Blue Mountains - Rugged Natural Diversity

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Category: Destination - New South Wales

The Greater Blue Mountains is an accessible wilderness, covering more than one million hectares of rainforest, canyons, eucalypt forests and heath lands in News South Wales.

This is an area of breathtaking views, rugged tablelands, sheer cliffs, deep 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 dramatic sandstone cliffs and rugged canyons of the Blue Mountains, combined with the incredible diversity of plant and animal life,  make this spectacular region a “must do” in any Australian itinerary.

The Blue Mountains are one of Australia's natural wonders and the World Heritage area combines eight individual conservation reserves - Yengo, Wollemi, Gardens of Stone, Blue Mountains, Nattai, Kanangra Boyd, Thirlmere Lakes and Jenolan Caves Karst Reserve.

It is a nature lover's paradise with an abundance of colourful bird and animal life, the greatest concentration of eucalypt diversity on the continent, and landscapes ranging from rainforest to heathland.

More than 400 different kinds of animals live within the rugged gorges and tablelands of the Greater Blue Mountains. These include threatened or rare species of conservation significance, such as the spotted-tailed quoll, the koala, the yellow-bellied glider, the long-nosed potoroo, the green and golden bell frog and the Blue Mountains water skink. Flora and fauna of conservation significance and their habitats are a major component of the World Heritage values of the area.