State of the Parks 2001 NSW national Parks & Wildlife service State of the Parks 2001 An overview of the conservation values of NSW and their management within the parks system Front cover: Blue Mountains National Park (J Little); Discovery Ranger and children on Sydney Harbour National Park (NPWS); Mount Grenfell Historic Site (NPWS); rainbow bee-eater (J Cooper); South Solitary Island Lighthouse (J Winter/NPWS). This page: Scheyville National Park (M Cufer/NPWS); purple swamphen, Lane Cove National Park (M Cufer/NPWS); Cocoparra National Park (NPWS). Illustrations: Eastern grey kangaroo, yellow-bellied glider (A Bowman); green and golden bell frog, water rat, bogong moth, playtpus, Caleys grevillea, short-beaked echidna (A Bowman/NPWS); Wollemi pine (Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney); regent bowerbird, laughing kookaburra, chocolate lily, superb lyrebird, lace monitor, Cumberland Plain land snail, painted dragon, large tongue orchid (W Jennings/NPWS). Published by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service PO Box 1967 Hurstville 2220. Copyright © NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service July 2001. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. ISBN 0 7313 6377 9 3 Contents S Garland/NPWS Foreword 5 Introduction 6 Overview 8 Legislative basis for the parks system 8 Lands managed for conservation 8 The parks system 8 Willandra National Park Other protected areas 9 Size and distribution of the parks system 9 NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 10 Organisational structure 10 Key management challenges 11 Conservation of natural and cultural heritage across NSW 12 Natural heritage 12 A bioregional framework 12 A comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system 14 The bioregional character of NSW 14 Threats and threatening processes 14 Cultural heritage 16 Legislative framework 16 Assessing cultural heritage values 16 Management of cultural heritage 16 Conserving our natural and cultural heritage 16 Outcomes of the parks system 17 Structure for performance measurement 17 Definitions 17 The purpose of the parks system 18 Functions of the parks system 19 Conserving nature 19 Conserving cultural heritage 19 Enabling the ecologically sustainable and culturally appropriate use and enjoyment of parks 20 Advancing education, appreciation and understanding of the natural and cultural values in our parks and of conservation generally 21 Contributing to community benefits and economic wellbeing 21 Environmental performance 21 Financial and business development performance 22 4 Contents – continued Park profiles 23 Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve 95 Map showing all parks 24 Marramarra National Park 97 Arakoon State Recreation Area 25 Montague Island Nature Reserve 99 Bald Rock National Park 27 Moonee Beach Nature Reserve 101 Barrington Tops National Park 29 Mount Canobolas State Recreation Area 103 Ben Boyd National Park 31 Mount Grenfell Historic Site 105 Berowra Valley Regional Park 33 Mount Kaputar National Park 107 Blue Mountains National Park 35 Mungo National Park 109 Boatharbour Nature Reserve 38 Munmorah State Recreation Area 111 Bogandyera Nature Reserve 40 Muogamarra Nature Reserve 113 Border Ranges National Park 42 Murramarang Aboriginal Area 115 Botany Bay National Park 44 Murramarang National Park 117 Bouddi National Park 46 Mutawintji Historic Site 119 Brindabella National Park 48 Myall Lakes National Park 121 Brisbane Water National Park 50 Nadgee Nature Reserve 123 Bungonia State Recreation Area 52 Nattai National Park 125 Cocoparra National Park 54 Nightcap National Park 127 Coolah Tops National Park 56 Queanbeyan Nature Reserve 129 Crowdy Bay National Park 58 Royal National Park 131 Culgoa National Park 60 Scheyville National Park 133 Dooragan National Park 62 Sydney Harbour National Park 135 Dorrigo National Park 64 Throsby Park Historic Site 138 Finchley Aboriginal Area 66 Towra Point Nature Reserve 140 Gardens of Stone National Park 68 Warrumbungle National Park 142 Garigal National Park 70 Washpool National Park 144 Goobang National Park 72 Weddin Mountains National Park 146 Gundabooka National Park 74 Western Sydney Regional Park 148 Hartley Historic Site 76 Willandra National Park 150 Hat Head National Park 78 Wollemi National Park 152 Hill End Historic Site 80 Wullwye Nature Reserve 154 Illawarra Escarpment State Recreation Area 82 Yathong Nature Reserve 156 Kanangra-Boyd National Park 84 Yengo National Park 158 Kinchega National Park 86 Yuraygir National Park 160 Kosciuszko National Park 88 Appendix – Protected areas in NSW 162 Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park 91 Lane Cove National Park 93 Contact Information 172 5 Foreword