes in the world; and
• the Jardine Swamps area, between the Jardine River and Slade Point, contains well developed and representative geological and geomorphological features associated with a prograding (advancing) coastline, including the largest and most widely spaced series of beach ridges on the Peninsula and a relic delta of the Jardine.

19.2.3 Vrilya Wilderness Area

The Vrilya Wilderness Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is a major coastal wilderness with over 90% of the area being of very high wilderness quality, including the catchments of the Jackson, Dulhunty and Skardon Rivers;
• over 70% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area includes semi-deciduous vine thicket, Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands on sandplains or sandstone plateaus, Melaleuca open forest over swamp, open heath, mangrove closed forest, open sedgelands and low open forests;
• the Skardon River area supports a regionally rich collection of vegetation communities;
• it is the habitat of many species with disjunct distributions across northern Australia;
• the vine forests in the area support many plant species that are endemic to Cape York Peninsula;
• the shoreline of the area is an important habitat of the vulnerable Beachstone Curlew (Burhinus giganteus);
• about 5 - 10% of the area contains regionally rare vegetation which is predominantly notophyll vine forest; and
• the Jackson and Dulhunty Rivers are a habitat of the nationally rare Short-finned Catfish (Neosilurus brevidorsalis), and other regionally restricted fish species.

19.2.4 Port Musgrave Area

The Port Musgrave Area has natural conservation significance because:

• Port Musgrave is an excellent example of a shallow estuary which demonstrates well the sedimentary processes leading to delta development;
• about 75% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• it supports one of the largest breeding populations, known in Queensland, of the vulnerable Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus);
• it is a regionally rich and diverse area for freshwater swamps and tidal flats;
• it is considered likely to support a high diversity of vertebrate species; and
• the stands of the nationally rare Nypa Palm within the area are amongst the best representations of their type in Australia; other regionally representative vegetation in the area includes Eleocharis sedgeland and tussock grassland of marine plains.

19.2.5 Central-North Cape York Peninsula

The Central-North Cape York Area has natural conservation significance because:

• about 40% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Eucalyptus cullenii woodlands; and
• the area is a habitat of the rare Palm Cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus), which is endemic to the Peninsula.

19.2.6 Shelburne-Olive River Area

The Shelburne-Olive River Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the Olive River-Shelburne Bay dune fields are a world class example of the evolution of sandy landscapes in the humid tropics;
• the pear-shaped and triangular dune lakes present in the dune fields are amongst the best examples of their type in the world;
• the dune fields are one of the most extensive and least disturbed areas of active parabolic and active elongate parabolic dunes in the world;
• the area is a nationally important dune field, heath and eucalypt woodland wilderness area with over 70% of the area being of very high wilderness quality;
• about 25% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly open heaths, Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands, or Eucalyptus clarksoniana/E. novoguineensis woodland in wet coastal areas;
• in an Australian context, the Olive River has an exceptionally high diversity of fish species for a river of its size, while the dune lakes support a rich fish fauna in comparison to other dune lakes in Australia;
• it contains a high diversity of wetland types and coastal wetland features;
• the dune fields support a regionally rich collection of vegetation communities, which is likely to support a rich fauna;
• the riverine vine forests of the Olive River support many plant species that are endemic to the Peninsula;
• the Olive River supports a population of the nationally rare Shortfinned Catfish (Neosilurus ater), and other regionally restricted fish species;
• the Olive River supports a fish fauna of biogeographic significance, with several species at distribution limits and others having a strong relationship to the fish fauna of New Guinea;
• it includes small patches of vine forests which are both regionally and nationally rare;
• it is important to understanding the evolution of segmented dune lakes, the rate of podzol soil development in the tropics and the timing and nature of major events of deflation and dune building in northern Australia;
• the Shelburne Bay - Olive River dune fields are a landscape of outstanding aesthetic significance; White Point, a large parabolic dune and the large adjacent intertidal sand shoal are particularly prominent features; and
• the geological exposures at Cape Grenville provide information on the nature of past regional volcanic activity, and contain a high diversity of volcanic rock types.

