Habitats
Queensland has remarkable species diversity in ecosystems, plants and animals. Maintaining this diversity of life or biodiversity is important to maintaining the health of our environment for future generations.
Plants and animals are potential sources of undiscovered riches. All native plants and most native animals are fully protected in national parks and other protected areas, including native forests. Outside protected areas, legislation helps the Environmental Protection Agency conserve, especially rare and threatened plants and animals. Extensive research and monitoring programs will determine the best way to protect these species and prevent their extinction.
Oceans and seas cover more than 70 percent of our planet. That's a lot of living space for marine plants and animals. And in Australia we're lucky, because our 36 000km of coastline stretches from the tropical north to the cool temperate zones. This means a wide variety of marine life thrives in our waters.
But Australia's marine biodiversity is under increasing pressure from humans. Understanding more about our marine habitats will help us appreciate their value and encourage us to work to protect them.
Last updated: 26 April 2006
