Eungella Rainforest wonders ‘would meet UNESCO standard’

Scientists say the biodiverse ‘jewel’ in Queensland’s crown is worthy of UNESCO world heritage status

Roth's tree frog, or the northern laughing tree frog, is a common frog native to the Top End. Frogs, as oppose to toads, are unable to leave water and so camouflage becomes particularly important for this amphibian as many predators are attracted to the same body of water. Its colouring varies greatly and can in fact change within hours. Typically, they are grey during the bright sunlight of the day, and change to brown at night.

THE hidden wonders of Eungella Rainforest are so extensive a scientist believes it meets UNESCO's world-heritage listing criteria.

The red-triangle slug, northern laughing tree frog and sapphire rockmaster are just some of the exquisite creatures that call Eungella Rainforest home.

So does more than 1000 species of moths, 120 types of ants, 24 varieties of frogs, 33 species of snails, 58 types of dragonflies and damselflies and 236 varieties of birds.

The region's rich biodiversity was celebrated in a special 2020 issue published by the Royal Society of Queensland featuring the work of scientists from Griffith University, Queensland Museum, the University of Newcastle and more.

The sapphire rockmaster broad-winged damselfly or Diphlebia coerulescens is found in the Eungella Rainforest. Picture: John Tann.

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UON professor and frog expert Michael Mahoney said Eungella rainforest was the "jewel" in Queensland's crown.

He travelled to Eungella in hope of finding the Northern Gastric-brooding frog after discovering it there in 1984 and it becoming extinct in 1986.

The now-extinct Northern gastric brooding frog. Painting: Emma Lindsay, Queensland Museum.

"It's a bizarre situation to have discovered a frog and described it and to know it's now extinct," he said.

But he did find the two other frogs endemic to our rainforest, the Eungella torrent frog and the Eungella tinker frog.

"Their common names are day frogs … usually frogs only hang out in the daytime … but they can be seen hopping around the waterfalls in the middle of the day."

"Eungella, in terms of the Australian national biodiversity, is unique," Mr Mahoney said.

"The fauna and flora that live there are precious."

The red triangle slug is just one of the many creatures that call Eungella Rainforest home. The slug species is known to have an unusual defensive mechanism by secreting a kind of sticky mucus that can glue predators to the spot for days. Picture: Contributed.

"It's the one stepping stone of rainforest in the Capricornia area."

Mr Mahoney said the rainforest would meet UNESCO world-heritage listing criteria and could feasibly merge with the Wet Tropics and Gondwana heritage areas.

Queensland Museum senior insect curator Dr Chris Burwell said it was Eungella's isolation from other rainforests north and south that had produced endemic species.

A male Intermediate Whitetip damselfly, Episynlestes intermedius, photographed at Finch Hatton Gorge. Endemic to the Eungella Rainforest, the damselfly had recently emerged as an adult (the immature stages of dragonfly and damselflies are nymphs that live in aquatic habitats such as rainforest streams). Picture: Chris Burwell, Queensland Museum.

"Eungella is special because it does have four species of dragonflies and damselflies that don't occur anywhere else," Dr Burwell said.

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Other endemic species include the Caramel-flamed Pinwheel Snail about 3mm in length, Eungella Honeyeater, the Myrmecia eungellensis Australian bull ant and Lemon-Barred Forest-Skink just to name a few.

The Eungella Honeyeater is a species of bird only found in the Eungella rainforest.

"It's a really significant place," Dr Burwell said.

"It would be great to have that international protection … to prevent governments changing decisions about what's protected or not in the future."

But both scientists said the biggest threat facing Eungella rainforest and its inhabitants was climate change.

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