Pressures on the World Heritage Area - General Information

Direct threats

There is a wide range of threats to the biodiversity and scenery of the Wet Tropics. These can be threats to the survival of ecosysytems, threats to individual species or threats to the beauty of the Area. These threats are all discussed in more detail on other pages in the website. The main direct threats are listed below.

• Fragmentation
• Climate change
• Weeds, feral animals and diseases (see table below for links)
• Altered fire regimes
• Altered water flows and water quality

Indirect threats

There is also a range of underlying pressures on the WHA. These include:

• Regional population growth
• Urban development and pollution
• Demand for community infrastructure (water, roads, electricity)
• Farming (agriculture, grazing and aquaculture)
• Tourism and recreation

 You can also read more about direct and indirect threats in the Wet Tropics Conservation Strategy [3.13MB].