All language subtitles for 1 1 The.Worlds.Most.Beautiful.Landscapes.S01E02.480p

Right across our planet, there is an
incredible variety of astonishing

landscapes.

One of the most beautiful in the world
is Queensland.

Queensland in eastern Australia is a
dramatic mix of forest and sea, creating

explosion of life.

For most people, when they come to the
rainforest, all they see is a complex

wall of green.

But it's a medicine shed, a tool shed, a
hardware store, a supermarket and

church all in one.

It has the greatest marine ecosystem in
the world.

When I dive on the Great Barrier Reef, I
feel...

at home.

There's an amazing array of creatures
and just this kaleidoscope of life.

There's a lot going on but at the same
time it's extremely peaceful.

And forest landscapes reaching back into
the depths of time.

It's almost like walking through the
forest of what it would have looked like

million years ago. You feel like you're
going back in time.

Beautiful, beautiful trees.

We're going to take you on a journey
through Queensland to admire its wonders

and discover its secrets.

Our journey begins in the Queensland
outback in a region called Channel

an arid landscape which is sometimes
brought to life with channels of water.

After the rains have come, cattle can
graze here.

But most of the time, it's flat, muddy
plains streaked with dry riverbed.

Observed from space, this landscape has
been compared to the surface of Mars.

The outback is 70 % of Queensland, an
area about the size of South Africa.

Much of it is dry and lifeless, but
everything changes at Queensland's coast

in one of Australia's stunning
rainforests, Daintree.

Daintree National Park is one of the
richest and oldest tropical rainforests

the world.

The landscape began forming about 400
million years ago as the ancient seabed

was pushed up from the sea.

Weathering had left hard granite
mountains and coastal lowlands.

And this precious forest covers 1 ,200
square kilometers.

The wet and warm tropical climate makes
Daintree one of Australia's most diverse

places.

It's home to two -thirds of the bat and
butterfly species in Australia, a fifth

of all the bird species, and an amazing
array of

reptiles.

But it's also the ancestral home of the
Eastern Kuku Yelanji people.

They've been living here in the forests
for tens of thousands of years.

And someone with an intimate and
detailed knowledge of the forest is

guide Juan Walker.

This area is really special to me, as
it's where I grew up. This is where I

home.

Wang was born and raised near here,
learning about the traditional way of

from his elders, and was free to explore
the forest.

From hunting, running around playing,
swimming in the beautiful freshwater

rivers, or spearing fish and crabs, and
fishing down on the beaches.

It was a great childhood, and it
connected me to this place.

Also, learning the stories from the old
people also gave us a deeper and more

meaningful connection on how to look
after country, how to manage it.

To me, country is everything.

You know, other than family, it's the
most important thing to us.

Googie Islander country, our land, is
filled with connections.

Spirit, wildlife, plants, rocks, all
connect to us.

When we say country, we're not talking
about the country itself, our nation.

We're talking about nature, the land,
the sea, everything around us in natural

formation and the fact that our people
utilized it and we needed it. We don't

own it. This place owns us.

Much of Australia was once like
Daintree.

But being close to the equator, Year
-long rainfall in its mountains and

all created ideal conditions for the
forest's survival over the last 200

years of climatic change.

And the tropical heat and humidity of
the rainforest means the trees, plants

leaves help to create their own
rainfall.

For most people, when they come to the
rainforest, all they see is a complex

wall of green.

But for Googie Energy people and
rainforest peoples of Queensland, it's a

medicine chest, a tool shed, a hardware
store, a supermarket and church all in

one.

Much of the food we eat came originally
from rainforests.

These little nuts here, or fruit, is
called Queensland nut.

This nut is from a rainforest tree
called the Karanda Kwondong.

So to crack open a barka, you follow the
seam. They have little seams along the

edge of the shelf.

So sit the shelf on a rock.

Using another stone, hit it.

Right along that seam, and you get the
kernel inside.

Take that out.

It looks like an almond, but it tastes
like coconut.

There are thousands of tree and plant
species in Australian rainforests.

And the strangler fig is one of them.

Sticky fig seeds land in tree branches
in the forest canopy, and the seeds grow

roots to the ground.

Over time, these roots can take over and
even kill the host tree.

But in rainforests, their fruit is vital
for wildlife.

Their interiors are habitats for bats
and birds.

And to the Eastern Kuku Yelanji people,
they are very important.

In our language, Kuku Yelanji, we call
these trees jarangal.

And these are very special trees.

They're homes for spirits.

During the day, the spirits, they rest
and sleep.

