Associated with organised tourism on the Tableland since the 1920s, the tree has been important in the development of the Cairns hinterland as a major tourist region in Queensland.

The name "mabi" is derived from a local Aboriginal word for the rare Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo, the largest mammal found in this rainforest.

Logging, agriculture and urban development on the Tableland has resulted in significant loss of mabi rainforest and it is listed as endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

[1] Early non-indigenous visitors to the Atherton Tableland often viewed the scrub in Romantic terms, fascinated by the dense and luxurious vegetation, especially the enormous trees covered with vines, and delicate and unusual ferns and orchids.

A number of early twentieth century tourist attractions in the region, such as Fairyland (1907) and the Maze (1923) at Kuranda developed reflecting this view of the scrub.

Other early commentators saw the fecundity of the scrub in a less favourable light, referring to it as gloomy, dank, and swarming with insects.

The extensive aerial roots of the strangler fig then dropped from the oblique angle of the fallen tree 15 metres (49 ft) to the forest floor, forming a "curtain".

The Grand Tour operated during the winter months when a P&O ship would arrive at Cairns each week from Melbourne and Brisbane carrying around 200 passengers for a six-day stay in the region.

In December 1988, the Curtain Fig became part of the newly created Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, which consisted of 8,990 square kilometres of Far North Queensland rainforest.

[1] A boardwalk was constructed in 2001 to allow wheelchair access for the disabled and to provide further protection for the tree and its surrounds, while permitting visitors to view it from all angles.

Large numbers of tourists continue to visit the Curtain Fig Tree every year independently or as part of an organised tour.

The vegetation type indigenous to the area is mabi rainforest (complex notophyll vine forest), now classified as endangered.

At the beginning of the boardwalk there is a sheltered interpretation board that outlines the importance of the mabi rainforest and the history of the Curtain Fig Tree.

This boardwalk is easily accessible to wheelchairs and is raised above the forest floor (approximately 800 millimetres (31 in)) which also ensures visitors have minimal impact on the surrounding rainforest.

The tree's verdant and luxuriant growth has been valued by locals and tourists from the 1920s, and evokes a sense of awe, wonder, amazement and curiosity.