16.2.7 Pennefather-Duyfken Area

The Pennefather-Duyfken Area has natural conservation significance because:

• about 75% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 20% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area includes vine thickets, tussock grassland, sparse herbland, Acacia woodland on dunes and Melaleuca open forest over sinkholes;
• it is particularly rich with geologically interesting sink-holes, which are subcircular depressions thought to have resulted from collapse of the surface following solution of silica by groundwater;
• south of the Pennefather River is a particularly good transect of coastal land form types from reef flat, transgressive dunes, Holocene beach ridges and Pleistocene ridges;
• it supports high population densities of mammals and other vertebrates, while the swamps of the area have a rich frog fauna;
• it is an important habitat of several vertebrate species endemic to Cape York Peninsula;
• it supports a breeding population of the endangered Little Tern (Sterna albifrons); and
• it is a regionally important dry season waterfowl refuge;

19.2.8 Wenlock Corridor Area

The Wenlock Corridor Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the Wenlock riparian forest is an important corridor for dispersal of many species allowing movement between the extensive rainforests on the east coast and the smaller sand ridge rainforests on the west coast;
• the riparian corridor is also an important dry season refuge for woodland species whose populations may be decimated through a combination of heat and drought;
• the Wenlock River contains the richest known freshwater fish fauna of any river in Australia;
• the riparian corridor supports many plant and animal species that are endemic to Cape York Peninsula;
• about 50% of the area has very high wilderness quality;
• about 40% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands, Eucalyptus clarksoniana open woodlands on floodplains and heath on sandstone plateaus; and
• the banks of the Wenlock River, below the falls at Grid Ref 973860, provide good examples of ferricrete deposits, which are common on Cape York Peninsula.

19.2.9 Iron Range

The Iron Range has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforest in Australia;
• it is a prime example of lowland rainforest in a natural state;
• about 40% of the area supports regionally rare vegetation, including mesophyll vine forest, notophyll vine forest and a Eucalyptus tetrodonta community that occurs on coastal lowlands;
• it is amongst the most diverse habitats in Australia for ants, butterflies, fruit-flies, ferns, orchids and palms;
• for its catchment size, the Claudie River has one of the most diverse fish faunas of any Australian river;
• it supports at least a regionally rich vertebrate fauna;
• important 300 million year old plant fossil material occurs in the Pascoe River beds;
• as part of the mid-Peninsula rainforests, it is a stronghold for bird species shared with New Guinea and that have a restricted distribution in Australia;
• it is a part of the largest and most effective rainforest refugium on Cape York Peninsula in preserving species of relatively recent New Guinea origin and the northern extension of older Gondwanic elements;
• it is a major habitat, in a national context, for rare insect, plant and vertebrate species;
• it is a major centre of plant, insect and vertebrate endemism;
• about 40% of the area has very high wilderness quality;
• about 10% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area includes rainforests, Eucalyptus hylandii woodland on sandstone plateaus and a Melaleuca viridiflora/Austromyrtus brassii community on metamorphic hills;
• rainforests of the area form a vital corridor for the north-south movement of migratory species, including various bird, fruit-bat and butterfly species; and
• it contains a wide variety of spectacular natural scenery, from the ruggered Janet and Tozer Ranges to luxuriant rainforests, and rivers lined with closed forest.

19.2.10 Mission River Area

The Mission River Area has natural conservation significance because:

1. 70% of the area is of very high wilderness quality; and
2. representative vegetation in the area includes Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands on erosional surfaces or on lower slopes.

19.2.11 Embley Range

The Embley Range Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is a good example of the remnant Aurukun landscape; and
• about 20% of the area is covered by vegetation communities that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly semi-deciduous microphyll species and Melaleuca over sinkholes and Eucalyptus clarksoniana floodplain woodland.

19.2.12 Hey-Embley Rivers Area

The Hey-Embley Rivers Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains extensive shell mounds, which although being cultural deposits, contain valuable information about past environmental conditions and the interaction of people with their environment;
• about 70% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 40% of the area (chiefly the eastern section) is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula. Representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly types of Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands; and
• the estuary of the Embley River is the only known habitat of River Garfish (Zenarchopterus buffonis) on Cape York Peninsula.

19.2.13 Pera Head Area

The Pera Head Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is the most spectacular and extensive cliff on the west coast of the Peninsula; the cliffs of dark red bauxite overlying a band of contrasting white kaolin are a prominent and aesthetically significant landscape;
• the cliff profile is important to understanding the geology of the Weipa area and is one of the best bauxite exposures in the world;
• about 60% of the area is of very high wilderness quality; and
• representative vegetation present in the area includes patches of tussock grassland and bare saltpans with a sparse herbland;

19.2.14 Mt White

The Mt White Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is a prime hill-topping site, where butterflies congregate to mate. Several of the butterflies recorded from the site are rare or uncommon species.