During the night, these spirits come out
and they roam, search and travel

country.

We're always taught, if we're ever lost
in the rainforest, to find a big

strangler fig, sit by it, talk to the
old people.

Tell them your problems. Tell them your
worries.

And if you quiet your mind enough and
listen, the old people will show you the

way to get out.

The mountains at Daintree rise to 1 ,400
metres, and every year there's about

two metres of rain.

This is Mossman Gorge, which channels
the Mossman River from the mountains 24

kilometers down to the coast.

Although living off the land has been a
way of life for thousands of years, the

lives of the Eastern Kuku Yelanchi
people were turned upside down over 150

ago. by the arrival of non -indigenous
settlers.

They introduced disease.

Our people struggle adapting and coping
with these diseases.

So we adapted by using these green ants
to help us cure common cold and flu.

So grab him by the head.

And eat the abdomen.

He tastes just like lemon.

The little abdomen is full of vitamin C.

So, if ever you're flu -y, take the
whole nest off the tree, crush it up in

water, make a drink.

Drink a load of it, rub it on your
chest, slip a few of the ants through

nose, and this will help clear any
symptoms from the common cold and flu.

Please don't try eating wild insects or
other creatures unless you have expert

guidance.

Eastern Kuku Yelanji people have shared
the forests with some of the most

extraordinary creatures anywhere on the
planet.

None more so than the Kathuari.

Named after two Papuan words, Kasu for
horned and Weri for head.

Fully grown females stand as tall as
adult humans.

But these flightless birds are under
threat, and there are just 4 ,000 left

Australia's wet tropics.

Although they'll attack if threatened,
these birds are the gardeners of the

forest.

Seeds from the fruit and berries they
eat pass through them unaffected,

spreading new plants far and wide.

Eastern Kuku Yelanji Territory goes from
forest to coast.

And there's another entire ecosystem in
between.

Check out this beautiful mangrove
environment.

These saltwater adapted plant systems
are a buffer between the land and the

and they're full of life.

The algae on the exposed roots is a food
source for snails and crustaceans.

The mud is too much for most predators,
but not for knowledgeable human hunters.

They create a beautiful, hearty place
for all the different creatures in here.

The mangroves are yet another section of
the rainforest supermarket.

Yeah, most of these are a bit much.

Caution is advised unless you're an
expert, but for one, there are plenty

delicacies on offer here.

So this is guilin, edible snail.

You find these fellas, you can cook them
on hot fire.

They'll whistle when they're done. A bit
like calamari in taste, a little

softer, but really nice, very good
protein source.

Guilin.

Remarkably, despite the destruction of
previous times, much of the original

precious rainforest has survived intact
and is now preserved.

And as the traditional owners, the
Eastern Kuku Yelanji people have native

rights and access to their ancestral
lands.

Of course, for our people, it's all
about science, really.

Watching, seeing how animals move, how
insects move, how weather patterns

change, and by watching this, observing
it, the people knew when was the right

time to go to a particular area.

So it's all about observation and doing
the right thing by country.

Now, it's time to explore the Great
Barrier Reef.

It reaches down from Queensland's
northern tip, almost to the border with

South Wales.

This vast and extraordinary landscape is
an underwater living city.

It's made up of 900 islands and nearly 3
,000 reefs.

And at 2 ,300 kilometres, it's longer
than the UK, the Netherlands and

Switzerland put together.

Corals have been making their home on
the Great Barrier Reef for hundreds of

thousands of years.

And today's extraordinary reef is just
the latest version.

Most of it was formed in the last 20
,000 years, helped by rising sea levels.

There are an extraordinary 600 coral
types on the reef.

And 4 ,000 types of mollusk.

You can find 1 ,500 species of fish
here,

including the largest fish in the
oceans,

the whale shark.

There are endangered sea creatures such
as the green turtle.

But life is precarious for the Great
Barrier Reef.

Climate change and human activity are
making their mark.

One person for whom the Great Barrier
Reef is an obsession is marine scientist

Nathan Cook.

And Nathan has been diving in the reef
for 20 years when i dive on the

great barrier reef i feel at home

there's an

amazing array of creatures and just this
kaleidoscope of life there's a lot

going on around me and i see the coral
and it's full of color and then this

shark will come out of nowhere and
surprise me and i think he's just

to see me

And then there'll be schools of bait
fish, and they'll be hunted by

and all these silvery fish, and there's
just a lot going on, but at the same

time, it's extremely peaceful.

For a scientist, perhaps the most
amazing thing about the Barrier Reef is

coral.

