Environmental Science

Master of Tropical Environmental Management

Tropical Environments of the Northern Territory

About one-third of Australia is tropical: the region encompasses a range of ecosystems including savanna woodlands and forests, wetlands and rainforests. The most extensive ecosystem in the Top End is savanna: dense grasslands with scattered trees.

Similar ecosystems occur in the Americas, Africa, India and Asia. They sustain a large fraction of the world's population, and contain biological and cultural values of global significance.

The tropical environments of the Northern Territory share many features with similar ecosystems elsewhere, but have important differences, such as the sparse population and the unique Australian flora and fauna, which is still relatively intact in the region.

Much of the land in the Northern Territory is owned or managed by Aboriginal people in traditional ways. The main industries in the region are mining, grazing and tourism, with conservation and defence training as other important concerns.

In the Northern Territory the main industries in the region are mining, grazing and tourism. Other land use interests include Aboriginal use, conservation and defence training.