Unique asset: Alligator River Floodplains in Kakadu National Park part of Australia's northern tropical savannah.
Credit: Kerry Trapnell
PERTH: Northern Australia contains the largest, most pristine tropical savannah left on Earth and needs to be protected to ensure its survival, says a new report.
It claims the region is home to a third of the total remaining tropical savannah in the world, making it a "unique global asset" on par with the Amazon rainforest and the Antarctic wilderness.
Australian scientists behind the report argue that the region requires careful ecological management, to avoid environmental problems plaguing the south of Australia, such as water security, habitat loss and species extinctions.
Act now
"We have a fortunate situation in which the region is still in good condition," said ecologist and co-author Brendan Mackey, of the Australian National University in Canberra. Preservation is the key, he said, which requires acting now to keep the north intact rather than waiting to fix problems later.
Stretching from Cairns through to the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, and across the Northern Territory to the Kimberley in Western Australia, the tropical savannah covers more than 1.5 million square kilometres, and includes Kakadu National Park. The area contains hundreds of species of flora and fauna that are found nowhere else, write the authors.
No other country on Earth has more than a small proportion of its original tropical savannah intact. Overuse of natural resources and land clearing has dramatically reduced the remaining pristine environments in similar territories, such as Africa and South America.
Released this week, The Nature of Northern Australia documents three years of extensive research in the region, and included the use of satellite imagery to examine the unique, untouched environment, as well as providing a 'road-map' for economic growth and sustainable development of the landscape.
Development and invasive species
"We want to put north Australia on the nation's radar," Mackey said. "It is different to the south, and has its own natural assets which need to be preserved. We can't just sit and watch it unravel through neglect."
He says that the two biggest threats to the region are large-scale land developments, incompatible with the natural environment, and introduced species, such as the cane toad (Bufo marinus), that threaten native wildlife.
With 17 times more money spent per square kilometre on conservation and land preservation in the south than the north, said Mackey, it is important to get our priorities right. "The future of north Australia is in our hands, and if its natural value is lost, it will be our fault."