I love coral because it's this tiny,
sometimes microscopic creature that

creates... the foundation of an
ecosystem that can be seen from outer

It grows from nothing, but can create
structures as big as houses.

And they live individually, but also
colonially, and they work together with

rest of the ecosystem to create this
myriad of complex biodiversity.

This is a foundational species on the
Great Barrier Reef, on all coral reefs.

And it's amazingly colourful, extremely
fragile, but it creates these

diverse forms that are endlessly
beautiful, wondrous.

Seen from space, this 15 -kilometre
section of the reef reveals the

water depth shown by varying shades of
blue.

The light blue is the shallower water,
where enough light gets through, giving

life to coral.

When you see it underwater, it tends to
look a brown or a green or a reddy

colour.

This is because coral is historically
evolved from a jellyfish, and jellyfish

essentially see -through.

And over time, it learned how to deposit
a hard limestone skeleton and build a

symbiotic relationship with an algae
called zooxanthellae.

This algae is what gives the coral its
colour.

But in recent decades, climate change is
warming the seas and making them more

acid.

There are cyclones.

And there's human activity, all of which
is damaging the barrier reef's coral.

And some of it is dying.

When I go scuba diving, I feel a sense
of trepidation.

There's some places that I dive that are
just still spectacular.

Amazing scenery, beautiful wildlife.

That whole sense of awe and wonder that
I first experienced many years ago.

But there's other places that you can
see that are really challenged by

change and other threats facing coral
reefs worldwide.

The threat to the Great Barrier Reef has
got Nathan and his team looking for

solutions.

And one place they've been to is the
Whitsunday Islands.

The Whitsundays are 74 tropical islands
in the Barrier Reef.

Mostly uninhabited, their beauty means
that every year there's around 700 ,000

visitors.

Many come for the incredible sands at
Whitehaven Beach.

Unlike any of the other beaches here,
the sand is 99 % silica.

It's cool underfoot, even in the hottest
weather.

Most geologists think the sands were
trapped here after drifting from the

Queensland coast millions of years ago.

Six of the world's seven marine turtle
species can be found here, including the

rare hawksbill and the loggerhead
turtles.

Nathan's team have come... Some of the
coral is in trouble, and they've come to

help restore it.

One of the techniques we use to assist
the recovery of reefs is a technique

called coral gardening.

We'll take corals that are growing
nearby.

So they'll pretty much adapt to that
location pretty well. And we'll grow

in a nursery.

So we take these corals, attach them to
the reef, and give them a stable base

from which they'll grow.

The hope or intention is that they'll
survive and this will encourage all of

those other creatures, the invertebrate
and the fish, they'll all come in and

accelerate the recovery of that reef
community and help make it into what it

was.

Coral gardening is just one technique
amongst many to help restore the

of the Great Barrier Reef.

Despite the threats, Nathan remains
hopeful.

The media love the sensational story.

So during the bleaching, when they said
that a third of the reef had died, this

news went around the world.

But there are places that are...

amazing with high coral cover 70 80 and
extreme diversity of fish and marine

species and there's other places that
have been truly degraded by things like

coral bleaching and so there is this
perception that the great barrier reef

dead but it's far from dead it is very
alive

Dropping down 700 kilometres from the
Whitsundays and along the Queensland

is Fraser Island.

At 123 kilometres, Cagarry Island, its
Aboriginal name, is the

world's largest sand island.

Remarkably, the sand forms almost 100 %
of the soil, and everything here grows

on it.

For two million years, ocean currents
and wave action have swept sand up from

Queensland and New South Wales.

And over that time, it's covered the
bedrock to form dunes.

And it's also an island of lakes.

These dune lakes are freshwater, non
-tidal, and formed in the sand.

And of the 40 lakes on Fraser Island,
Lake Bumanjin is recognized as the

of its type in the world.

The rich brown color is tannin mixing
with the pure waters of the lake.

Even though there's only sand, there is
forest growing on Fraser Island.

Nutrients buried deep in the sands are
reached by the long roots of the satinae

tree.

Fraser Island is also home to some of
Australia's dingoes.

Most Australian dingoes have bred with
domestic or feral dogs.

But these ones on Fraser Island are
thought to be very close to a pure

And so are now protected.

There's maybe no more than 300 of them.

Having explored the Great Barrier Reef's
extraordinary coral kingdom and walked

on Fraser Island's sands, The next stage
of our journey takes us west and back

into the heart of Queensland.

We've arrived at one of Queensland's
hidden gems and it's called Carnarvon

National Park.

Around a third of more than 50 mammal
species in the park are bats.

