Queensland tropical rain forests, Tropical rainforest ecoregion in northeastern Queensland, Australia

The Queensland tropical rain forests form a 32,700 km² WWF ecoregion along northeastern coastal Queensland, in three sections: the Wet Tropics around Cairns, a central block around Mackay, and a southern section near Shoalwater Bay. Elevations run from sea level to 1,477 m. About 65% is closed broadleaf forest, with kauri (Agathis robusta) at lower elevations and hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) dominant in the south.

Fossil pollen shows closed forest covered most of Australia 50 to 100 million years ago, when the continent was still joined to Antarctica. The forests shrank as the climate cooled and dried after Australia drifted north; they may have contracted further over 50,000 years as Aboriginal fire management favoured eucalyptus. Today they cover less than 2% of the continent.

The name of the ecoregion comes from its location along the Queensland coast. Its rainforest flora is intolerant of fire, and it is thought that Aboriginal land management, which involved setting regular fires to keep eucalyptus woodlands open, may have encouraged eucalyptus at the expense of rainforest. The forests have retreated considerably since the arrival of Aboriginal ancestors 50,000 years ago and now cover less than 2% of the continent.

The rainy season runs from November to April, when summer rainfall can be ten times the winter average, so waterproof gear matters. The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is one of the main ways to see the forest from above the canopy. The ecoregion spans three separate sections along the Queensland coast, from Cairns in the north to south of Shoalwater Bay.

Two plant families, Austrobaileyaceae and Idiospermaceae, grow only in these Queensland rainforests. The forests cover just 0.3% of Australia's land area yet hold 65% of its fern species and 37% of its conifers, and some species' ranges are smaller than 25 km across.