New $48 million national park announced to save iconic Aussie animals
Located in Sydney's southwest, the newly gazetted park will cover 962 hectares of land along the Georges River between Long Point and Appin. It's relatively small compared to the nearby Royal National Park, which is over 15,000 hectares, but it will play a vital role in connecting increasingly fragmented habitat between Campbelltown and the Southern Highlands.
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said she expected the park would almost double in size and become an important place where visitors can see them in the wild. Attempts are being made to acquire new land that would see it eventually grow to 1,830 hectares.
'This new national park is one of the most important in the state for koala conservation, protecting almost 1,000 hectares of vital koala habitat in southwest Sydney and delivering on our promise to safeguard this iconic species,' she said. '$48.2 million has been committed to establish and manage this park, ensuring long-term protection for southwest Sydney's koalas.'
Koalas face serious threats in NSW
According to a NSW parliamentary inquiry, koalas are on track to be extinct in the wild across the state in just 25 years. And the 2024 NSW biodiversity outlook report warned more than 50 per cent of threatened species in the state would be wiped out in a century.
Around 60,000 koalas were impacted by the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires and populations in NSW, ACT and Queensland are now listed as endangered. The Minns Labor Government had committed to several measures to try and prevent their extinction in the wild.
One key koala protection measure was creating the Warranmadhaa National Park under the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan, which is designed to protect key areas of habitat while creating 73,000 new homes in Sydney's southwest. Koalas in the region are considered important because they are the only known population without chlamydia, a disease that causes infertility, blindness and death.
The government has also committed to creating a Great Koala National Park on the Mid North Coast, which could be up to 315,000 hectares. When this park will be announced remains a tightly guarded secret.
What does Warranmadhaa mean?
The name Warranmadhaa was chosen after consultation with the Traditional Custodians, the Tharawal Local Aboriginal Land Council and the local Aboriginal community. It is an Indigenous word for the landscape in the southern areas of the reserve.
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NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service will now begin consultation with the community about access and use.
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San Francisco Chronicle
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- San Francisco Chronicle
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4 days ago
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New York Times
6 days ago
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A Bid to Undo a Colonial-Era Wrong Touches a People's Old Wounds
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