19.2.15 Geike Range

The Geike Range Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is a significant geological sites, being an inverted drainage feature and remnant of the Aurukun landsurface. The Geike Range was once a former stream bed, that cemented, and then remained as a remnant above previous surrounding higher ground that was eroded away.

19.2.16 Aurukun Wetlands

The Aurukun Wetlands has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains some of the best quality coastal wetland habitats in western Cape York Peninsula;
• the wetlands around the Kirke River support an abundant wetland fauna and are likely to be the most important dry season refuge for waterbirds on Cape York Peninsula;
• it is the most important known breeding area for several waterbird species on the Peninsula;
• it contains four large Magpie Geese breeding colonies and two large waterbird breeding colonies;
• two wader roost sites of over 5000 birds and two of between 1000 and 5000 birds have been identified in the area;
• it supports the richest collection of vegetation communities any where on the west coast of the Peninsula, and this is likely to result in a rich fauna;
• several mangrove crabs which are either new species or new Australian records have been identified in the area;
• it contains a number of large shell mounds, similar in form and composition to those at Weipa, adjacent to the Love River estuary; the mounds are of great cultural significance, and they contain valuable information about past environmental conditions and the interaction of people with their environment, particularly the use of plants by the Aboriginal population of the area;
• the beach ridges, chenier ridges, marine plain and alluvial plains with their associated drainages illustrate well the ongoing geological processes that have given rise to the present day coast around much of the Gulf of Carpentaria;
• the beach ridge system to the south of Kirke River is the most extensive on the west coast of the Peninsula, while the saltpans in the Kirke estuary are unequalled anywhere in the Gulf of Carpentaria;
• about 25% of the area is of very high wilderness quality; and
• small patches of several vegetation classes rare on the Peninsula occur in the area, including notophyll vine forest, mesophyll vine forest and Acacia crassicarpa woodland on dunes.

19.2.17 Archer-Coen Area

The Archer-Coen Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the riparian forest is an important corridor for dispersal of many species, including the Spotted Cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), White-tailed Rat (Uromys caudimaculatus), frugivorous birds, and Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) and allows movement between the extensive rainforests on the east coast and the smaller sand ridge rainforests on the west coast;
• the riparian corridor is also an important dry season refuge for woodland species whose populations may be decimated through a combination of heat and drought; the riparian vegetation may also be the highest feature on a floodplain and of importance as a refuge habitat during times of flooding;
• about 40% of the area has very high wilderness quality;
• it contains many vegetation communities (covering about 40% of the area) that are amongst the best examples of their class on the Peninsula, including Melaleuca argentea riverine open forest, Eucalyptus chlorophylla and E. clarksoniana open woodlands, E. leptophleba open woodlands, various types of Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands, and E. hylandii and E. cullenii woodlands;
• the criss-crossing stream channels at the junction of the Archer and Coen Rivers provide an excellent example of flood plain morphologies and environments;
• the upper Archer-Coen areas support a richness of vegetation communities, which is also likely to support a rich fauna;
• several vertebrates endemic to the Peninsula have been recorded in the eucalypt woodlands in the east of the area;
• the riparian vine forests of the Archer and Coen Rivers support many plant species that are endemic to the Peninsula;
• t he Merapah Scarp consists of excellent exposures of the range of depositional cycles that have occurred on the western Peninsula;
• it contains small patches of rare vegetation types including notophyll vine forest, and a Eucalyptus tetrodonta community that occurs in granite valleys; and
• the Archer River is the only known locality on Cape York Peninsula of Freshwater Anchovies (Thryssa scratchleyi) where it only occurs in low numbers.

