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The Greater Blue Mountains Area is a World Heritage Site in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The area was inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 24th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairns in 2000 with the following inscription: == Description == This area is one of rugged tablelands, sheer cliffs, deep, inaccessible valleys and rivers and lakes teeming with life. The rare plants and animals that live in this natural place relate an extraordinary story of Australia's antiquity, its diversity of life. This is the story of the evolution of Australia's unique eucalypt vegetation and its associated communities, plants and animals. The Greater Blue Mountains Area consists of of mostly forested landscape on a sandstone plateau inland from the Sydney central business district.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Blue Mountains )〕 The area includes vast expanses of wilderness and is equivalent in area to almost one third of Belgium, or twice the size of Brunei. The area is called "Blue Mountains" based on the fact that when atmospheric temperature rise, the essential oil of various eucalyptus species evaporates and disperse in the air, then visible blue spectrum of sunlight propagates more than other colours. Therefore, the reflected landscape from mountains seems bluish by human eyes.〔(Greater Blue Mountains Area(世界遺産の旅、世界遺産ライブラリー) ), NHK library, World Heritage Site Retrieved on 16 July 2008.〕 The property, which includes eight protected areas in two blocks separated by a transportation and urban development corridor, is made up of seven outstanding national parks as well as the famous Jenolan Caves Karst Conservation Reserve. These are the Blue Mountains National Park, Wollemi National Park, Yengo National Park, Nattai National Park, Kanangra-Boyd National Park, Gardens of Stone National Park and Thirlmere Lakes National Park. The area does not contain mountains in the conventional sense but is described as a deeply incised sandstone plateau rising from less than above sea level to at the highest point. There are basalt outcrops on the higher ridges. This plateau is thought to have enabled the survival of a rich diversity of plant and animal life by providing a refuge from climatic changes during recent geological history. It is particularly noted for its wide and balanced representation of eucalypt habitats from wet and dry sclerophyll, mallee heathlands, as well as localised swamps, wetlands, and grassland. Ninety-one species of eucalypts (thirteen percent of the global total) occur in the Greater Blue Mountains Area. Twelve of these are believed to occur only in the Sydney sandstone region. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Greater Blue Mountains Area」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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