Nature and science
Kakadu National Park is a timeless place - a landscape of exceptional beauty and great diversity. Mangrove fringed coastal areas blend into expansive flood plains, lowland hills flanked to the east by sandstone escarpments, all interwoven between various open woodland and forest habitats. The land takes on different forms and different colours with the passing of each season.
A freckled monitor trapped in an abandoned can of soft drink
Kakadu's flora is among the richest in northern Australia-more than 2000 plant species are recorded. This richness is a result of the park's geological, landform and habitat diversity. Kakadu is also considered to be one of the most weed free national parks in the world-only 5.7 per cent of recorded species are weeds (Press et al 1995). The 1995 edition of Rare and Threatened Australian Plants (Briggs and Leigh 1995) identifies 97 rare, vulnerable or poorly known plant species that occur in Kakadu.
Please don't litter in Kakadu
Managing the impact of visitors is one of the challenges we face at Kakadu. You can play an important role in helping to protect the park and to maintain a healthy biodiversity.
- Avoid feeding or interfering with wild animals
- Carry out your rubbish
- Check your campsite before you leave
- Avoid picking fruit, flowers and breaking branches
Bamboo - a restricted plant | mike lowe
Help us stop the spread of weeds
To protect Kakadu's unique environment, there are some exotic plants which shouldn't be brought into the park or planted in local gardens. We ask residents to avoid buying exotic plants which may go wild and take over from native plants, and to take care not to allow weeds to spread.
Check the list of approved plants that are safe to grow at Kakadu, and the list of restricted plants that shouldn't be brought into the park.
