Kakadu Landscape

The 5 Regions of the Kakadu Landscape

The Kakadu landscape is characterised by dramatic landscapes, exceptional Aboriginal art and diverse and fascinating wildlife. Apart from a few areas, the Kakadu landscape is not dense tropical rainforest. Kakadu National Park's World Heritage listing is based on its importance as a wetlands area, not on its physical beauty. Like much of northern Australia, the Kakadu landscape consists largely of flat tropical savanna woodland. The abundance of birdlife and other wildlife which flocks into the swampy areas of Kakadu National Park during the dry season demonstrates how important the Kakadu landscape is to the fauna of the area.

Kakadu National Park has five subregions:

1. The plateau. This subregion of Kakadu National Park is a rugged sandstone formation which rises sharply to a height of 250 m from the lower lands to the north and creates some of the most spectacular scenery in Kakadu National Park. The escarpment extends for over 600 km and is the site of the major waterfalls and deep gorges in Kakadu National Park.

2. The lowlands. This subregion of Kakadu National Park is a vast eroded plain with a few rocky outcrops to the north of the escarpment.

3. The floodplain. This subregion of Kakadu National Park lies to the north of the plateau. It receives the full force of monsoonal rains which fall from November until March. In the wet season this area of Kakadu National Park is a vast expanse of water. In the dry season the Kakadu floodplain is characterised by permanent billabongs. This area of Kakadu is famed for waterlilies and edible lotus lilies.

4. Tidal flats. This subregion of Kakadu National Park is inundated by salt water, making it suitable only for mangroves and rainforest which can survive on sandy saline soils.

5. Southern hills and basins. This subregion of Kakadu National Park is located at the southern most point of the park near Fisher Creek. In this area of Kakadu, the headwaters of the South Alligator River run through stony woodland country.

Kakadu is bounded to the north by Van Diemen Gulf, and to the east and west by the Wild Man and East Alligator Rivers. Kakadu gained international publicity when it featured with Paul Hogan in two Crocodile Dundee movies.

The diversity of the fauna and flora in Kakadu National Park makes the area important. Kakadu contains over 1000 plant species, one quarter of all freshwater fish species found in Australia, and one third of all bird species.

During the wet season large areas of Kakadu National Park are closed to the public. It is not possible to enter or exit Kakadu via the Kakadu Highway. It is not possible to access Jim Jim Falls, Twin Falls or Ubirr Rocks. The park rangers at Kakadu suggest that the best time to visit is at the end of the dry season when the birds congregate in the diminishing wetland waterholes. During the dry season there is selective burning off in Kakadu.