NSW National Parks – a sneak peek of the 152 page book

NSW NATIONAL PARKS

FOREWORD Many growing up in New South Wales will have fond memories, as do I, of visiting a national park as part of a school excursion, for a family day trip or camping holiday.

which have the world’s most extensive subtropical rainforest. Visitors can take a walking tour or cycle in the Willandra Lakes Region where Mungo Man and Mungo Lady were discovered, evidence of more than 42,000 years of human habitation.

These memories wouldn’t be possible without the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). It is an incredible privilege to serve as NSW Environment Minister and now understand even more about what NPWS represents for our community.

To ignite curiosity in our rich heritage and the natural environment, NPWS runs guided tours and educational excursions for school children and offers a range of volunteer programs. I am particularly excited about the opportunity citizen science offers, where those keen to engage in science and research help us to better understand the diverse habitats of our national parks.

That research contributes to plant or animal surveys, builds knowledge about land and soil management and helps to collect information that may save one of the 1,000 or so threatened species in NSW.

Established in 1967 and having reached its 50th anniversary in 2017, NPWS manages, conserves and cares for more than nine per cent of the land area of NSW. Areas managed by NPWS play a critical role in conserving biodiversity and cultural heritage, and provide places of relaxation, inspiration and revitalisation for the community. There were more than 51 million visits to NSW national parks in 2016, making NPWS reserves one of our most popular recreation destinations. In today’s busy digital age, national parks give everyone an opportunity to get away and reconnect with each other and nature.

We are lucky to have six World Heritage areas in NSW, several of which are managed by NPWS. Among these is the Greater Blue Mountains Area with one million hectares of national park embracing an amazing diversity of eucalypt forests, spectacular landforms and wilderness, and the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia,

NPWS has made an enormous contribution to our community and environmental conservation over the last 50 years and continues to do so. I anticipate many more achievements to come and congratulate the men, women and wildlife of NSW national parks on a remarkable effort.

Gabrielle Upton

NSW Minister for the Environment

WILDLIFE AND C O N S E R VAT I O N NPWS manages 872 protected areas in NSW covering 7,142,675 hectares — over nine per cent of the state’s land area. These areas include national parks and other reserves that protect woodlands, rainforests, wetlands, coastal landscapes and arid deserts. Protected areas safeguard a wide range of vital ecosystems and important habitats for native plants, animals and communities. They are, in fact, the cornerstone of our conservation efforts.

NPWS also manages and coordinates wildlife programs right across NSW to protect and conserve threatened ecosystems and plant and animal species. These programs are often undertaken in partnership with park neighbours, other agencies, landholders, volunteers and universities and include wildlife research, surveys and monitoring, pest and weed control, landholder agreements, habitat modification, licensing and biosecurity measures to ensure that wildlife populations will survive well into the future.

Saving our Species is a statewide conservation program that aims to halt and reverse the growing numbers of Australian animals and plants facing extinction and to maximise the number of threatened species surviving in the wild. Targeted conservation projects have been developed to help save threatened plants and animals and implement the government’s management plan to secure threatened species in the wild for the next 100 years.

Opposite: Common wombat (Vombatus ursinus).

Photo: Ingo Oeland Below: McDirtys walking track, Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area.

Photo: Rob Cleary.

Above: Margaret Senior produced numerous poster illustrations for NPWS. Photo: University of Newcastle Opposite and right: Poster illustrations by Margaret Senior.

Photos: OEH archives

Opposite: Koala family (Phascolarctos cinereus).

Photo: Tony Britt-Lewis/Taronga Zoo Right: Brush-tailed rock wallaby (Petrogale penicillata).

Photo: Peter Sherratt Below: Just-hatched Bellinger River snapping turtle (Myuchelys georgesi). Photo: Geoff Swan

Above: Grand High Tops from Siding Spring Observatory lookout, Warrumbungle National Park.

Photo: Simone Cottrell Opposite: Regrowth after fire.

Warrumbungle National Park.

Photo: Simone Cottrell

Above: Newly hatched emu chicks (Dromaius novae hollandiae), Paroo-Darling National Park.

