Blue Mountains Hanging Swamps

Hanging Swamps exist nowhere else in the world. They are a biologically diverse plant community that occurs nowhere else in the world. The vegetation in these swamps range from low buttongrass clumps to large shrubs such as Hakea and Grevillea species. The swamps provide essential habitat to several threatened species, such as the Blue Mountains Water Skink (Eulamprus leuraensis) and the Giant Dragonfly (Petalura gigantea).
The Hanging Swamps play a vital part in maintaining the water flows in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area's creeks and waterfalls, by storing water and slowly releasing it over time. Swamps also act as filters, purifying water prior to the release into creeks. Other threatened species such as Epacris hamiltonii and Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii rely on the continued seepage from hanging swamps for survival in their specialized habitats.