These latter two sections correspond to the Central Mackay Coast bioregion and are bounded on the west by the Brigalow tropical savanna ecoregion.

Fossil pollen records indicate closed forest covered most of Australia between 50 and 100 million years ago.

[citation needed] These forests are limited to areas of high rainfall and good soils.

These rainforests seem to have retreated considerably since the arrival of the aboriginals' ancestors 50,000 years ago, and are presently limited to isolated pockets comprising less than 2% of the continent's area.

[2] These forests are particularly interesting because of their southern location and the high degree of endemism of their plant and animal species.

Deforestation caused by logging, road building and farming has led to habitat fragmentation[11] and diminishing populations of species such as spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), and ring-tail possum (Hemibelideus lemuroides).

[citation needed] In an effort to preserve the Daintree Rainforest north of the Daintree River it was decided by the Government of Queensland in 1993 to halt the spread of the electricity network north of that point, providing a limit to tourist development.

The forests, together with the Great Barrier Reef, have been identified and promoted as a major tourist attraction of Tropical North Queensland, one of five within the state.