Fauna & Flora

I love nature. And if you are a fan of plants and animals just like me, go to Australia and your best dreams will come true. I had the chance to participate to a trek and to discover the marvellous Australian flaura and fauna. But I also visited zoos, natural parks and other aquariums such as the Taronga zoo, the Australia zoo, Healsville sanctuary, and the Sea life Sydney Aquarium. And has I am always very lucky, I explored Daintree Rainforest and the Kakadu National Park. And Finally, I travelled on the Great Ocean Road.

During those different activities I've learnt a lot of different things about Australia's environment. 

First, did you know that this country had the oldest land surface on earth ? And that while it is very rich in biodiversity, the soils and seas of the island are the most nutrient poor and unproductive in the World ? Indeed, Australia's land is mostly desertic (or semi-arid), and only 5% of its landmass is arable. This land requires a large volume of water that it does not always found. That is why Australian soils are highly dependant on vegetation cover for generating nutrients and for stability.

The island is home for more than 1 million species of plants and animals, many of which you will not find in the rest of the World. 85% of the flowering plants, 84% of the mammals, 45% of the birds and 89% of the inshore freshwater fishes are unique to Australia. The most common vegetation types have adapted very well to the arid conditions that the country offers; the Hummock grassland dominates Western, Southern and Northern parts of the country (23%), but in Eastern Australia, you might find more Eucalyptus woodlands than other plants. This gigantic peninsula counts more than 140 different species of marsupials and snakes, 378 species of mammals, 828 different types of birds, almost 300 species of lizards, and 2 different sorts of crocodiles.