P Green he Carr Government is committed to Tconserving natural and cultural heritage values for and on behalf of current and future generations. To this end, the Government has set about creating here in New South Wales one of the world’s best systems of protected areas. As part of this process the Government, Bald Rock National Park since first elected in 1995, has created more than 1.4 million hectares of new national parks and reserves and more than doubled the area of declared wilderness in NSW from some 650,000 hectares to more than 1.5 million hectares. Conservation is not simply a matter of setting aside areas for special protection, nor is it solely the responsibility of government. The conservation of our natural and cultural heritage requires that we all protect and preserve this heritage right across the landscape – on private or public lands, whether those lands are set aside for conservation or used for other purposes. The formal protected areas system – the parks system – is, however, the centrepiece and the foundation of natural and cultural heritage conservation across the state. The NSW State of the Parks reporting system is being developed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service to improve the quality and quantity of the information available to people about natural and cultural heritage values, the pressures upon these values, and the role our parks system is playing in their conservation. The inaugural State of the Parks report represents the first stage in the development of this system. This report provides an overview of the conservation values within NSW, and of the means by which they are being protected. It also provides profiles of a key set of parks across the state. Future reports will build on this first initiative. They will progressively increase the number of parks about which detailed information is provided. Importantly, they will also enable comparison over time of the conservation outcomes being achieved across our parks system in NSW. Success in conservation of our natural and cultural heritage is built on partnership and cooperation – with all tiers of government, the community, industry representatives, and key community groups such as Aboriginal communities and the rural sector. This inaugural State of the Parks report will provide useful information to assist us all in our conservation efforts, and I commend it to you. Bob Debus Minister for the Environment 6 Introduction P Green ew South Wales has a long and proud Nhistory in the conservation of natural and cultural heritage. The Royal National Park, just south of Sydney, was established in 1879. It was the first national park in Australia, and only the second in the world. Since then, the parks system has been expanded so that now some 6.7 per cent of the state is reserved, and Flame tree in Mount Warning National Park managed principally for conservation of natural and cultural values. In terms of our natural heritage, reservation of land within the parks system is based on the principle that this system should be: Ⅲ comprehensive, encompassing the full range of biological and biophysical diversity and other values Ⅲ adequate, in that it is capable of maintaining biodiversity and ecological patterns and processes and other values, given both natural and human influence disturbances, and Ⅲ representative, comprehensively sampling the known biological and biophysical diversity and other values. This objective has been largely achieved in the coast and ranges areas of NSW, and is now being actively pursued in the west of the state. The parks system also aims to conserve those places in the landscape of high cultural value to the community. Many of the places included in the parks system reflect the history of land use in NSW, representing the pastoral, mining, defence and maritime industries, among others. Areas are also included in the parks system in order to conserve sites and places of cultural significance to Aboriginal people, at the same time enhancing our understanding of the continuing attachment of Aboriginal people to the land and waterways of NSW. Not surprisingly, many of the areas conserved primarily for their natural heritage values are also of great cultural significance, particularly to the Aboriginal community. The parks system, incorporating both natural and cultural heritage values, provides opportunities to better understand the way people have moved through and shaped the NSW landscape since the beginning of human occupation through to the present. Our national parks and reserves provide important recreational and educational opportunities. They also contribute to rural and regional economic development, directly through expenditure of Protected