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Jardine River
Weaving its way through wilderness heathlands and rainforest, the Jardine River in the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula is one of the world’s healthiest river systems. Eliot Creek, a key tributary of the Jardine, boasts two of the Cape’s most famous waterfalls and swimming holes – Twin Falls and Fruit Bat Falls. These are just a fraction of the many natural marvels of this wild river catchment.
The cool, clear waters of the idyllic Eliot Falls. Photo: Glenn Walker
Conservation and cultural values
From the tip of the Australian mainland to the sweeping heathlands some 50km south, the Jardine River catchment is a diverse, free-flowing wild river system. Covering an area of about 2500 square kilometers, the Jardine is Queensland’s largest perennial river. The porous sandstone bedrock below the surface of the area acts like a giant sponge during the wet season, ensuring the water flows all year round. The catchment area encompasses the northern Aboriginal communities of Bamaga, Seisia, New Mapoon, Umagico and Injinoo.
Heath, rainforest and savanna woodlands cover most of the Jardine River catchment. In some areas, huge coastal dunes are blanketed in dense shrublands and rainforest. The vine forests near the mouth of the Jardine River are often referred to as ‘Australia’s little New Guinea’ because of the similarities of the forest and abundance of wildlife found on both Cape York Peninsula and New Guinea, such as the Palm Cockatoo, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher and Green Python. Likewise, the ill-named ‘Lockerbie Scrub’, a unique rainforest covering much of the tip of the peninsula, is home to a many unique animals and plants.
The Jardine River is a major breeding area for Estuarine Crocodiles. Almost one-third of the freshwater fish in the Jardine River are also found in rivers in Papua New Guinea. When the Gulf of Carpentaria was a freshwater lake thousands of years ago, fish could have swum from the Fly River in Papua New Guinea all the way to the Jardine. The extensive and diverse mangrove forests closer to the brackish waters of the river provide vitally important nurseries for fish and molluscs.
Jardine River National Park and Heathlands Resource Reserve – a 400,000 ha wilderness area famous for its rich tropical natural and cultural heritage – protects much of the Jardine River catchment.
The Anggamudi, Wuthahti and Yadhaigana people are the Traditional Owners of the Jardine River catchment area and maintain strong cultural and spiritual connections with the land and rivers. The traditional ecological knowledge and health of these communities is in turn critical to the ongoing health of this wild river system.
Threats
Major threats to the wild river values of this area include encroaching invasive weeds, growing numbers of feral pigs, and under-resourcing of the protected areas. Wild River protection, as well as the Indigenous Wild River Ranger program, will help address these impacts and resourcing issues.