Australia's threatened species

Activity 4

The importance of Australia in terms of global biodiversity

In December 1994 headlines proclaimed 'Found, tree from the Dinosaur Age', when a previously unknown native tree was discovered in Wollemi National Park, west of Sydney. Its only known home is in a 5000-square metre relict grove of prehistoric rainforest. Only 40 trees have been found, so it is a very rare plant. Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney propagated it as a precaution against loss of the species through damage to the existing plants or their habitat. Many people were surprised that there were undiscovered trees, many up to 35 metres tall, within a radius of 150 kilometres of Sydney.

  1. Why would they have been even more surprised if a find of this sort had been made within 150 kilometres of London?

  2. What features of Australia make such finds more probable than in many other parts of the world?

Teachers notes

  1. Land outside London has been used much more intensively than this area of land outside Sydney. In this particular area of the Wollemi Park the terrain is very rugged, making it difficult for people to gain access.
  2. Many species of plants and animals are unique to Australia. This is because Australia is an island continent that has spent a long time isolated from other land masses.

    Australia has a small human population and many parts of Australia have not been developed.

    Australia is a wealthy developed country. Therefore it has the resources to recognise such finds. The area where the Wollemi pine was discovered had been set aside as a national park and there was specialist knowledge readily available to recognise the importance of the find.
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Posted April 1997.