Fraser Island
Fraser Island lies just off the east coast of Australia. At 122 km long, it is the largest sand island in the world. Majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on sand and half the world’s perched freshwater dune lakes are found inland from the beach. The combination of shifting sand-dunes, tropical rainforests and lakes makes it an exceptional site.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/630
Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. It has over 100 clean freshwater dune lakes, spectacular coastal dune formations, sand cliffs and sandy beaches. Tall rainforest grows on the dunes.
The island is 120km long and measures 1630 km². It lies off the east coast of Australia, and is separated from the mainland by the Great Sandy Strait. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast.
Birds are the most abundant form of animal life on the island with over 230 species being recorded. It is a particularly important site for migratory wading birds which use the area as a resting place during their long flights between southern Australia and their breeding grounds in Siberia. Few mammal species occur. Dingoes were once common on the island, but are now decreasing. The Fraser Island dingoes are reputedly some of the last remaining pure dingoes in Eastern Australia.
The site has been an Aboriginal Reserve until 1906. Visible remains of their settlements are still remaining. The first recorded European to sight Fraser Island was James Cook who passed along the coast of the island between 18 and 20 May 1770. The name Fraser Island comes from Eliza Fraser and her story of survival from a shipwreck on the island in 1836.
There is now a resident population of ca. 360 people. Fraser Island attracts great numbers of visitors, some 340,000 yearly.
The original nomination included Cooloola, a similar sandy site on the mainland. Inclusion of that part was rejected because of 'land use problems'. It still is on Australia's Tentative List as 'Great Sandy Area'.
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/fraserisland.html
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