The Greater Blue Mountains Area was inscribed on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee in late 2000.
It is an area of breathtaking views, rugged tablelands , sheer cliffs, deep, inaccessible valleys and swamps teeming with life. The unique plants and animals that live in this outstanding natural place relate an extraordinary story of Australia's antiquity, its diversity of life and its superlative beauty. This is the story of the evolution of Australia's unique eucalypt vegetation and its associated communities, plants and animals.
The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of 10,300 km² of mostly forested landscape on a sandstone plateau 60 to 180 km inland from central Sydney, New South Wales. The property includes vast expanses of wilderness and is equivalent in area to almost one third of Belgium, or twice the size of Brunei.
The property, which includes eight protected areas in two blocks separated by a transportation and urban development corridor, is made up of seven outstanding national parks as well as the famous Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve . These are the Blue Mountains, Wollemi, Yengo, Nattai, Kanangra-Boyd, Gardens of Stone and Thirlmere Lakes National Parks.
The area does not contain mountains in the conventional sense but is described as a deeply incised sandstone plateau rising from less than 100 metres above sea level to 1 300 metres at the highest point. There are basalt outcrops on the higher ridges. This plateau is thought to have enabled the survival of a rich diversity of plant and animal life by providing a refuge from climatic changes during recent geological history. It is particularly noted for its wide and balanced representation of eucalypt habitats from wet and dry sclerophyll, mallee heathlands , as well as localised swamps, wetlands, and grassland.
Plants
Largely due to their topographic diversity and complexity, the Blue Mountains have maintained a broad range of climatic and other environmental conditions throughout the climatic extremes and relatively rapid oscillations, particularly of recent geological history. In this way the mountains have acted as refugia, enabling the survival of a broad spectrum of vegetation types, and a number of more unusual species groups.
In all over 1000 species of flowering plant have been estimated to occur in the Blue Mountains National Park. The predominant vegetation types are open forest to woodland, where eucalypts are predominant. Ninety-one species of eucalypts (thirteen percent of the global total) occur in the Greater Blue Mountains Area, including twelve found only here.
The Greater Blue Mountains Area is home to some 127 rare or threatened plant species, including 114 that are exclusively or predominantly found only in the Blue Mountains area. Introduced species are a significant concern, especially the 39 plants classified as noxious under the 1993 Noxious Weeds Act .
Animals
The area is home to 52 native and 13 introduced species of mammals, including two species of special concern, the fox and feral cat. Native species include a number of well-known Australian mammals such as the eastern grey kangaroo, the red-necked wallaby, wallaroo, koala, and wombat. Twelve mammals here are considered rare or threatened, including the spotted-tailed quoll , long-nosed potoroo , and brush-tailed rock wallaby.
Bird life is diverse, with some 265 native species and a further 10 introduced species. This figure comprises one third of the total number of bird species found in Australia. Particularly significant is the high diversity of honeyeaters: 25 species. Other species include the well-known gang-gang cockatoo, superb lyrebird, crimson rosella, kookaburra, and satin bowerbird. Predatory species recorded from the area include the wedge-tailed eagle and a number of owl species.
In all over 60 species of reptiles have been recorded, including two tortoises. Additionally, over 30 species of frog have been recorded from the Greater Blue Mountains area.
Aboriginal Culture
As with most parts of Australia, local Aborigines had a close association with the land. This is thought to date back at least 14,000, as possibly as much as 22,000, years, although it remains unclear as to whether the area was permanently occupied during these periods. An intensification of human activity has been dated from about 7500 years ago, and even more from about 3500 years ago when a tradition of tool use began in this part of Australia. Evidence for such early occupation includes evidence of the use of rock shelters, stone implements, factory sites for tool production, axe grinding grooves and extensive art-work: in all nearly 700 sites have been recorded from the Blue Mountains NP, of which 40% include an art component.
The three main language groups in the area were Gundungurra , Daruk and Darkinjung , each maintaining traditions and stories associated with creation and the landscape. While many of these stories are now lost some of the Gundungurra stories were noted down. The origin of the great valleys of the Cox and Wollondilly, BMNP and Nattai is explained in the story of the epic journey of the Gurangatch (Rainbow Serpent) and the Mirragan (quoll). The language groups of the Aboriginal peoples were further sub-divided into bands with whom they identified.
Art-work identified in the region is largely associated with the Simple Figurative group of styles which are widespread across Australia. Such work includes a wide range of motifs from anthropogenic figures, hands, feet, terrestrial and marine animals, birds and tracks of humans and animals. Styles include engraving and pigment art - both styles are found in shelter sites, while only engravings are found in a number of open sandstone platforms.
European Settlement
The region played a significant role in the development of European settlement in Australia. Initially the mountains were simply seen as a major physical obstacle, lying close to the major new centres of European population. The earliest forays into the region were part of attempts to traverse the mountains, indeed within three months of first arriving in 1788, the first Governor, Phillips made his first attempt to reach the mountains. A number of ventures succeeded in penetrating a long way into the mountains, including that of George Caley, botanist and plant collector for Joseph Banks who reached the base of Mount Banks in 1804. Caley noted that the mountains were "impassable" and "must forever remain an unsurmountable barrier to the extension of the settlement". It was not until 1813 that Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson eventually crossed the region, following ground between the Cox and Grose Rivers. By the start of 1915 their route had been converted into a rough road which even today forms the basis of the Great Western Highway. This, and a smaller route through the Bell Range remain the only roads which cross the mountains over a length of some 310 kilometres.
As the new colony grew and became the city of Sydney so the value of the mountains grew as a place of recreation, and indeed can be seen to have played a critical role in the development of conservation and wilderness values in modern Australian culture. A number of walking tracks were built as far back as the 1830s and 40s, while the number of users of these tracks increased dramatically with the completion of a rail connection in 1867-8. The earliest gazetted public recreation reserves were the Fish River Caves (later Jenolan Caves) in 1866 and the Grand Canyon in 1872. A number of other reserves were developed, particularly along the lines of the railway: for example Katoomba Falls were gazetted in 1883 following presentation of a public petition arguing their value for the "health, morale and intellectual advancement" of the residents of Sydney.
Tourism
The Blue Mountains National Park received an estimated two million visitors in 1997, which is approximately 82% of all visitors to the Greater Blue Mountains Area. A number of the population centres, particularly along the Great Western Highway are used as an important base for a wide range of recreation activities. The most widespread activity is probably that of hiking (bushwalking), with camping being widespread in many parts of the park. There are at least 140km of contructed and unformed walking tracks, with use ranging from several thousand to some 300,000 walkers per year. Horse riding, cycling and some vehicle touring are also common - there are 175km of roads and a further 275km of vehicle trails in the park. Parts of the park are heavily used for climbing, abseiling and "canyoning" (a mix of walking and roped climbing through the many narrow canyons in the park). There are National Parks and Wildlife Service visitor information centres at Blackheath, Glenbrook, Echo Point and Wentworth Falls .
Sources: Unesco World Heritage program, United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre, New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service