19,2,18 McIlwraith - Lockhart Area

The McIlwraith - Lockhart Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains the largest block of rainforest on Cape York Peninsula, and the largest wilderness rainforest in northern Australia. The area is of importance, in a national context, to the maintenance of existing processes associated with rainforest ecosystems;
• the mid-Peninsula rainforests, particularly the higher areas of the McIlwraith Range, are the largest and most effective rainforest refugium on Cape York Peninsula in preserving species of relatively recent New Guinea origin and the northern extension of older Gondwanic elements;
• south of the McIlwraith Range are large dry and hot plains which have been a major obstacle to the spread of rainforest biota. Thus many species, particularly those of a New Guinea origin, reach their southern distribution limit in the area including at least thirteen bird species;
• it is an important outlier location with several relic species having disjunct populations in the area; relic species that occur both in the Mid Peninsula and Wet Tropical forests include the plants Bubbia semecarpoides, Podocarpus elatus, and Corynocarpus cribbianus; it also contains several endemic and primitive species or subspecies, including Rhodamnia sp. aff blairiana, Beilschmiedia sp. "McIlwraith Range", three microhylid frogs and a primitive Gecko;
• in a national context, it is a major habitat of rare and threatened species; at least 100 rare and threatened plant species are known in the area; it is also the habitat of at least one fish, three frogs, seven reptiles, fifteen birds and three mammals which are nationally rare, vulnerable or endangered;
• a number of plant and animal species are known only from the area;
• it contains the highest concentration of regionally restricted birds anywhere in Australia;
• about 25% of the area supports vegetation types that are rare on the Peninsula;
• it contains a particularly rich collection of vegetation communities, including mesophyll vine forest, notophyll vine thicket, Araucarian notophyll vine forest, notophyll vine forests, eucalypt open forests and eucalypt woodlands;
• it is a major centre of plant, insect and vertebrate endemism;
• it has the greatest bird and mammal diversity on Cape York Peninsula;
• it supports a nationally rich orchid flora and invertebrate fauna;
• about 50% of the area (mainly the southern portion) is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 40% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; it is particularly rich in the representative vegetation classes present, including mesophyll vine forest, notophyll vine forest, closed mangrove forest, deciduous vine thickets, Eucalyptus hylandii woodland, Eucalyptus clarksoniana open forest, Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodland in granite valleys, Melaleuca viridiflora low woodland and saltpans with a sparse forbland;
• it is an important habitat of the vulnerable Estuarine Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus.);
• large roosting colonies of the endangered Little Tern (Stern albifrons) have been recorded in the area;
• the mouth of the Lockhart River consists of one of the most extensive and diverse estuarine areas on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula;
• rainforests of the area form a vital corridor for the north-south movement of migratory species, including various bird, fruit-bat and butterfly species; and
• it has outstanding scenic value, with a high diversity of striking landforms and vegetation types, including spectacular gorges, tall rainforests and near pristine coastline.

19.2.19 Holroyd Wilderness Area

The Holroyd Wilderness has natural conservation significance because:

• it is one of the largest floodplain areas in Australia, which is predominantly of very high wilderness quality;
• over 80% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 50% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area includes semi deciduous vine forest, evergreen riverine notophyll vine forest, Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodlands and Eucalyptus hylandii woodlands;
• it contains excellent examples of floodplain and coastal landforms and the ongoing processes associated with their formation; representative landforms present in the area include, chenier ridges, beach ridges, fan deposits, and marine plains;
• it includes small patches of vegetation classes that are rare on the Peninsula, including vine forests, Acacia crassicarpa woodland on dunes, and types of eucalypt woodlands;
• the Holroyd and Edward Rivers are a major part of an area of faunal change between the more typical northern fish fauna and the fish fauna of the southern Peninsula;
• the coastal section of the area is an important habitat of the vulnerable Northern Crimson Finch (Neochimia phaeton evagelinae);
• the Holroyd river scarps, in the south-east of the area, are an excellent example of their landscape type and are a relic of former down cutting along the Holroyd River, initiated by downwarping of land on the eastern edge of the Coen Inlier;
• the Strathleven inverted drainage feature is a good example of this type of landform, and has resulted from cementing of a former river bed, which has subsequently been resistant to erosion, while the surrounding plain has been eroded below its level; and
• the south-east of the area includes some swamps that are likely to contain bone fragments of Pleistocene fauna, which are important to scientific research.

19.2.20 The Gorge Creek Area and Timber Reserve

The Gorge Creek Area and Timber Reserve Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it supports a regionally rich collection of vegetation communities;
• it contains, in a regional context, a moderate diversity of wetland types and reasonably extensive tidal flats;
• about 60% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 60% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula. Representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus clarksoniana - Erythrophleum chlorostachys - E. brassiana woodland and semi-deciduous vine thicket;
• most of the thin coastal strip of the area supports rare vegetation communities including vine thickets and mangroves; and
• it includes a rare expression (on the Peninsula) of Pliocene volcanic activity, the Nephelinite outcrop supports an uncommon vine thicket vegetation.

