The Archer River is a major river of the Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula

Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

, Far North Queensland

Far North Queensland

Far North Queensland, or FNQ, is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. The region, which contains a large section of the Tropical North Queensland area, stretches from the city of Cairns north to the Torres Strait...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It rises in the McIlwraith Range

McIlwraith Range

The McIlwraith Range is a rugged, dissected granite plateau on the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, it covers about 3000 km2 and lies about 15 km east of the town of Coen, and 550 km north of Cairns...

, traverses tropical savanna plains and wetlands, flowing through Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary

Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary

Piccaninny Plains Sanctuary is a 1700 km² nature reserve on the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. A former cattle station adjacent to Mungkan Kandju National Park, it is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy...

 and Mungkan Kandju National Park

Mungkan Kandju National Park

Mungkan Kandju, formerly Archer Bend National Park, is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1914 km northwest of Brisbane.-See also:* Protected areas of Queensland* Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen...

, and enters the Gulf of Carpentaria

Gulf of Carpentaria

The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...

 on the western side of the peninsula near the town of Aurukun

Aurukun, Queensland

Aurukun is an Indigenous community, situated approximately south of Weipa in far North Queensland, Australia. The town faces west to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and during the wet season, roads are impassable....

.

The catchment area for the Archer River is 13,820 km². During the wet season

Wet season

The the wet season, or rainy season, is the time of year, covering one or more months, when most of the average annual rainfall in a region occurs. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the...

 between November and April, the river floods, replenishing over a million hectares of wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s. The Coen River

Coen River

The Coen River is situated in the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland in .The present Pennefather River was originally called the Coen river by Jan Carstenszoon in honour of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. The present Archer River was probably confused by Matthew...

 is a tributary of the Archer River.

The river remains in a natural state with very little development and just one small dam that supplies water for the town of Coen

Coen, Queensland

Coen is a small inland town on the main road heading up the Cape York Peninsula in far northern Queensland, Australia. It is in the Cook Shire Local Government Area. At the 2006 census, Coen had a population of 253....

. On April 3 2009, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh

Anna Bligh

Anna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the Premier of Queensland since 2007. The 2009 Queensland state election was the first time a female-led political party won or retained state or federal government in Australia...

 announced the Archer River would be included under the Wild Rivers Act (2005). The declaration means the river's fragile ecosystems will be protected by allowing only sustainable activities within its catchment.

Flora and fauna

Much of the river is bordered by fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

-dominated gallery

Gallery forest

Gallery forests are evergreen forests that form as corridors along rivers or wetlands and project into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands or deserts....

 rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s which provide habitat for animals such as the White-tailed Rat

White-tailed Rat

The white-tailed rat, Mystromys albicaudatus, also known as the white-tailed mouse, is the only member of the subfamily Mystromyinae in the family Nesomyidae...

, Spotted Cuscus and Palm Cockatoo

Palm Cockatoo

The Palm Cockatoo , also known as the Goliath Cockatoo, is a large smoky-grey or black parrot of the cockatoo family. It is the only member in subfamily Microglossinae and the only member of the monotypic genus, Probosciger...

. Toothless catfish

Toothless catfish

The toothless catfish, Anodontiglanis dahli, is a species of catfish of the family Plotosidae. This fish originates from northern Australia, including Fitzroy, Daly, East Alligator, Roper, Mitchell, and Archer Rivers, in lentic and lotic freshwater habitats...

are found in the river.