Rising sea levels linked to global warming will endanger Australia's World Heritage-listed Kakadu wetlands, according to a government report released Thursday as part of the campaign for a carbon tax.

Prepared for the climate change department, the study found Kakadu was "one of Australia's natural ecosystems most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change", with higher oceans a "serious risk" to its ecosystem.

Monsoon rainforests, mangroves and woodlands would suffer and unique turtle, fish, crab, crocodile and bird species would decline, said the report, which mapped impacts based on international climate projections for 2030 and 2070.

Some culturally significant sites for the local indigenous Bininj tribe would become impossible to access, while sources of income and "bush tucker" -- traditional wild food -- were likely to be compromised, it added.

Kakadu National Park is a World Heritage site of cultural and natural importance sprawling across some 20,000 square kilometres (8,000 square miles) from coast to hinterland in Australia's tropical north.

The Bininj are believed to have hunted and lived there for some 60,000 years.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the report was a "stark reminder of the ongoing challenge Australia faces to protect its magnificent natural assets" and sounded "yet another warning bell about the dangers of climate change."

"The report shows why it is critically important to take action now to combat climate change," Gillard said.

The prime minister has been intensifying her push to tax polluters from next July in a bid to tackle carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

Australia is among the world's worst per capita emitters, relying heavily on coal-fired power and exporting millions of tonnes of the fuel to Asian steelmakers and electricity firms every year.

Gillard wants to introduce a fixed-price levy on emissions for three to five years which will transition to a cap-and-trade scheme, where the government will set a national limit on pollution and sell permits to firms.

But she is facing stiff opposition from her political opponents and big business, particularly the heavyweight mining industry, which claims investment will be lost offshore and the economy will suffer.

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett came out in support of a carbon tax this week, fronting a television campaign advocating action on climate change.

Gillard's cause was also bolstered by the final report of Ross Garnaut, the government's top climate adviser, who on Tuesday recommended a levy of Aus$26 ($28) -per-tonne on carbon emissions and shift to a trading scheme by 2015.

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