19.2.21 Lakefield

The Lakefield Area has natural conservation significance because:

• within the context of Cape York Peninsula, it contains both a richness and high diversity of wetland types;
• it supports a high diversity of vegetation communities, and is likely to support a rich fauna community;
• the land at the base of Princess Charlotte Bay, contains the best and most extensive examples of saline flats on Cape York Peninsula; the perennial water bodies and ephemeral lakes of the area are also amongst the best representations of their type on Cape York Peninsula;
• about 30% of the area has very high wilderness quality;
• about 25% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula representative vegetation occurring in the area includes semi-deciduous vine thickets, notophyll vine thicket, and types of Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Eucalyptus clarksoniana woodlands;
• about 10% of the area supports regionally rare vegetation communities including notophyll vine forest, a Eucalyptus clarksoniana woodland and riverine Melaleuca argentea open forest;
• it contains an extensive chenier ridge system which has been unusually influenced by a major fault structure in its development;
• the extensive nature of the wetlands in the area, in particular permanent swamps and lagoons, mangrove communities and riparian thickets, combine to provide important habitat and feeding grounds of the nationally vulnerable Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
• the riparian thickets support an unusually rich population of the Lycaenidae butterfly Virachola democles.
• the riverine closed forests along the Normanby River provides a substantial corridor that links the rainforests of the Wet Tropics with those patches south of the Silver Plains Holding; the corridor is also important for many species that migrate north - south across the Peninsula;
• the riverine forests also support many plant species that are endemic to the Peninsula;
• it contains an important fossil locality for molluscs, probably from the Lower Cretaceous (about 125 million years ago); and
• the chenier ridge plain north-east of River is an important product of landform processes of the last 6,000 years; the pollen, charcoal, shell and ridge system preserved in the plain provide an important regional record of vegetation changes, cyclonic events and landform processes.

19.2.22 Starke Area

The Starke Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains some of the most rugged and least disturbed country on Cape York Peninsula, consisting of a dissected plateau that rises above and provides a scenic backdrop to coastal plains;
• it is one of the richest areas of vegetation communities on Cape York Peninsula;
• about 75% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 60% of the area is covered by vegetation communities that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation in the area largely occurs on the sandstones and granites of the area, and includes notophyll vine forests, a community dominated by Eucalyptus hylandii and a Eucalyptus tetrodonta community;
• about 10% of the area supports vegetation communities that are rare on the Peninsula including many vine forest communities and eucalypt woodland communities;
• Cape Melville is the largest representations of the spectacular boulder mountain landscape in Australia and these landscapes are nationally uncommon;
• the Foxtail Palm (Wodyetia bifurcata ),the only member of its genus, is restricted to the Melville Range area; the lizard Cryptoblepharus fuhni and an undescribed frog are also only known from the Melville Range;
• the head of Howick Creek supports a vine forest community in which the nationally rare Syzygium argyropedicum is a dominant canopy tree; this patch of vine forest is floristically unique, with no other examples of this type of vine forest known;
• many rare and threatened plant species have been recorded in the area particularly in the vicinity of Hopevale, Cape Melville and Cape Bathurst;
• the riparian rainforests along the McIvor River support a rare butterfly species;
• the vine forests of the area support many plant species that are endemic to Cape York Peninsula;
• the evergreen notophyll vine forests of the area support several plant species that have widely disjunct populations;
• the semi-deciduous notophyll/microphyll vine forest in the Mt Webb - Hopevale area support, in an Australian context, a rich lauxaniid fly fauna; and
• the eastern coastline of the area has a regionally significant diversity of coastal features and coastal wetlands.

19.2.23 Cape Flattery-Cape Bedford

The Cape Flattery-Cape Bedford Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains the best development of gegenwalle (Counter-wall) dunes in the world;
• it is one of the few areas in the world with extensive development of large elongate parabolic dunes;
• it is representative of dune landforms and dune vegetation found in North Queensland;
• a large component of the dune field is of high wilderness quality, with over 50% of the area having a very high wilderness quality;
• it contains the largest diversity of dune landforms of any of the dune systems in Northern Australia;
• this area and the Olive River dune fields have the best examples of pear-shaped and triangular lake landforms in Australia;
• it is important research site for studying dune processes;
• it contains some of the best examples of evergreen mesophyll/notophyll vine forest on the Peninsula, as well as some other rare vine thicket communities;
• it is the only known habitat of two rare skink species;
• it contains the habitat of several threatened plant species and regionally uncommon vegetation types;
• the dune lakes contain a unique faunal assemblage;
• the evergreen notophyll vine forests of the area support several plant species that have widely disjunct populations;
• large roosting populations of the endangered Little Tern (Sterna albifrons) have been recorded in the area; and
• the cliffs and wave cut platforms at Cape Bedford are some of the best exposures of the extensive Hodgkinson Province, providing much information about regional geological events.

