The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of 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. It runs roughl ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form the irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo. Unlike many other rural areas, the Tablelands is experiencing a significant growth in population.

Physiography

This area is a distinct physiographic section of the larger North Queensland Highlands province, which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division. South of the Tablelands is the Bellenden Ker Range.

Geological history

Around 100 million years ago, the eastern edge of the Australian continent extended much further to the east, before tectonic forces fractured the eastern margin, pulling it apart. At the same time, slowly rising mantle material caused a doming up of the continental crust. As the eastern part of the continent broke away, it gradually sank below sea level. Since that time, the uplifted western portion has been slowly eroding westwards, creating the abrupt Great Escarpment, which separates the coastal plain to the east from the uplifted tablelands to the west. Between 4 million to less than 10,000 years ago, a series of volcanic eruptions occurred over the Atherton Tableland. The oldest eruptions created large, gently sloping 'shield volcanoes' that produced extensive basalt flows. These flows filled the pre-existing valleys, producing a relatively flat tableland surface, instead of the more dissected landscape that existed previously. Around one million years ago, the style of eruption changed. The lavas became more gas-charged, throwing fragmented lava into the air, which built the numerous, small scoria cones such as the Seven Sisters, near Yungaburra. Some of the rising magma interacted with groundwater, producing violent eruptions that led to the formation of maar volcanoes, such as Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine. Although all the volcanoes in the Atherton Basalt Province are regarded as being extinct and volcanism has been waning over time, given the relatively recent activity, it is possible that further eruptions could occur in the future.

History

The Atherton Tableland has a long history of Indigenous occupation. Aspects of traditional Aboriginal land use and culture have been documented from the period of first contact to present. Aboriginal people with ties to the region seek to maintain their culture today, despite a long period of forced removal from their lands following European occupation in the late 19th-early 20th century. '' Yidinji'' (also known as ''Yidinj'', ''Yidiny'', and ''Idindji'') is a local

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

. Its traditional region is within the local government areas of Cairns Region and Tablelands Region, in such localities as

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

, Gordonvale, and the Mulgrave River, and the southern part of the Atherton Tableland including Atherton and Kairi. Dyirbal (also known as Djirbal) is a language of

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

, particularly the area around Tully and Tully River Catchment extending to the Atherton Tablelands. The Dyirbal language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Cassowary Coast Regional Council and Tablelands Regional Council. The first European exploration of this area, was undertaken in 1875 by James Venture Mulligan. Mulligan and his party were led by Aboriginal guides. Mulligan was prospecting for gold, but instead found tin. In 1879, John Atherton and his party settled with their cattle near the town which now bears his name. Atherton Creek is also named after John Atherton. The town of Herberton was established on 19 April 1880 by John Newell to exploit the tin find, and mining began on 9 May. Later that year, Herberton had a population of 300 men and 27 women. At its apogee, Herberton was the richest tin mining field in Australia, and was home to 17 pubs, 2 local newspapers and a brewery. In the late 19th century, the Mulligan Highway was built through the hills from Herberton and passed through what is now Main Street, Atherton, before continuing down to Port Douglas. This road was used by the coaches of Cobb and Co to access Western Queensland. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Australian troops were camped around the district prior to being sent to the front and then again on their return. Many soldiers were interred at the war cemetery in Atherton.

Industry

The construction of a dray road through the Tableland brought a secondary rush of settlement after the mining rush, this time timber cutters. Redcedar cutters camps were at Rocky Creek, Prior Pocket, Oonda Swamp (Carrington) & Ziggenbein's Pocket. Tree species used for the timber industry include red cedar,

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

, black bean,

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

, white beech and red tulip oak. As part of the mining and timber booms a large population of Chinese-Australians moved into the Atherton Tableland region. In addition to mining and timber, the Chinese population took up agriculture. They grew fruit and vegetable crops and were some of the first to grow maize in north Queensland. As the community grew they also built a temple to worship at, the Hou Wang Temple. The temple remains standing today and was added to the Queensland State Heritage Register in 1992. Curtain Fig

Road to the Cathedral Fig tree in the Atherton Tablelands

Agriculture is now the largest industry in the Tablelands Regional Council area. Crops grown in and around Atherton include

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, avocados,

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...

, macadamia nuts and mangoes and

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

was also grown until when it was ended by a Government buyout. Dairying, grazing and poultry are also present on the Tableland. Dairying was once the backbone of local industry in the region, with hundreds of dairy farms dotting the landscape. The

deregulation Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...

of the dairy industry in 2000 is blamed for the decline.

Tourism

Tourism is the second largest economic driver of the Atherton Tablelands economy, with Tinaroo Dam and extensive trail network being the focal point.

Towns

Atherton and Mareeba are the largest towns in the area. Herberton, Kairi, Kuranda, Malanda, Millaa Millaa, Tinaroo, Tolga, Yungaburra, Chillagoe, Walkamin and Ravenshoe are also located on the Atherton Tablelands.

Environment

The tableland contains several small remnants of the rainforest which once covered it, many of which are now protected in

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s. It is classified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as one of Australia's

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s, supporting over 1% of the world population of the

sarus crane The sarus crane (''Antigone antigone'') is a large nonmigratory Crane (bird), crane found in parts of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to , they are a c ...

and a significant population of the bush stone-curlew. Twelve species of birds are endemic to this area and the mountain ranges immediately south: Atherton scrubwren, Bower's shrikethrush,

bridled honeyeater The bridled honeyeater (''Bolemoreus frenatus'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae with distinctive rein-like markings on its face that is Endemism, endemic to northeastern Queensland. It is found in subtropical or tropical moist u ...

, chowchilla, fernwren, golden bowerbird,

grey-headed robin The grey-headed robin (''Heteromyias cinereifrons'') is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae. It is found in northeastern Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. Taxonomy It is one of two species within the genus ''Heteromyias''. P ...

, Macleay's honeyeater, mountain thornbill, pied monarch, tooth-billed bowerbird and Victoria's riflebird.