The Daintree Rainforest has been handed back to its Traditional Owners, the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people

The world's oldest surviving tropical rainforest, the World Heritage-listed Daintree, has been formally returned to its Traditional Owners in a historic ceremony.

The Daintree, along with Ngalba-bulal, Kalkajaka and the Hope Islands National Parks (Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land) will now be jointly managed by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people and Queensland Government. Native title had already been established over the majority of the land, but the Traditional Custodians will now have a greater involvement in its management.

"The Eastern Kuku Yalanji people’s culture is one of the world’s oldest living cultures and this agreement recognises their right to own and manage their Country, to protect their culture and to share it with visitors as they become leaders in the tourism industry,” Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said in a statement.

The 180 million-year old Daintree Rainforest is world-famous for its ancient ecosystem and lush, natural beauty which includes rainforest, rivers, waterfalls, gorges and beaches, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988. UNESCO recognises it as an "extremely important" site of rich and unique biodiversity, with over 3,000 plant species, 107 mammals, 368 bird and 113 reptile species. David Attenborough even described it as "the most extraordinary place on earth".

Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Craig Crawford, who is spending two days in Wujal Wujal, said the land handback is the first place in Queensland and Australia where Traditional Owners will simultaneously take on ownership and have a significant role in joint management of a UNESCO World Heritage Area.

Want to dive deeper into Tropical North Queensland's cultural and environmental significance? Check out these Indigenous experiences in Cairns & Great Barrier Reef.