The Staaten River is a river in northern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia, rising in the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

and flowing northwest into the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...

Location and features

The river rises of the western slopes of the

approximately west of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. The river flows generally northwest to the

Staaten River National Park The Staaten River National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,640 km northwest of Brisbane. It receives its name from the Staaten River which flows through the park. Environment The park encompasses an extensive section of ...

and then west, joined by eleven minor

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drain ...

before reaching its

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

and emptying into the

. From source to mouth the river's waters overflow into intertwining

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

s that create an enormous wetland sanctuary for a vast array of unique wildlife and plants. When the rains of the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

cease, the Staaten River retreats from the floodplains and wetlands and becomes little more than a thread trickling down wide sand banks and a string of important lagoon refuges. The river descends over its

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

. There is very little development in the catchment, with grazing being the most common activity, and there are no major water storage facilities on the river. The river is navigable for upstream until sand and rock bars are found.

Dinah Island In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only daughter of Leah and Jacob, and one of the matriarchs of the Israelites. The episode of her violation by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent vengean ...

, located about inland, is a small cattle property and at times provides short term accommodation for fishing enthusiasts.

Conservation and cultural values

The Staaten River catchment is one of Australia's last great wilderness areas. With little agricultural development, scant road access, and thriving forests and wildlife, it is a truly wild river system. The river straddles both the Cape York Peninsula and

Gulf Country The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...

regions. Characterised by the replenishing floods of the wet season and an extensive network of lagoon refuges during the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

, the river system is known for its excellent saratoga and

barramundi The barramundi (''Lates calcarifer'') or Asian sea bass, is a species of catadromous fish in the family Latidae of the order Perciformes. The species is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific, spanning the waters of the Middle East, Sout ...

fishing and

saltwater crocodiles The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been liste ...

, one of Australia's best known animals. The wet season is characterized by a large congregation of waterbirds from all over Australia and as far away as China and Russia. This birds live in the abundant waters of places like the huge Inkerman-Gilbrath Wetland, near the mouth of the catchment. The coastal margin of the Staaten River forms part of the Southeast Karumba Plan wetland aggregation, which is the best developed coastal wetland system in Queensland and provides critical habitat and breeding grounds for birds, fish, and other native wildlife. The Staaten River National Park in this area, covering around , is one of Australia's largest and most remote national parks. The Staaten Wild River Area covers about at the western base of Cape York Peninsula. The area contains the catchments of the Staaten River, Vanrook Creek, and ten major tributaries. The purpose of the wild river declaration is to "manage future development activity in the wild river area to ensure the wild river natural values are preserved."Staaten Wild River Area
The State of Queensland (Department of Environment and Resource Management).

Threats

The Staaten River is remote and currently there is little demand for water extraction in this area. The major present threat in this area is cattle grazing. If not managed sustainably, cattle can cause major soil erosion, trample vegetation, and pollute river systems. There are also minor infestations of the invasive weeds such as rubber-vine in the Staaten River. Wild River protection, as well as the Indigenous Wild River Ranger program, will help address these impacts.

Indigenous heritage

The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

of the upper catchment area are the

Kunjen Kunjen, or Uw, is a Paman language spoken on the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland, Australia, by the Uw Oykangand, Olkola, and related Aboriginal Australian peoples. It is closely related to Kuuk Thaayorre, and perhaps Kuuk Yak. Two of i ...

peoples. The Agwamin, Kutjar, Koknar, Kunjen and Kokoberrin people are the traditional owners of the Staaten River catchment area and maintain strong cultural and spiritual connections with the land and rivers. The

traditional ecological knowledge Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) describes indigenous and other traditional knowledge of local resources. As a field of study in Northern American anthropology, TEK refers to "a cumulative body of knowledge, belief, and practice, evolving by ...

and health of these communities is in turn critical to the ongoing health of this wild river system.

Etymology

The river was first named by Dutch sea explorer

Jan Carstensz Jan Carstenszoon or more commonly Jan Carstensz In Dutch patronyms ending in -szoon were almost universally abbreviated to -sz was a 17th-century Dutch explorer. In 1623, Carstenszoon was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company to lead an ex ...

in 1623. It is named after the States General, the parliament of the Netherlands.

References