It's home to wallabies and kangaroos.

But inside the park is the extraordinary
Carnarvon Gorge.

It formed on a fault line in the rock 30
million years ago.

And it's taken the steady flow of a
creek over millions of years to wear

the soft rock.

That action has created huge sandstone
chasms rising up to 180 meters.

Inside this 32 kilometer long gorge,
there's a hidden landscape.

Beautiful pools, caves, and
amphitheaters.

As the climate outside the gorge dried
over thousands of years, life has

flourished on the inside.

Along the winding creeks, you might just
see the echidna, a spiny anteater, with

a 15 -centimetre tongue that likes to
dig itself out of trouble.

But in the heart of the gorge, perhaps
the most extraordinary of all, are the

signs of human habitation.

There are two sites here with some
incredible ancient artwork.

There are 2 ,000 paintings, engravings
and stencils.

The skillful stenciling involved mixing
ochre pigment, water and animal fat.

and blowing it from the mouth over an
object held against the sandstone walls.

It's thought to be symbolic imagery
about teaching and customs, more like

history books and encyclopedias than
art.

And it's all the work of the indigenous
Bidjara and Karimbal people.

It all goes back at least 4 ,000 years.

Now we're heading 600 kilometres
southeast to Queensland's border.

Lamington National Park is one of the
greatest of Queensland's many

rainforests.

50 kilometers from the sea, Lamington's
incredible story starts over 225

million years ago.

Then, Australia was part of
Gondwanaland, one of two huge global

the move.

Australia split off from Antarctica.

Around 20 million years ago, a huge
volcano began erupting underneath the

where Lamington and other forests now
are.

From space, you can see traces of this
volcano, 100 kilometers in diameter,

which form the basis for cliffs, gorges,
and rivers from which the forests

emerged.

Much of it is growing on fertile basalt
soils from the volcanic eruptions.

Parts of Lamington are a thousand meters
above sea level.

Different forest levels means there are
different climates in the same forest.

Cooler, temperate, and warm, wet
subtropical rainforests or create

conditions for an extraordinary array of
plants and living creatures.

Over a hundred years ago, Lamington
became one of the very first national

in Queensland.

And park rangers were brought in to
nurture and protect it.

By the 1930s, pioneering
conservationists had set up two lodges

The aim was to conserve the forest and
guide visitors.

There's O 'Reilly's.

And further north, Binnaburra Lodge.

Lisa Groom and her daughter Inari are
descendants of one of Bina Bora's

founders.

I guess I've just been brought up in and
around the rainforest here and having

watched my parents enjoy and also take
people out into the forest as

my grandfather also used to do. So it's
a long line of just being here and

being in this beautiful environment.

Born and brought up here, Inari is still
captivated.

You walk into it and it feels like
somewhere else that you've never been

I think it's like this preserved pocket
of rainforest that is found almost

nowhere else in Australia.

As a guardian of Lamington National
Park, Inari is on a mission to educate

people about the rainforest.

When I came into the job, I knew
absolutely nothing.

So the only way that I've learned all
the knowledge that I have has been

to other people, talking to guides,
talking to rangers, everyone that's come

before me.

Inari is learning about some of the 200
-plus species of birds living in the

forest, many with distinct songs and
calls.

We've got some whipbirds around us, and
the whipbirds are these beautiful pair.

Their call sounds like one bird, but
it's actually two male and female

back and forth to each other.

They've just gone silent.

Damn it.

That call that you just heard, there's
this one long whistle at the nail.

and then there's a quick, like,
answering, like, two whips at the end,

that's the female.

So these two birds, they mate, and they
have their territory, and they'll be...

There it is again. That was just the
male, so he didn't get a reply from his

girlfriend.

Eastern whipbirds are ground feeders,
and although hard to spot, they're not

scarce.

Their call is a familiar Queensland
forest soundtrack.

The cooler, temperate parts of Lamington
are known for the Antarctic beech

trees.

These beaches, North of Phagus Mori, are
little different to the trees that

flourished all across Australia up to
100 million years ago.

And they rely on the moisture from the
low clouds above the rainforest to

thrive.

The forest feels completely different
here.

You walk in, it's so much lighter. The
canopy is completely different.

It's almost like walking to the forest
of what it would have looked like 10

million years ago plus.

So yeah, you feel like you're going back
in time when you come up to Talawalal,

which is this peak point that we're at
now.

Beautiful, beautiful trees.

Some of the Antarctic beech trees in
Lamington National Park are thought to

thousands of years old.

Quite a special place to me. It feels
like a very earthed place. I always feel

really calm when I come up here.

