The Greater Blue Mountains Area is one of Australia’s greatest natural wonders and was added to the World Heritage List in 2000. This incredible landscape is comprised of tableland formed from deeply incised sandstone covered mostly in eucalyptus tree species. The region stretches over 1.03 million hectares of Southeast Australia from the coast inland, starting near Australia’s largest city, Sydney. The Greater Blue Mountains is among the most intact and largest areas of government-protected bush country in the nation.
Not surprisingly, the area attracts around 4 million nature-loving tourists every year, and one of the best ways to enjoy this vast wilderness is to join a private tour of the Blue Mountains where your expert guides can steer you to its most spectacular attractions. The National Park sprawls across eight conservation centres teeming with native life.
The beautiful eucalyptus is the dominant tree and the mountains are home to an amazing variety of diverse physiognomic and taxonomic variations of the species, providing an outstanding example of plant evolution. There are also many other endemic rare and relict flora on hand like the ancient Wollemi pine. Researchers continue to discover new species regularly, the mountains are a treasure trove of biodiversity and home to a thriving ecology.
The region’s geology is dramatically represented by ranges of 300-metre tall cliffs dotted with spectacular waterfalls and narrow slot canyons, forming a visually stunning landscape like no other. It’s hard to believe that such a primaeval wilderness thrives so close to Australia’s most dense coastal human population, with its near neighbours numbering around 5 million people! The value the park has to offer to the country is incalculable, with an indigenous cultural history reaching far back into time, locations of great historical significance to the post-European settlers, a vast natural reservoir for water production, easily accessible wilderness areas for exploration and recreation, and incredible natural beauty along with its rich ecology of native animals and plants.
Famed for its verdant forests, The Greater Blue Mountains also has large tracts of grasslands, swamplands, and wetlands, as well as the unique mallee heathlands all of which are home to one of the continent’s most varied collections of eucalypt species. Also present are the famed Wollemi Pines and Blue Mountains pines, primitive relict species whose presence reaches all the way back into the ancient age of Gondwana!
This outstanding collection of habitats and plant communities is of significant global value thanks to its rich ecosystem diversity. There are over 152 plant families, 484 genera, and 1,500 species present in the park, a very large proportion of the floral biodiversity of the Australian continent is represented here. The region is also home to more than 400 vertebrate animals, with 40 of them being on the threatened list, consisting of around 63 reptile, 52 mammal, 30 frog, and 265 species of bird! Popular Australian animals that can be found nowhere else in the world like the platypus and the echidna make the park their home.
If you are interested in learning more about this natural wonderland visit The Guide To The Blue Mountains for more information. Don’t miss this fantastic realm of beauty and wonder!
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