The Daintree Basin has an area of 2,107km2 with a high proportion of protected areas (56% natural/minimal use lands and 32% forestry). The remaining area consists of 7% grazing, 2% sugarcane, 1% urban and 2% other.

    Steep mountains and hills dominate this basin, with a narrow coastal plain. The coastal lowland fringe is characterised by mangrove wetlands, sandy beaches and inshore fringing reefs.

    The majority of public and private land in the highlands is included in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, and there is a high level of tourism associated with the basins natural values.

    Since the previous year the Daintree Basin grade improved from ‘good’ to ‘very good’ and the score increased from 79 to 84.

    Key results

    • The extreme flooding in the Daintree River that occurred in December 2023 after Cyclone Jasper did not impact the annual grade for water quality, which remained ‘very good’. 
    • This is the first year that the Daintree is included in reporting for the freshwater fish index. It had the highest score across all basins. 
    • Across the Wet Tropics the Daintree Basin had the highest species diversity of native fish and the lowest number of pest fish species (a single species).  

    The diagram below shows the detailed results for each indicator by year. Click on the timeslider to see data from previous years.

    Further Information

    For a detailed breakdown of the results and trends, visit the results dashboard or read the methods and results technical reports.

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