Australia has 3.6 million hectares of the Rainforest native forest type, which is 3 per cent of Australia’s total native forest area.
Australia’s rainforests are typically characterised by high rainfall, lush growth and closed canopies. They rarely experience fire, and generally contain no eucalypts or only the occasional individual eucalypt tree emerging from the rainforest canopy. Rainforest tree species are shade-tolerant when young and establish in the understorey of mature forest. They grow into large trees when events such as tree falls, lightning strikes or wind damage (including from cyclones) create gaps in the canopy.
Rainforests support a significant part of Australia’s biodiversity, including many of Australia’s unique plant families. The tropical rainforests in Far North Queensland are rich in marsupial, frog, reptile and butterfly species.