19.2.24 Mitchell Delta

The Mitchell Delta Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the fan deposits of the Mitchell Delta are amongst the best examples of this type of landform in the world;
• the coastal and deltaic deposits of the area provide important regional information on past climatic and landform processes;
• it contains a good example of an actively prograding coastline;
• the wetlands of the area have high biological and ecological integrity, and are important as an overwintering and stopover site for migratory waterbirds from south-eastern Australia; it is also an important staging area for many migratory tropical waterbird species such as the Magpie Goose, Brolga and Saurus Crane;
• it is a nationally important waterbird and wader breeding habitat;
• the mouth of the Mitchell River supports a major breeding colony of the nationally endangered Little Tern;
• it is a regionally important dry season refuge for several species of waterbird;
• it includes a diverse array of wetland types with a variety of geomorphological origins, fluctuating salinities and water permanence, and diverse water plant communities;
• the Mitchell Delta supports a regionally diverse fauna;
• it includes a regionally high diversity of deltaic and coastal landforms;
• it contains small patches of vine thickets and Eucalyptus polycarpa woodlands which are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class; and
• about 5% of the area consists of vegetation classes that are rare on the Peninsula, including notophyll vine forest, Acacia crassicarpa woodland on dunes and Eucalyptus polycarpa woodland.

19.2.25 Upper Alice-Coleman

The Upper Alice-Coleman Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is an important alluvial plain wilderness area, with over 60% of the area being of very high wilderness quality;
• about 30% of the area is covered by vegetation communities that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly riparian evergreen notophyll vine forest, Eucalyptus hylandii woodland and Eucalyptus tetrodonta/E. hylandii and Erythrophleum chlorostachys woodland;
• it contains small patches of evergreen mesophyll vine forest and semi deciduous mesophyll/notophyll vine forest which are rare vegetation classes on the Peninsula; and
• Bull Lake is a nationally important drought refuge for native fauna.

19.2.26 Golden-shouldered Parrot Habitat

The Golden-shouldered Parrot Habitat Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is one of the two remaining known habitats of the nationally endangered Golden-shouldered Parrot (Psephotus chrysopterygius);
• about 25% of the area (generally the eastern sectors) are of very high wilderness quality;
• the areas of high wilderness quality contain some of the best examples of semi-deciduous mesophyll/notophyll vine forest and Eucalyptus hylandii woodland on the Peninsula; and
• about 5% of the area supports regionally rare vine forests.

19.2.27 Kimba Plateau

The Kimba Plateau Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the nationally vulnerable plant Jedda multicaulis is only known from the eastern edge of this plateau and is the only member of its genus; it has unusual cryptogeal germination unlike any other flowering plant in Australia;
• it is the highest and southern most remnant of the Aurukun land surface;
• about 30% of the area has very high wilderness quality; and
• about 80% of the Plateau supports a tall Eucalyptus tetrodonta woodland which is basically restricted to the Plateau and is a rare vegetation class on the Peninsula.

19.2.28 North Kennedy Area

The North Kennedy Area has natural conservation significance because:

• about 60% of the area is of very high wilderness quality; and
• the sandstone outcrops in the area support some uncommon and restricted butterfly species.

19.2.29 Red Bluff

The Red Bluff Area has natural conservation significance because:

• about 75% of the area supports rare vegetation types.

19.2.30 Deighton-Normanby Area

The Deighton-Normanby Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the riverine closed forests along the Normanby River provides a substantial corridor that links the rainforests of the Wet Tropics with those patches south of the Silver Plains Holding; the corridor is also important for many species that migrate north - south across the Peninsula;
• the riverine forests also support many plant species that are endemic to the Peninsula;
• the central part of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 20% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; Representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus leptophleba and Eucalyptus nesophila woodlands; and
• about 10% of the area supports vegetation types that are rare on the Peninsula, including deciduous vine forest and Eucalyptusleptophleba and Eucalyptus cullenii woodlands.

