Jourama Falls, Paluma Range National Park - Natural environment
Approximately 74 percent of Paluma Range National Park is within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA). Proclaimed in 1988, the WTWHA extends for about 450km between Cooktown and Townsville. Consisting of nearly 900,000ha, vegetation is primarily tropical rainforest, but also includes open eucalypt forest, wetlands and mangrove forests. The WTWHA meets all four natural criteria for World Heritage listing. These criteria recognise the area’s exceptional natural beauty and the importance of its biological diversity and evolutionary history, including habitats for numerous threatened species. The WTWHA also has cultural significance for Aboriginal people who have traditional links with the area and its surrounds.
Find out more about the Wet Tropics Management Authority.
Flora and fauna
Rainforest plants, including palms, umbrella trees and fig trees, fringe Waterview Creek. Distinctive red flowers of weeping bottlebrush trees overhang the creek, luring brilliant blue Ulysses butterflies.The moist conditions of the rainforest-fringed creek attract a variety of birds such as azure kingfishers, pied monarchs, noisy pittas and northern fantails. During the summer months you may even see buff-breasted paradise-kingfishers. These birds migrate all the way from Papua New Guinea to nest.
Freshwater turtles sun themselves on rocks and logs and quickly retreat into the water at the first hint of danger. Goannas can also be seen near the water's edge and venture between the rainforest and open woodland looking for food.
Beyond the creek, towards the foothills, the rainforest gives way to drier open woodland. Stands of poplar gum, bloodwood and Moreton Bay ash dominate the canopy with an understorey of cocky apple trees and tall grasses. Woodland birds such as laughing kookaburras, forest kingfishers and a variety of honeyeaters are often seen.
During the evening, nocturnal birds become active and may be seen with spotlights. The distinctive "mo-poke" call of the southern boobook owl, along with the wood-chopping sound of the large-tailed nightjar, can provide a lead to their location. The tawny frogmouth also occurs in the area and is sometimes seen during the day roosting on lower tree branches.
Many of the mammals at Jourama Falls are also nocturnal. Sugar gliders and the larger mahogany glider actively feed at night, particularly in the vicinity of flowering eucalypts and grass trees. Mahogany gliders are endangered as their lowland habitat was greatly reduced as a result of tree clearing.
Last updated: 02 February 2007
