Welcome to the heart of Queensland
Welcome to the Desert Uplands
Our Desert Uplands Bioregion is the elevated open woodlands in central Queensland, with ancient red sandy soils, native pastures and beef cattle grazing dominating.
Straddling the Great Dividing Range, these 75,000 square kilometres of uplands has created unique, internally-draining ephemeral lakes, with the western slopes draining into Lake Eyre whilst the east to the Great Barrier Reef via the Burdekin River catchment. With extreme remoteness and climate variability, our 300-plus livestock grazing enterprises are mostly family-owned and operated, collectively growing in excess of $400 million in product annually, mostly beef.
Our Past
Our Desert Uplands’ red sandy soils were created over eons of weathering its sandstone formations and ranges, and are considered some of the oldest soils on the planet.
Our Place
Our Desert Uplands Bioregion is a National Biodiversity Hotspot.
Our Present
Approximately 600 people reside in the Desert Uplands, living and working on mostly beef grazing properties, or in the small villages and towns that are mostly on the edges of this remote region.