What is the Daintree Rainforest?

The Daintree Rainforest is a large tropical rainforest in far north Queensland, covering about 1,200 square kilometres between the Daintree River and Bloomfield in the Wet Tropics. It is widely described as the oldest continuously rainforested area on Earth, with palynological evidence suggesting unbroken rainforest cover for at least 180 million years, dating back to before Australia separated from Gondwana.

The Daintree forms part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland UNESCO World Heritage Area, listed in 1988, which protects 8,940 square kilometres of rainforest along the Queensland coast between Townsville and Cooktown. The Daintree adjoins the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, making it one of the few places in the world where two natural World Heritage sites meet.

The Eastern Kuku Yalanji people are the Traditional Owners of the Daintree and have lived in the area for tens of thousands of years. In 2021 the Queensland government returned 160,000 hectares of national park land to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji under joint management arrangements, the largest Indigenous land handback in Queensland history. The Mossman Gorge Centre, operated by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji, hosts cultural tours.

The Daintree shelters about 30 per cent of Australia's frog, marsupial, and reptile species and 65 per cent of the country's bat and butterfly species, all in a tiny fraction of the country's land area. Iconic species include the southern cassowary, the Bennett's tree-kangaroo, the musky rat-kangaroo, the spotted-tailed quoll, and an extraordinary variety of orchids and ancient flowering plants. Cape Tribulation, where Captain Cook ran the Endeavour aground in 1770, sits at the northern end of the rainforest section accessible by sealed road.