In Australia, bushfires are part of the
cycle of life and help to germinate

seeds and bring new growth.

But in 2019, with rainfall down and
temperatures up, the annual fires were

huge and devastating.

More than 250 ,000 hectares burned in
Queensland.

And very unusually, fires hit rainforest
in Lamington National Park too, burning

down the original Binnaburra Lodge.

Seen from space, we can see the smoke
from the 2019 fires creating a toxic

haze over coastal towns in eastern
Australia.

Overall, more than 5 million hectares of
New South Wales and Queensland went up

in flames.

It's an area bigger than Denmark.

The bush is fire -adapted and recovers
fast.

Rainforests, less so.

These extraordinary carbon stores that
filter and create water and prevent soil

erosion are usually fire resistant.

Luckily for us, this section here with
the Antarctic beech trees was nowhere

near the fire and hopefully wouldn't
have burned because it is literally

surrounded by huge, vast areas of other
subtopical rainforest.

So, yeah, it was lucky that this didn't
go.

Our journey through the incredible
landscape of Queensland will now take us

peak near Brisbane, Mount Tamborin.

Mount Tamborin is part of the ancestral
lands of the Yugambeh people.

They are believed to have lived here for
50 ,000 years.

And their lands include forests and
national parks like Lamington, but also

Springbrook and Mount Barney.

Traditional Yugam Bay lands cover around
5 ,000 square kilometres of the

coastland and inland.

These landscapes all have distinct
meanings for the Yugambe people.

Many of the names of landscapes we use
today were given by settlers in recent

centuries.

But the older names tell different
stories, and these stories help give the

landscapes a deeper meaning.

One person who's right behind this is
Rory O 'Connor.

His lineage is the Yugambe people and he
runs the museum reviving the language,

culture and their stories.

I'm very lucky to be a traditional owner
or custodian who's living on his or her

country.

As an Aboriginal person, to have the
luxury of living.

on your traditional lands, it's a
rarity.

Rory's ancestral home is on Mount
Tamborin.

The word Tamborin is adapted from the
name Chambrin, and Chambrin is one of

characters that appear in Yugambe
creation stories.

Chamberlain was a fine prince and the
naughty daughters of Queen Winongra,

wanted to get his love. So they set out
towards him.

But Chamberlain gave his love to the
Coomera princesses and the Coomera River

carries all his love down to the ocean
where it sparkles in the sunlight.

So different characters points to the
fact that every part of the landscape

some story to it that's important to
pass on.

Another part of the Yugambe ancestral
landscape is 30 kilometres away at the

coast.

It began forming over 20 million years
ago by outflows of molten lava.

from vast eruptions of the giant Tweed
volcano that also created Mount

On the map, it's called Burley Head.

It's a very, very important place to
Aboriginal people because it's the

embodiment of Jibreen, our creation god.

Jibreen came to the eastern coast of
Australia and for us he brought

of the Bora and he taught our men how to
use their weapons and he brought story.

And in this particular spot he had a
swim and as he rose up the earth rose up

around him and formed Mount Burley or
Jelligal as we call it.

And the first white people to this area
looked at this big landform and went,

hmm, that looks like a big burly man.

And they called it Burley. And I find
that entertaining because it is a big

burly man.

It's Jubreen, our creation god.

And the landscape itself has a story to
tell about the Yugambe people.

So now we're literally at the foothills
of Jalligal, and there's evidence that

our people have lived here for tens of
thousands of years.

These reminders, ugri shells, oyster
shells, strewn along the

forest floor that have been left there
from generations and generations of

Aboriginal people coming here to eat
these beautiful shellfish.

It's a permanent reminder of the
generations that have gone before us and

beautiful place to have a feasting site
at the foothills of Jellicle.

There are places where the original
names survived.

One of them is Tullybodgera Creek.

Curling around the feet of Jaligal is
Talabudgera Creek.

And Talabudgera is a wonderful word.
Tali is tree, and budgera is to

soften.

Literally, in creeks like this, our
people would put logs, and in the

water, a particular grub would grow in
those logs, and they'd be harvested for

food. So Talabudra, a truly beautiful
place, and fittingly adjoining Jibreen.

For me, culturally, I feel a
responsibility to learn the stories of

but then to pass those stories on to the
next generation.

Queensland's forest.

and reefs as some of the most dramatic
and abundant anywhere in the world.

And indigenous people have lived with it
for millennia. Despite the challenges,

these extraordinary landscapes have
survived for millions of years, and with

luck and care, they will for many
millions more.