Ningaloo Coast

Cape Range National Park

The 604,500 hectare marine and terrestrial property of Ningaloo Coast, on the remote western coast of Australia, includes one of the longest near-shore reefs in the world. On land the site features an extensive karst system and network of underground caves and water courses. Annual gatherings of whale sharks occur at Ningaloo Coast, which is home to numerous marine species, among them a wealth of sea turtles. The terrestrial part of the site features subterranean water bodies with a substantial network of caves, conduits, and groundwater streams. They support a variety of rare species that contribute to the exceptional biodiversity of the marine and terrestrial site

• Bundegi Coastal Park
• Cape Range National Park
• Jurabi Coastal Park
• Ningaloo Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
• Ningaloo Marine Park (State Waters)

 Australia

S22 33 45 E113 48 37

Date of Inscription: 2011

Criteria: (vii)(x)

Property : 705,015 ha 

Ref: 1369

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Willandra Lakes Region

Mungo National Park

The fossil remains of a series of lakes and sand formations that date from the Pleistocene can be found in this region, together with archaeological evidence of human occupation dating from 45–60,000 years ago. It is a unique landmark in the study of human evolution on the Australian continent. Several well-preserved fossils of giant marsupials have also been found here.

• Lake Mulurulu
• Willandra Creek
• Garnpung Lake
• Lake Leaghur
• Lake Mungo
• Lake Arumpo
• Chibnalwood Lakes

 Australia

Balranald and Wentworth shires, New South Wales

S34 0 0 E143 0 0

Date of Inscription: 1981

Criteria: (iii)(viii)

Property : 240,000 ha 

Ref: 167

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

Inaugurated in 1973, the Sydney Opera House is a great architectural work of the 20th century that brings together multiple strands of creativity and innovation in both architectural form and structural design. A great urban sculpture set in a remarkable waterscape, at the tip of a peninsula projecting into Sydney Harbour, the building has had an enduring influence on architecture. The Sydney Opera House comprises three groups of interlocking vaulted ‘shells’ which roof two main performance halls and a restaurant. These shell-structures are set upon a vast platform and are surrounded by terrace areas that function as pedestrian concourses. In 1957, when the project of the Sydney Opera House was awarded by an international jury to Danish architect Jørn Utzon, it marked a radically new approach to construction.

 Australia

New South Wales

S33 51 24 E151 12 55

Date of Inscription: 2007

Criteria: (i)

Property : 5.80 ha 

Buffer zone: 438 ha

Ref: 166rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Greater Blue Mountains Area

Greater Blue Mountains Area

The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of 1.03 million ha of sandstone plateaux, escarpments and gorges dominated by temperate eucalypt forest. The site, comprised of eight protected areas, is noted for its representation of the evolutionary adaptation and diversification of the eucalypts in post-Gondwana isolation on the Australian continent. Ninety-one eucalypt taxa occur within the Greater Blue Mountains Area which is also outstanding for its exceptional expression of the structural and ecological diversity of the eucalypts associated with its wide range of habitats. The site provides significant representation of Australia's biodiversity with ten percent of the vascular flora as well as significant numbers of rare or threatened species, including endemic and evolutionary relict species, such as the Wollemi pine, which have persisted in highly-restricted microsites.

 Australia

S33 42 0 E150 0 0

Date of Inscription: 2000

Criteria: (ix)(x)

Property : 1,032,649 ha 

Buffer zone: 86,200 ha

Ref: 917

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

This site, comprising several protected areas, is situated predominantly along the Great Escarpment on Australia’s east coast. The outstanding geological features displayed around shield volcanic craters and the high number of rare and threatened rainforest species are of international significance for science and conservation.

 Australia

States of New South Wales and Queensland

S28 15 0 E150 3 0

Date of Inscription: 1986

Extension: 1994

Criteria: (viii)(ix)(x)

Property : 370,000 ha 

Ref: 368bis

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens

Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens

The Royal Exhibition Building and its surrounding Carlton Gardens were designed for the great international exhibitions of 1880 and 1888 in Melbourne. The building and grounds were designed by Joseph Reed. The building is constructed of brick and timber, steel and slate. It combines elements from the Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance styles. The property is typical of the international exhibition movement which saw over 50 exhibitions staged between 1851 and 1915 in venues including Paris, New York, Vienna, Calcutta, Kingston (Jamaica) and Santiago (Chile). All shared a common theme and aims: to chart material and moral progress through displays of industry from all nations.