19.2.31 Isabella Falls Area

The Isabella Falls Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it supports a highly diverse butterfly fauna, including several rare, disjunct or uncommon species.

19.2.32 Endeavour-Annan River Area

The Endeavour-Annan River Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the shores of the Endeavour River are the type locality of many species of plants and animals and is of importance to the history of Australian natural sciences; part of the significance of the place relates to it still being in much the same condition as when Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander collected there over 200 years ago;
• the mangroves and fringing Melaleuca communities of the Endeavour and Annan Rivers support major populations of ant-plants and associated with them are significant colonies of the vulnerable butterfly Hypochrysops apollo, and other uncommon butterfly species;
• it supports a high diversity of vertebrate fauna;
• the cliffs and wave cut platforms between Indian Head and Cape Bedford are some of the best exposures of the extensive Hodgkinson Province, providing much information about regional geological events;
• parts of the Endeavour River, Oakey Creek and the Annan River, contain good examples of features associated with the capture or reversal of rivers, resulting from upwarping of the Eastern Escarpment;
• about 10% of the area supports vegetation classes that are rare on the Peninsula, these are predominantly eucalypt woodlands or open forests;
• about 25% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus leptophleba and Eucalyptus nesophila woodlands;
• Lygisaurus tanneri is a rare and endemic skink has a restricted distribution centred on Eucalyptus platyphylla open forest west of Cooktown; and
• several locations in the area contain Permian (280 - 225 million year ago) plant fossil material.

19.2.33 Palmer-King Rivers Area

The Palmer-King Rivers Area has natural conservation significance because:

• the sandstone outcrops in the area support some uncommon and restricted butterfly species;
• it supports a regionally rich collection of vegetation communities;
• about 40% of the area is of very high wilderness quality;
• about 30% of the area is covered by vegetation communities that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus cullenii, E. hylandii and E. tetrodonta woodlands.

19.2.34 Quinkan

The Quinkan Area has natural conservation significance because:

• about 70% of the area supports regionally rare vegetation classes including semi deciduous notophyll/microphyll vine thicket and Eucalyptus crebra, Eucalyptus cullenii andEucalyptus leptophleba woodlands and open forests;
• about 30% (chiefly the western portion) is of very high wilderness quality; and
• about 30% of the area is covered by vegetation areas that are amongst the best examples of their vegetation class on the Peninsula; representative vegetation occurring in the area is predominantly Eucalyptus tetrodonta, Eucalyptus chlorophylla, Eucalyptus cullenii and Eucalyptus leptophleba woodlands.

19.2.35. Wet Tropics

The Wet Tropics Area has natural conservation significance because:

• it is an integral part of the wet tropical forests which are recognised as World Heritage;
• it supports a large number of primitive and relic plant taxa that occur no-where else in the world and are of international significance to the understanding of the origin, evolution and dispersal of flowering plants;
• it supports a large number of relic fauna that have found refuge in the area over geological time and provide information on evolutionary processes;
• it contains elements in the biota that relate to four major stages in the earth's evolutionary history;
• it has high floristic, structural, and faunal diversity;
• it supports numerous rare, threatened and highly restricted species of animal and plants;
• it supports numerous plants and animal species that are endemic to these forests;
• it is a major centre for ongoing evolution within the Australian continent;
• it contains outstanding natural beauty in the forests and the landscape;
• the spectacular boulder mountain landscape on Black Mountain is considered nationally uncommon; and
• Black Mountain supports endemic species of a frog, skink and a gecko; it is also an important roosting site of three rare bat species and several vulnerable or rare bat species as well as for regional populations of several other species.

19.2.36 Mitchell - Palmer Karst and Palmer River Crossing

The Mitchell - Palmer Karst and Palmer River Crossing area has natural conservation significance because:

• it contains a diverse and representative tower karst system which has national geological significance;
• it contains fossil deposits and geological features important to understanding past regional climates and environments;
• it is a major habitat of nationally vulnerable Cave Swiftlet (Collocalia spodiopygia chillagoensis) and Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas), and roosting location of another two bats vulnerable or rare in Queensland;
• it is a major habitat of Godman's Rock Wallaby (petrogale godmani), which is endemic to Cape York Peninsula;
• it supports deciduous vine thicket, which is a broad vegetation group rare on Cape York Peninsula, and nationally uncommon; and
• the Palmer River contains the best exposures of the Palmerville Fault system, a major fault structure in North Queensland.