Australia’s World Heritage islands: Overview of natural values and threats

Australia has four island groups listed as World Heritage properties, each with different geology, climate and biological values: Lord Howe Island, K’gari-Fraser Island, Macquarie Island and the Heard and McDonald Island group. World Heritage properties are areas designated as having Outstanding Universal Value, including for future generations, and the advisory body for their natural heritage is the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The World Heritage list contains 1031 properties of Outstanding Universal Value, of which only 17 globally are islands or archipelagos. Several other Australian World Heritage properties, such as the Great Barrier Reef, include islands with significant Outstanding Universal Value.