 Australia

Melbourne, Victoria

S37 48 22 E144 58 13

Date of Inscription: 2004

Minor modification inscribed year: 2010

Criteria: (ii)

Property : 26 ha 

Buffer zone: 55 ha

Ref: 1131bis

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Purnululu National Park

Purnululu National Park

The 239,723 ha Purnululu National Park is located in the State of Western Australia. It contains the deeply dissected Bungle Bungle Range composed of Devonian-age quartz sandstone eroded over a period of 20 million years into a series of beehive-shaped towers or cones, whose steeply sloping surfaces are distinctly marked by regular horizontal bands of dark-grey cyanobacterial crust (single-celled photosynthetic organisms). These outstanding examples of cone karst owe their existence and uniqueness to several interacting geological, biological, erosional and climatic phenomena.

 Australia

Western Australia

S17 30 0 E128 30 0

Date of Inscription: 2003

Criteria: (vii)(viii)

Property : 239,723 ha 

Buffer zone: 79,602 ha

Ref: 1094

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Lord Howe Island Group

A remarkable example of isolated oceanic islands, born of volcanic activity more than 2,000 m under the sea, these islands boast a spectacular topography and are home to numerous endemic species, especially birds.

Australia

New South Wales

S31 33 56 E159 5 18

Date of Inscription: 1982

Criteria: (vii)(x)

Property : 146,300 ha

Ref: 186
Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Great Barrier Reef

 

Brief Description

The Great Barrier Reef is a site of remarkable variety and beauty on the north-east coast of Australia. It contains the world’s largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc. It also holds great scientific interest as the habitat of species such as the dugong (‘sea cow’) and the large green turtle, which are threatened with extinction.

Australia

Off the east coast of the Queensland mainland

S18 17 10 E147 41 60

Date of Inscription: 1981

Criteria: (vii)(viii)(ix)(x)

Property : 34,870,000 ha

Ref: 154

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Brief Description

This park, formerly called Uluru (Ayers Rock – Mount Olga) National Park, features spectacular geological formations that dominate the vast red sandy plain of central Australia. Uluru, an immense monolith, and Kata Tjuta, the rock domes located west of Uluru, form part of the traditional belief system of one of the oldest human societies in the world. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people.

Australia

Northern territory

S25 19 60 E131 0 0

Date of Inscription: 1987

Extension: 1994

Criteria: (v)(vi)(vii)(viii)

Property : 132,566 ha

Ref: 447rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Australian Convict Sites

Brief Description

The property includes a selection of eleven penal sites, among the thousands established by the British Empire on Australian soil in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The sites are spread across Australia, from Fremantle in Western Australia to Kingston and Arthur's Vale on Norfolk Island in the east; and from areas around Sydney in New South Wales in the north, to sites located in Tasmania in the south. Around 166,000 men, women and children were sent to Australia over 80 years between 1787 and 1868, condemned by British justice to transportation to the convict colonies. Each of the sites had a specific purpose, in terms both of punitive imprisonment and of rehabilitation through forced labour to help build the colony. The Australian Convict Sites presents the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts.

  Australia
S33 22 42 E150 59 40
Date of Inscription: 2010
Criteria: (iv)(vi)
Property : 1,503 ha
Buffer zone: 3,747 ha
Ref: 1306

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Tasmanian Wilderness

 Brief Description

In a region that has been subjected to severe glaciation, these parks and reserves, with their steep gorges, covering an area of over 1 million ha, constitute one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world. Remains found in limestone caves attest to the human occupation of the area for more than 20,000 years.

Australia
State of Tasmania
S41 34 60 E145 25 0
Date of Inscription: 1982
Extension: 1989
Minor modification inscribed year: 2010, 2012
Criteria: (iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)
Property : 1,411,323 ha
Ref: 181quater

Source: http://whc.unesco.org