Porongurup National Park, Western Australia, more information
Rich natural history
Porongurup National Park is also significant for a number of invertebrates that have a link to the Gondwanan supercontinent, when Australia was joined to present day Africa, South America and Antarctica, before they broke apart some 150 million years ago. Isolated several times by higher sea levels, most recently around 55 million years ago, the cool mountain gullies within Porongurup National Park serve as a haven for insects, primitive spiders and land snails. Many of the relict species in the Porongurup Range and in neighboring Stirling Range are more closely related to invertebrate species found in mountainous areas of eastern Australia or on other Gondwanan continents such as South Africa, than to the drier, low-lying areas surrounding the range.
Biodiversity hotspot
Porongurup National Park, within the traditional lands of the Minang group of the Nyungar people, is a unique living landscape of exceptional biological and ecological significance. As part of an internationally recognised 'biodiversity hotspot' in the south-west region of Western Australia, Porongurup National Park contains an exceptionally high concentration of plants and animals in a relatively small area. Examples of plant groups which contribute to this outstanding richness include: flame-peas (Chorizema), rice flowers (Pimelea), native myrtles (Myrtaceae), kangaroo paws (Haemodorales) and banksias (Proteales).
The National Heritage List
The National Heritage List recognises and protects our most valued natural, Indigenous and historic heritage sites. Places listed in the National Heritage List are protected under the Australian Government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Porongurup National Park joins other National Parks on the National Heritage List, including the neighbouring Stirling Range National Park (Western Australia), Warrumbungles National Park (New South Wales) and Kakadu National Park (Northern Territory).
Heritage values
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