发布：黄伟 图片和文字资料来源：wikipedia,the free encyclopedia  Blue Mountains (Australia)

     The Blue Mountains is a mountainous region in New South Wales, Australia. It borders on Sydney's metropolitan area, its foothills starting approximately 50 kilometres west of the state capital.[1] The area begins on the west side of the Nepean River and extends westward as far as Coxs River.[2]

     Consisting mainly of a sandstone plateau, the area is dissected by gorges up to 760 metres deep. The highest point of the range is 1,190 metres above sea level. A large part of the Blue Mountains is incorporated into the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site, consisting of seven national park areas and a conservation reserve.

     The Blue Mountains area includes the local government areas of the City of Blue Mountains, the City of Hawkesbury, the City of Lithgow and Oberon.

     The Greater Blue Mountains Area was unanimously listed as a World Heritage Area by UNESCO on 29 November 2000, becoming the fourth area in New South Wales to be listed.[17] The area totals roughly 10,000 square kilometres, including the Blue Mountains, Kanangra-Boyd, Wollemi, Gardens of Stone, Yengo, Nattai and Thirlmere Lakes National Parks, plus the Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve.

     The reason why this site was chosen to be included on the World Heritage list is quoted below:

     “ "Criteria (ii) and (iv): Australia’s eucalypt vegetation is worthy of recognition as of outstanding universal value, because of its adaptability and evolution in post-Gondwana isolation. The site contains a wide and balanced representation of eucalypt habitats from wet and dry sclerophyll, mallee heathlands, as well as localised swamps, wetlands, and grassland. 90 eucalypti tax (13% of the global total) and representation of all four groups of eucalypts occur. There is also a high level of endemism with 114 endemic taxa found in the area as well as 120 nationally rare and threatened plant tax. The site hosts several evolutionary relic species (Wollemia, Microstrobos, Acrophyllum) which have persisted in highly restricted micro sites."  

观看视频：世界遗产：澳大利亚蓝山(点击前请停止本博客右边栏最下端的音乐播放器）

推荐阅读： 大蓝山山脉

           蓝山国家公园

          悉尼蓝山，离都市最近的世界自然遗产 

 （图片来源：http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/66/Blue_mountains_-_three_sisters.jpg）