Photo: John Spencer Right: Emus (Dromaius novae hollandiae), Toorale National Park. Photo: Terry Cooke

Left: Wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), Murray River.

Photo: John Spencer Below: Ranger, Mount Talowla lookout, Toorale National Park.

Photo: Terry Cooke

N AT I V E B I R D S Birds play a vital role in keeping systems in balance: they pollinate plants, spread seeds, feed on animal remains and recycle nutrients back into the earth.

In NSW national parks and reserves there is a great variety and diversity of native birds. Many can be seen on a daily basis and others only rarely.

Eastern bristlebirds are shy and occur mostly in dense, coastal vegetation. Although secretive, they can occasionally be seen scampering across clearings. They have a loud, melodic song and a sharp, alarm-like call.

The flame robin returns to the same site each winter and has a faint, piping call. It flicks its wings and tail when perched and forages from low perches, from which it pounces on small invertebrates.

During spring and summer breeding, the otherwiseelusive superb parrot is found on the Southwest Slopes and Riverina, where it nests in small colonies, often with more than one nest in a single tree. Superb parrots have a lively courtship display during which the male puffs out his eye-catching head feathers and feeds the female.Â

Opposite: Eastern bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus).

Photo: Matthew Jones Below: Male flame robin (Petroica phoenicea).

Photo: Matthew Jones

Right: Newly hatched red-capped plover (Charadrius ruficapillus).

Photo: Matthew Jones Below: Rainbow bee-eater, (Merops ornatus).

Photo: Matthew Jones CONSERVATION

Above: Spotted pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus).

Photo: Matthew Jones Right: Superb fairy wren (Malurus cyaneus).

Photo: Matthew Jones

THE WOLLEMI PINE In mid-1994, an NPWS ranger, Dave Noble, was abseiling in the Wollemi Wilderness, the largest wilderness area in NSW, when he came upon an extraordinary sight: a canyon filled with massive pines towering above the surrounding foliage.

The pines had fern-like leaves and peculiar, lumpy bark.

What he had accidentally discovered that day has become one of the most important botanical finds. The ancient pines were thought to have become extinct millions of years ago. The Director of Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens at the time, Carrick Chambers, described the discovery as ‘the equivalent of finding a small dinosaur still alive on Earth’.

The overnight celebrity and Australian icon that the world now knows as the Wollemi Pine has been studied, cloned and carefully raised and is now available commercially.

Opposite: Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis).

Photo: Jaime Plaza van Roon/Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Below: Underneath the Wollemi Pine.

Photo: Jaime Plaza van Roon/Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust

S N O W Y M O U N TA I N S The NSW section of the Australian Alps takes in the southern section of the Great Dividing Range and includes the Snowy Mountains and the Kosciuszko plateau. Home to Kosciuszko National Park and the nation’s highest peak, the Snowy Mountains region is a unique alpine landscape of snow-capped mountains, caves, alpine bogs, ski fields and glacial lakes.

Visitors to Kosciuszko can enjoy a day on the snow followed by a comfortable stay in a mountain lodge or resort, or perhaps spend a nostalgic night in one of the restored huts from the pastoral and gold mining eras.

In summer, wildflowers cover the landscape of the Australian Alps. It’s home for many plants and animals found nowhere else in the world, such as the striking corroboree frog and the tiny Mountain Pygmy-possum.

Left: Matthews Cottage, Kiandra heritage precinct, Kosciuszko National Park, Snowy Mountains.

Photo: Murray Vanderveer

Previous page left: Pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa), Myall Lakes National Park.

Photo: John Spencer Previous page right: Threlfall walking track, Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area.

Photo: Shane Ruming

Left: Rock platforms, Royal National Park.

Photo: John Spencer Right: Sunrise over Royal National Park. Photo: John Spencer

Above: Mungo Woolshed, Mungo National Park, Willandra Lakes World Heritage Region.

Photo: John Spencer Opposite: Historic Kinchega Woolshed, Kinchega National Park. Photo: John Spencer

Left: Cape Byron Lighthouse, Cape Byron State Conservation Area.

Photo: David Young

BUY THE NPWS PHOTO BOOK TO CELEBRATE OUR 50 YEARS

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