Fraser Island World Heritage values
Fraser Island was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992. The World Heritage criteria against which Fraser Island was listed remain the formal criteria for this property. The World Heritage criteria are periodically revised and the criteria against which the property was listed in 1992 are not necessarily identical with the current criteria.
Criteria
Outstanding examples representing significant ongoing geological processes
Fraser Island provides a globally significant example of geological processes, including complex coastal dune formations that are still evolving, and an array of lakes that is exceptional in terms of number, diversity, age and the evidence of dynamic and developmental stages. The World Heritage values include:
- the largest sand island in the world which contains complex, evolving coastal dune formations; and
- an array of dunes and dune lakes which is exceptional in terms of number, diversity and age, and which provides evidence of dynamic and developmental stages in dune formation including:
- freshwater dune lakes;
- actively forming depositional dune forms;
- erosional aeolian dune forms;
- chronosequence of podsol development; and
- chronosequence of dunes with its varying stages of soil development and associative successive and retrogressive stages of vegetation communities.
Outstanding examples representing on-going biological processes
Fraser Island provides a globally significant example of biological evolution, outstanding examples of ecosystems that have developed in response to maritime conditions and poor soils developed on coastal dune formations. The World Heritage values include:
- an outstanding example of the combination of rainforests growing on tall sand dunes;
- species of flora and fauna which have adapted to the comparatively nutrient poor, acidic, sands of the island;
- vegetational chronosequences including successional stages associated with the development of these rainforest communities;
- an outstanding example of subtropical pattered fens which contain a variety of organisms not normally found in such acid conditions, including "acid" frogs; and
- the diversity of plant and animal species.
Contains superlative natural phenomena
Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, has exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance and contains superlative natural phenomena including:
- over 250km of sandy beaches with long, uninterrupted sweeps of ocean beach, with more than 40km of strikingly coloured sand cliffs, as well as spectacular dune blowouts; and
- ocean surf beaches, strikingly coloured sand cliffs, spectacular tall rainforests growing on low nutrient sands, perched dune lakes including both clear “white water” lakes and dark “black water” lakes, banksia woodlands, heath, patterned swampy fens and sheltered mangrove areas in a spectacular mosaic landscape.
Heritage values
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