A 'greenprint' for Cape York Peninsula
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A key feature of the Cape York Heads of Agreement was the recommendation that a comprehensive scientific study be undertaken to identify conservation values of national and international significance.
In 2000, the Queensland Government provided funding for this study. Undertaken by three of Australia’s leading conservation scientists, Dr. Brendan Mackey, Professor Henry Nix and Peter Hitchcock, this report was completed and released in October 2001. For a full copy click here...
This report, titled the Cape York Statement of Natural Heritage Significance, or SoS for short, identified the following features of conservation significance:
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That Cape York Penisular is a remarkable refuge for rare and threatened plant and animal species. It is also home to 40 animals, 264 plant species and 195 insect species that are found nowhere else on Earth
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One- fifth of Australia’s tropical rainforests (748 000 hectares) are found on Cape York. These rainforests contain a greater variety of orchids and butterflies that almost anywhere else in Australia or the world
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Its wetlands are amongst the largest, richest and most diverse in the Australia
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The Peninsular contains 20 major wild river catchments, free of dams and impoundments. One of these rivers, the Wenlock has a greater variety of freshwater fish than any other river in Australia
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The Peninsular is a stronghold of globally rare tropical savannah woodlands. 70% of the once abundant tropical woodlands of Africa, India, Asia and South America have been cleared, of the remaining 30%, most are severely degraded
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Cape York’s mangrove forests are globally significant. Growing to a height of 30 metres and covering massive areas, these mangrove forests are the most diverse in the world with 35 recorded different species
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Cape York’s coast line is one of the last great wilderness coasts with over 1800 kilometres of largely untouched coastal environments. Tens of thousands of migratory sea birds spend their winter on the beaches and islands of Cape York Peninsula. Its waters support one of the world’s largest dugong populations
On the basis of these finding, the authors of the report concluded that "a substantial proportion of Cape York has the potential to qualify for World Heritage under the world Heritage Convention."
Furthermore, the authors argued that on Cape York Peninsular, "we have the opportunity to choose a new path of development, different from that previously followed elsewhere in Australia… that is likely to yield significant benefits in a future world deprived of vast natural vistas, pristine rivers and beaches, and healthy plant and animal ecological communities."
For these reasons, the conservation movement wants to see a model of development chosen for Cape York that is compatible with maintenance of its heritage values through the development of a comprehensive, and ground breaking, conservation plan for the entire Peninsular.
The Queensland Government has kick started this process through the provision of $3 million to purchase lands of outstanding conservation value.
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